Tony Awards: 2021 Date, Nominees and Predictions

The 74th Tony Awards will take place this weekend at the Winter Garden in New York.

The annual awards ceremony, which was postponed last year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, will honor the shows and performances of the 2019–2020 Broadway season.

Hosted by Tony-, Grammy- and Emmy-winning singer and actor Audra McDonald, the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards will be broadcast live on Sunday, September 26 from 7 p.m. ET on Paramount+, the streaming service of ViacomCBS.

The awards will be followed by The Tony Awards Present: Broadway's Back, a live concert celebrating the return of Broadway, hosted by Tony and Grammy Award-winning and two-time Oscar-nominated singer and actor Leslie Odom, Jr.

The concert will feature a live presentation of the Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Revival of a Play, and Best Musical as well as performances from Tony Award nominees and Broadway stars. The concert will be broadcast live from 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

2021 Tony Award Nominees

Best Musical

• Jagged Little Pill
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Play

• Grand Horizons
• The Inheritance
• Sea Wall/A Life
• Slave Play
• The Sound Inside
• Best Revival of a Play
• Betrayal
• Frankie and Johnny In The Clair De Lune
• A Soldier's Play

Best Book of a Musical

• Jagged Little Pill
• Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

• Ian Barford, Linda Vista
• Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
• Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
• Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
• Blair Underwood, A Soldier's Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

• Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
• Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
• Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
• Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Note: The single nominee in this category does not guarantee a win.

According to a statement from The Broadway League (the national trade association for the Broadway theater industry) and the American Theatre Wing, if there is only one nominee in a listed category, "such category shall be submitted to the Tony Voters which may, by the affirmative vote of 60% of the total ballots cast, grant an Award in that category."

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
• Adrienne Warren, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

• Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play
• James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play
• David Alan Grier, A Soldier's Play
• John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
• Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

• Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons
• Chalia La Tour, Slave Play
• Annie McNamara, Slave Play
• Lois Smith, The Inheritance
• Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
• Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill
• Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
• Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill
• Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill
• Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Daniel J. Watts, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Direction of a Play

• David Cromer, The Sound Inside
• Stephen Daldry, The Inheritance
• Kenny Leon, A Soldier's Play
• Jamie Lloyd, Betrayal
• Robert O'Hara, Slave Play

Best Direction of a Musical

• Phyllida Lloyd, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
• Diane Paulus, Jagged Little Pill
• Alex Timbers, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Book of a Musical

• Diablo Cody, Jagged Little Pill
• John Logan, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Original Score (Music And/Or Lyrics) Written For The Theatre

• Christopher Nightingale, A Christmas Carol
• Paul Englishby, The Inheritance
• Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb, The Rose Tattoo
• Lindsay Jones, Slave Play
• Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

Best Choreography

• Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Jagged Little Pill
• Sonya Tayeh, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Anthony Van Laast, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Orchestrations

• Tom Kitt, Jagged Little Pill
• Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Ethan Popp, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

• Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, Jagged Little Pill
• Derek McLane, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

• Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
• Soutra Gilmour, Betrayal
• Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
• Derek McLane, A Soldier's Play
• Clint Ramos, Slave Play

Best Costume Design of a Play

• Dede Ayite, Slave Play
• Dede Ayite, A Soldier's Play
• Bob Crowley, The Inheritance
• Rob Howell, A Christmas Carol
• Clint Ramos, The Rose Tattoo

Best Costume Design of a Musical

• Emily Rebholz, Jagged Little Pill
• Mark Thompson, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
• Catherine Zuber, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

• Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, The Inheritance
• Simon Baker, A Christmas Carol
• Lindsay Jones, Slave Play
• Daniel Kluger, Sea Wall/A Life
• Daniel Kluger, The Sound Inside

Best Sound Design of a Musical

• Jonathan Deans, Jagged Little Pill
• Peter Hylenski, Moulin Rouge! The Musical
• Nevin Steinberg, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Play

• Jiyoun Chang, Slave Play
• Jon Clark, The Inheritance
• Heather Gilbert, The Sound Inside
• Allen Lee Hughes, A Soldier's Play
• Hugh Vanstone, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

• Bruno Poet, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical
• Justin Townsend, Jagged Little Pill
• Justin Townsend, Moulin Rouge! The Musical

2021 Tony Award Win Predictions

Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which has been nominated for 14 awards this year, trailing just behind the record 16 Tony nominations previously received by Hamilton, is projected to score a sweeping win of 10 awards this year, including Best Musical, but lose out in the Best Actress/Featured Actress in a Musical as well as Best Book categories, according to Gold Derby, the American awards prediction and entertainment news website.

Slave Play, which scored a historic 12 nominations (the most ever for a play) is the likely winner of the award for Best Play, according to Gold Derby.

The website says more often than not, the winner of the Best Play also bags at least one actor award win, which means a Tony could be in the cards for Joaquina Kalukango (nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play), Ato Blankson-Wood or James Cusati-Moyer (nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play), Chalia La Tour or Annie McNamara (nominees for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play).

The website also says its readers predict Jagged Little Pill will claim two awards, while Tina – The Tina Turner Musical will walk away with just one.

Tom Hiddleston (from Harold Pinter's Betrayal) is the projected winner for Best Actor in a Play, over Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge who both star in Sea Wall/A Life, according to entertainment news website The Wrap.

The website also expects Betrayal to score Best Revival of a Play, while Jane Alexander from Grand Horizons is predicted to bag the Best Featured Actress in a Play.