It was a Broadway season like no other. Following the pandemic-related shutdown, the 2021-2022 season saw marquees once again shine brightly up and down the Main Stem as curtains rose to houses filled with enthusiastic (but masked) theatregoers, eager to once again enjoy the thrill that only a live performance can bring—and did Broadway performers bring it!

With a more diverse slate of productions than ever before, Broadway demonstrated once again that no one tells a story like Broadway playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, and no one brings these stories to full life better than the skilled designers and the multitalented artists who delve deep into their souls eight times a week. And, in a season where a virus and its variants hid around every corner, no one may have been more important than the understudies and standbys who helped production after production keep its doors open and audiences entertained.

READ: Jenn Colella, Andrew Keenan-Bolger Host Red Carpet and Backstage Events at the 2022 Tony Awards

TV watchers around the world celebrate the remarkable season June 12 during the two-part, four-hour 75th Annual Tony Awards. The Tony Awards: Act One—hosted by Emmy winners Darren Criss and Julianne Hough—kicks off the evening at 7 PM ET with an hour of exclusive content streaming live on Paramount+ that features performances and the presentation of several honors. The three-hour The 75th Annual Tony Awards—hosted by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose—will follow at 8 PM ET on CBS, also streaming live (for premium-level subscribers) and on demand on Paramount+, making this year's ceremony the first in Tony Awards history to be available live nationwide.

READ: How to Watch the 75th Annual Tony Awards

Live-updating coverage about all things Tony Awards will be available throughout the evening on Playbill. Check in tonight for the latest in Tony wins, live coverage from the Tony red carpet on Instagram, a live blog of commentary from both the broadcast and backstage, and more—and if you're playing along from home, make sure to download our official Playbill Tony Awards ballot here. Find all of our Tony Awards coverage at Playbill.com/Tonys.

The season celebrated its first opening August 22, 2021, with Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s Pass Over, which marked the playwright's Broadway debut and concerned two young Black men who dream of an existence beyond their street corner. Nearly 40 other productions followed, with critics penning their final review of the season for the Sam Gold-directed revival of William Shakespeare's Macbeth, co-starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.

Nominations for the 2022 Tony Awards were announced May 9 by Broadway favorites Adrienne Warren and Joshua Henry with A Strange Loop becoming the most-nominated production of the season, earning 11 nominations including Best Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Book of a Musical. Also leading the pack of nominees: MJ The Musical and Paradise Square, each with 10 nominations. The most nominated play of the season is the recent limited engagement of The Lehman Trilogy. (Scroll down to view the complete list of nominees.)

This year's ceremony has the chance to make LGBTQIA+ Tony history should SIX's Toby Marlow (the first openly Non-binary composer Tony-nominated), A Strange Loop's L Morgan Lee (the first openly Trans artist nominated), or The Skin of Our Teeth's Adam Rigg (the first openly agender artist to be nominated) win in their respective categories of Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, or Best Scenic Design of a Play. In terms of BIPOC representation, should Camille A. Brown win the Best Choreography Tony for her work on the acclaimed revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, she would become the first Black woman to win the prize. Brown, it should be noted, is also nominated for Best Direction of a Play for Ntozake Shange's choreopoem. A win for Brown or The Skin of Our Teeth's Lileana Blain-Cruz in that category would mark the first time a Black female director has nabbed the prize.

Viewers can expect special performances from Tony winners Bernadette Peters and Billy Porter as well as The New York City Gay Men's Chorus and original cast members from Broadway's Spring Awakening. The ceremony will also feature performances from Tony-nominated productions A Strange Loop, Company, Girl From the North Country, MJ, Mr. Saturday Night, The Music Man, Paradise Square, and SIX: The Musical.

Also set to make appearances during the ceremony are Utkarsh Ambudkar, Skylar Astin, Zach Braff, Danielle Brooks, Danny Burstein, Len Cariou, RuPaul Charles, Jessica Chastain, Lilli Cooper, Bryan Cranston, Wilson Cruz, Colman Domingo, Anthony Edwards, Cynthia Erivo, Raúl Esparza, Laurence Fishburne, Andrew Garfield, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tony Goldwyn, David Alan Grier, Marcia Gay Harden, Vanessa Hudgens, Jennifer Hudson, Samuel L. Jackson, Nathan Lane, Telly Leung, Judith Light, Josh Lucas, Gaten Matarazzo, Ruthie Ann Miles, Patina Miller, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, Kelli O’Hara, Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Pope, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Chita Rivera, Tony Shalhoub, Phillipa Soo, Sarah Silverman, George Takei, Aaron Tveit, Adrienne Warren, Patrick Wilson, and Bowen Yang.

2022 Tony honorees include Angela Lansbury, who will receive the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre; Robert E. Wankel, receiving the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award; James C. Nicola, receiving a Special Tony Award; Chicago's Court Theatre, receiving the Regional Theatre Tony Award; and Asian American Performers Action Coalition, Broadway For All, Emily Grishman, Feinstein's/54 Below, and United Scenic Artists Local 829, each receiving a Tony Honor.

The complete list of nominees for the 75th Annual Tony Awards follows:

Best Play
Clyde's, by Lynn Nottage
Hangmen, by Martin McDonagh
The Lehman Trilogy, by Stefano Massini and Ben Power
The Minutes, by Tracy Letts
Skeleton Crew, by Dominique Morisseau

Best Musical
Girl From The North Country
MJ
Mr. Saturday Night
Paradise Square
SIX: The Musical
A Strange Loop

Best Revival of a Play
American Buffalo
for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel
Take Me Out
Trouble in Mind, by Alice Childress

Best Revival of a Musical
Caroline, or Change
Company
The Music Man

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Billy Crystal, Mr. Saturday Night
Myles Frost, MJ
Hugh Jackman, The Music Man
Rob McClure, Mrs. Doubtfire
Jaquel Spivey, A Strange Loop

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sharon D Clarke, Caroline, or Change
Carmen Cusack, Flying Over Sunset
Sutton Foster, The Music Man
Joaquina Kalukango, Paradise Square
Mare Winningham, Girl From The North Country

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Matt Doyle, Company
Sidney DuPont, Paradise Square
Jared Grimes, Funny Girl
John-Andrew Morrison, A Strange Loop
A.J. Shively, Paradise Square

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, The Lehman Trilogy
Adam Godley, The Lehman Trilogy
Adrian Lester, The Lehman Trilogy
David Morse, How I Learned to Drive
Sam Rockwell, American Buffalo
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lackawanna Blues
David Threlfall, Hangmen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabby Beans, The Skin of Our Teeth
LaChanze, Trouble in Mind
Ruth Negga, Macbeth
Deirdre O'Connell, Dana H.
Mary-Louise Parker, How I Learned to Drive

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Jeannette Bayardelle, Girl From The North Country
Shoshana Bean, Mr. Saturday Night
Jayne Houdyshell, The Music Man
L Morgan Lee, A Strange Loop
Patti LuPone, Company
Jennifer Simard, Company

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Alfie Allen, Hangmen
Chuck Cooper, Trouble in Mind
Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Take Me Out
Ron Cephas Jones, Clyde's
Michael Oberholtzer, Take Me Out
Jesse Williams, Take Me Out

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Uzo Aduba, Clyde's
Rachel Dratch, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kenita R. Miller, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew
Julie White, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Kara Young, Clyde's

Best Book of a Musical
Girl From The North Country, Conor McPherson
MJ, Lynn Nottage
Mr. Saturday Night, Billy Crystal, Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
Paradise Square, Christina Anderson, Craig Lucas & Larry Kirwan
A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Flying Over Sunset; Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Michael Korie
Mr. Saturday Night; Music by Jason Robert Brown, Lyrics by Amanda Green
Paradise Square; Music by Jason Howland, Lyrics by Nathan Tysen and Masi Asare
SIX: The Musical, Music and Lyrics by Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss
A Strange Loop, Music and Lyrics by Michael R. Jackson

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
Michael Carnahan and Nicholas Hussong, Skeleton Crew
Es Devlin, The Lehman Trilogy
Anna Fleischle, Hangmen
Scott Pask, American Buffalo
Adam Rigg, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt and 59 Productions, Flying Over Sunset
Bunny Christie, Company
Arnulfo Maldonado, A Strange Loop
Derek McLane and Peter Nigrini, MJ
Allen Moyer, Paradise Square

Best Costume Design of a Play
Montana Levi Blanco, The Skin of Our Teeth
Sarafina Bush, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Emilio Sosa, Trouble in Mind
Jane Greenwood, Neil Simon's Plaza Suite
Jennifer Moeller, Clyde's

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Fly Davis, Caroline, or Change
Toni-Leslie James, Paradise Square
William Ivey Long, Diana, The Musical
Santo Loquasto, The Music Man
Gabriella Slade, SIX: The Musical
Paul Tazewell, MJ

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Joshua Carr, Hangmen
Jiyoun Chang, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Jon Clark, The Lehman Trilogy
Jane Cox, Macbeth
Yi Zhao, The Skin of Our Teeth

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Neil Austin, Company
Tim Deiling, SIX: The Musical
Donald Holder, Paradise Square
Natasha Katz, MJ
Bradley King, Flying Over Sunset
Jen Schriever, A Strange Loop

Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Mikhail Fiksel, Dana H.
Palmer Hefferan, The Skin of Our Teeth
Nick Powell and Dominic Bilkey, The Lehman Trilogy
Mikaal Sulaiman, Macbeth

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Simon Baker, Girl From The North Country
Paul Gatehouse, SIX: The Musical
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Company
Drew Levy, A Strange Loop
Gareth Owen, MJ

Best Direction of a Play
Lileana Blain-Cruz, The Skin of Our Teeth
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Sam Mendes, The Lehman Trilogy
Neil Pepe, American Buffalo
Les Waters, Dana H.

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Brackett, A Strange Loop
Marianne Elliott, Company
Conor McPherson, Girl From The North Country
Lucy Moss & Jamie Armitage, SIX: The Musical
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ

Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf
Warren Carlyle, The Music Man
Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, SIX: The Musical
Bill T. Jones, Paradise Square
Christopher Wheeldon, MJ

Best Orchestrations
David Cullen, Company
Tom Curran, SIX: The Musical
Simon Hale, Girl From The North Country
Jason Michael Webb and David Holcenberg, MJ
Charlie Rosen, A Strange Loop

The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.

For information on tickets to the Tony Awards, visit TonyAwards.com/tickets. For more Tony Awards coverage, visit Playbill.com/Tonys.

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