27th Tony Awards

The 27th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on March 25, 1973, at the Imperial Theatre in New York City, and broadcast by ABC television. Hosts were Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm and co-hosts were Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach.

27th Tony Awards
Date	March 25, 1973
Location	Imperial Theatre, New York City, New York
Hosted by	Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm, Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach
Television/radio coverage
Network	ABC
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The ceremony

The ceremony opened with a song-and-dance medley performed by Gwen Verdon, Paula Kelly, Helen Gallagher and Donna McKechnie.^[1]

The theme was the global reach of Broadway. The "Wide World of Broadway" featured narrations by Rex Harrison, Walter Slezak, Rossano Brazzi, Yul Brynner and Peter Ustinov, who brought the viewers to: Vienna: West Side Story; Tokyo: The King and I; Milan: Ciao, Rudy; Paris: Hello, Dolly!; London: Show Boat; Zagreb, Yugoslavia: Man of La Mancha; and Wichita Falls, Texas: My Fair Lady.

Musicals represented:

• Pippin ("Magic To Do"- Ben Vereen and Company)

A new series of awards was started this year, termed "Theater Awards '73", renewable annually.^[2]

This was the fourth time that Julie Harris won a Tony Award (and her sixth nomination); she won a total of five with a sixth for Lifetime Achievement.^[3]

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold

Best Play	Best Musical
That Championship Season – Jason Miller Butley – Simon Gray The Changing Room – David Storey The Sunshine Boys – Neil Simon	A Little Night Music Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Pippin Sugar
Best Book of a Musical	Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Hugh Wheeler – A Little Night Music Micki Grant – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Melvin Van Peebles – Don't Play Us Cheap Roger O. Hirson – Pippin	A Little Night Music – Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics) Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope – Micki Grant (music and lyrics) Much Ado About Nothing – Peter Link (music) Pippin – Stephen Schwartz (music and lyrics)
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Alan Bates – Butley as Ben Butley Jack Albertson – The Sunshine Boys as Willie Clark Wilfrid Hyde-White – The Jockey Club Stakes as Marquis of Candover Paul Sorvino – That Championship Season as Phil Romano	Julie Harris – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln Jane Alexander – 6 Rms Riv Vu as Annie Miller Colleen Dewhurst – Mourning Becomes Electra as Christine Mannon Kathleen Widdoes – Much Ado About Nothing as Beatrice
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Ben Vereen – Pippin as The Leading Player Len Cariou – A Little Night Music as Frederick Egerman Robert Morse – Sugar as Jerry Brock Peters – Lost in the Stars as Stephen Kumalo	Glynis Johns – A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt Leland Palmer – Pippin as Fastrada Debbie Reynolds – Irene as Irene O'Dare Marcia Rodd – Shelter as Maud
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
John Lithgow – The Changing Room as Kenny Kendal Barnard Hughes – Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry John McMartin – Don Juan as Sganarelle Hayward Morse – Butley as Joseph Keyston	Leora Dana – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Elizabeth Edwards Maya Angelou – Look Away as Elizabeth Keckley Katherine Helmond – The Great God Brown as Margaret Penelope Windust – Elizabeth I as Elizabeth the Player Queen
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
George S. Irving – Irene as Madame Lucy Laurence Guittard – A Little Night Music as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm Avon Long – Don't Play Us Cheap as David Gilbert Price – Lost in the Stars as Absalom Kumalo	Patricia Elliott – A Little Night Music as Charlotte Malcolm Hermione Gingold – A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt Patsy Kelly – Irene as Mrs. O'Dare Irene Ryan – Pippin as Berthe
Best Direction of a Play	Best Direction of a Musical
A.J. Antoon – That Championship Season A.J. Antoon – Much Ado About Nothing Alan Arkin – The Sunshine Boys Michael Rudman – The Changing Room	Bob Fosse – Pippin Vinnette Carroll – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope Gower Champion – Sugar Harold Prince – A Little Night Music
Best Choreography	Best Scenic Design
Bob Fosse – Pippin Gower Champion – Sugar Peter Gennaro – Irene Donald Saddler – Much Ado About Nothing	Tony Walton – Pippin Boris Aronson – A Little Night Music David Jenkins – The Changing Room Santo Loquasto – That Championship Season
Best Costume Design	Best Lighting Design
Florence Klotz – A Little Night Music Theoni V. Aldredge – Much Ado About Nothing Miles White – Tricks Patricia Zipprodt – Pippin	Jules Fisher – Pippin Martin Aronstein – Much Ado About Nothing Ian Calderon – That Championship Season Tharon Musser – A Little Night Music

Special awards

These awards were given under the new title of "Theater Awards '73".^[2]

• John Lindsay, Mayor of New York City (construction of legitimate theaters)
• Actors' Fund of America (honored for 90 years of assistance to needy and elderly theater people)
• Shubert Organization (for nearly 75 years of activity as well as for the Shubert Foundation)

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions had multiple nominations: 12 nominations: A Little Night Music 11 nominations: Pippin 7 nominations: Much Ado About Nothing 5 nominations: That Championship Season 4 nominations: The Changing Room, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Irene and Sugar 3 nominations: Butley and The Sunshine Boys 2 nominations: Don't Play Us Cheap, The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and Lost in the Stars

The following productions received multiple awards. 6 wins: A Little Night Music 5 wins: Pippin 2 wins: The Last of Mrs. Lincoln and That Championship Season

References

1. O'Connor, John. "TV Review: Tony Awards Pleasant Enough on A.B.C.", The New York Times, March 27, 1973, p. 95
2. Phillips, McCandlish. "'Championship Season' Wins Tony: 'Little Night Music' Best Show-Alan Bates Top Actor Julie Harris a Winner New Special Awards", The New York Times, March 26, 1973
3. "Julie Harris" Internet Broadway Database

External links