About the tonys

Who's Tony? The Tonys are named after Antoinette Perry, an actress, director, producer, and a dynamic wartime leader of the Wing; they honor her memory and acknowledge her contributions to off-Broadway theater.

Tony Awards® are presented annually during a special, glittering television award show in June. The show is a joint project of the Wing and the League of American theatres and Producers, Inc.

The Tony Awards have been granted since 1947. theyhave had a colorful past and present, one that has kept pace with the growth in the theater industry in New York and England. theyhave gradually gained prominence, prestige, and glamour at home and abroad until today they have become an American institution.

Tony Awards are presented annually during a special, glittering television award show in June. The show is a joint project of the Wing and the League of American theatres and Producers, Inc. Each winner receives a disk-shaped medallion depicting the masks of comedy and tragedy on one side and the profile of Antoinette Perry on the other.

Each winner receives a disk-shaped medallion depicting the masks of comedy and tragedy on one side and the profile of Antoinette Perry on the other.

About voting

Award winners are decided by an Awards Administration Committee comprised of 24 members, of whom roughly half are designated by the Wing, half by the League, and one each by the Dramatists Guild, Actors' Equity Association, United Scenic Artists, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. This committee determines eligibility for nominations in all awards categories, reviews the rules governing the awards, and appoints the Nominating Committee. It may, at its discretion, give special Tony Awards, the Regional theatre Tony Award, and Tony Honors for Excellence in the theatre.

Nominations are made by the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, a rotating group of about 30 theatre professionals selected by the Tony Awards Administration Committee. Nominators see every new Broadway production and then meet to determine the nominations.

Today about 700 people vote, all of them members of theatrical organizations, which include the Wing, the governing boards of Actors' Equity Association, the Dramatists Guild, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, United Scenic Artists, American Federation of Musicians Local 802, and the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers; those persons whose names appear on the first night press list; members of the Theatrical Council of the Casting Society of America; and active members of the League of American Theatres and Producers.