The Tony Awards announced Friday that the eligibility cutoff date for the season has been moved to May 4.
In a shift from the calendar of events announced earlier this month, nominations for the 75th annual Tony Awards will now be announced May 9 at 9:00 a.m. in a YouTube livestream. The Meet the Nominees event has also been postponed to May 12 in light of the changes.
Prior to this development, productions had to open by April 28 in order to be considered as part of the 2021-2022 season. Nominations were to be announced May 3 and the Meet the Nominees press day was set for May 5.
The weeklong season extension allows the six productions yet to open this season to delay their opening nights and remain eligible for this year’s awards. It also allows more time for Tony nominators to see the eligible productions, due to canceled performances and absent COVID-positive lead actors in several of the season’s shows.
Among the productions set to open next week before the previous cutoff are “The Skin of Our Teeth,” “A Strange Loop,” “Macbeth” and “POTUS,” all of which have been affected by COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. None of the productions have announced delays to scheduled openings at the time of publication.
“Due to the challenges that Broadway has faced in recent weeks, and in an effort to allow nominators to see Tony eligible shows, we have decided to extend the deadline for eligibility requirements,” said Broadway League president Charlotte St. Martin and American Theatre Wing president and chief executive Heather Hitchens in a joint statement.
The Tony Awards are set for June 12, and will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+ at 8:00 p.m. There will also be an hour of exclusive content available on Paramount+ as of 7:00 p.m. The ceremony will be available for on demand viewing on the streaming service.
