The 2009 Tony Awards

The most glamorous night on Broadway, The Tony Awards®, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and featuring performances by Dolly Parton, Liza Minnelli and Elton John, takes to the airwaves Sunday, June 7 on CBS.

The nominees in this the 52nd presentation hope to take their place alongside those Broadway legends. The list of individual acting nominees read like a “who’s who” of American film and theater with the likes of Jane Fonda, Jeff Daniels, Raul Esparza, Stockard Channing, Allison Janney, Angela Lansbury, Marc Kudisch, James Gandolfini and Geoffrey Rush. A past American Idol finalist has even made the grade with Constantine Maroulis’ nomination in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category.

The field is tight in the 2009 Best Musical category with nominees BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL, NEXT TO NORMAL, ROCK OF AGES and SHREK THE MUSICAL. The Best Revival of a Musical category brings back some of the best of Broadway: GUYS AND DOLLS, HAIR, PAL JOEY and WEST SIDE STORY.

A long list of Broadway luminaries will present the awards in each of the 27 categories. Presenters include Lucie Arnaz, Kristen Chenoweth, Carrie Fisher, Jessica Lange, Susan Sarandon, Kevin Spacey and Frank Langella.

This is the 42nd year for the televised Tonys. The first broadcast took place in 1967 and was hosted by Mary Martin and Robert Preston and featured performances from CABARET, THE APPLE TREE, I DO! I DO! And WALKING HAPPY. The evening lasted for only one hour, but it set the stage for what was to become one of the finest award shows on television.

While the 60s marked the first television broadcast of the awards show, its history dates back 20 more years to 1947. The very first Tony Award dinner took place on April 6, 1947. This black-tie optional event was held in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and included performances by Mickey Rooney, Herb Shriner and David Wayne. The winners that night were to become Broadway legends--Arthur Miller, Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman and Agnes de Mille--to name but a few.

The Tonys have come a long way from the hour-long broadcast more than 40 years ago. This not-to-be-missed theater event begins on CBS at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/ 7:00 p.m. Central. For great background information on everything Tony, or to catch a video glimpse of all the nominees, visit www.tonyawards.com.