The First Tony Awards, more formally known as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, were held on April 6, 1947, in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City.[1] Perry was a co-founder of the revived and revised version the American Theatre Wing (ATW) in 1940, and the award were established by the ATW in her memory after her death in 1946.[2] Fellow ATW co-founder Louise Heims Beck was responsible for overseeing the organization of the 1st Tony Awards.[2]
| 1st Tony Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | April 6, 1947 |
| Location | Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, New York |
| Hosted by | Brock Pemberton |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | WOR (radio), Mutual Network (radio) |
Background and ceremony
editPresented by the ATW, the Awards celebrated "outstanding contributions to the current American theatre season."[3] According to The New York Times, these awards "do not designate their recipients as 'best' or 'first' but the classifications in which they are given will be elastic from year to year."[3] The ceremony, hosted by Brock Pemberton, was broadcast on radio station WOR and the Mutual Network.
The awards got their nickname, "Tonys", during the ceremony itself when Pemberton handed out an award and called it a "Toni", referring to the nickname of Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.[1][4] [5][6]
Musicals represented at the ceremony were Street Scene, Brigadoon and Finian's Rainbow. Oklahoma! and Carousel could not be nominated because, while although still playing their original runs at the time of the awards, they had opened too soon to qualify for the awards (Oklahoma! had opened in 1943, and Carousel in 1945).
The award itself was a scroll, an initialed sterling silver compact case for the women, and an engraved gold bill clip or cigarette lighter for the men.[1]
Winners
editNote: nominees are not shown
Performance
edit| Award | Winner (s) |
|---|---|
| Actors-Play | José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac Fredric March in Years Ago |
| Actresses-Play | Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Lorraine Helen Hayes in Happy Birthday |
| Tony Award for Outstanding Newcomer | Patricia Neal in Another Part of the Forest |
| Tony Award for Best Performance in a Musical | David Wayne in Finian's Rainbow |
Craft
editSpecial awards
editSource: The New York Times[3]
- Dora Chamberlain - "unfailing courtesy as treasurer of the Martin Beck Theatre"
- Mr. and Mrs. Ira Katzenberg - "for enthusiasm as inveterate first-nighters"
- Jules Leventhal - "the season's most prolific backer and producer"
- P.A. MacDonald - "intricate construction for the production of 'If the Shoe Fits'"
- Burns Mantle - "for his annual publication"
- Arthur Miller - author of All My Sons
- Vincent Sardi Sr. - "for providing a transient home and comfort station for theatre folk at Sardi's for twenty years"
Multiple nominations and awards
editThe following productions received multiple awards.
- 2 wins: All My Sons, Another Part of the Forest, Finian's Rainbow and Happy Birthday
References
edit- ^ a b c "History. An Award for Excellence" tonyawards.com, accessed May 28, 2016
- ^ a b "OBITUARIES: Louise Heims Beck". Variety. Vol. 290, no. 7. March 22, 1978. p. 46.
- ^ a b c "20 Stage Notables Get Perry Awards". The New York Times. April 7, 1947. p. 40. Retrieved 30 January 2019 – via Rare Newspapers.
- ^ Nassour, Ellis. "History. The Original 'Tony'". Tonyawards.com. IBM Corp. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
- ^ Rothman, Lily (June 7, 2015). "This Is the Woman the Tony Awards Are Named After". Time Magazine. TIME USA, LLC. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
- ^ Nassour, Ellis (June 4, 1998). "Remembering Tony Namesake Antoinette Perry". Playbill. Brightspot. Retrieved 30 January 2019.