Tony Awards Presenters & Broadway Carpool
Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at 4:00PM 
The Tony Awards hit this weekend with James Corden, former Tony winner and current star of The Late Late Show, hosting. Sundays ceremony will feature performances from the following musicals: Bright Star, The Color Purple (adapted from the film), Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton, On Your Feet (the Gloria Estefan musical) School of Rock (adapted from the film), She Loves Me, Shuffle Along, Spring Awakening, and Waitress (adapted from the film).
But which stars of stage and screen will be presenting and which actually belong there? Since the Tony Awards are televised they tend to give TV & film stars the honors of presenting even though they really ought to pair them with stage giants to make the festivities more attuned to the actual honors being handed out. That minor quibble aside at least the stars chosen to present generally have some sort of Broadway connection.
This year's presenters in the order of how much Broadway stage cred they have after the jump... but first the utter delights of "Broadway Carpool" with James Corden & Lin-Manuel Miranda. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Audra McDonald and Jane Krakowski absolutely kill it with the singing and comedy in the back seat once they get to Les Miz...
PRESENTING... THE PRESENTERS
Legendary Broadway Players
AUDRA in SHUFFLE ALONG (currently playing)
Nathan Lane - He's starred in 20 productions since 1982. He's always in something! 2 Tonys from 4 nominations.
Audra McDonald - She's starred in 11 shows and holds the record for most Tony wins by any performer. She's won 6 from 8. Even better she's won in ALL the female acting categories: Best Actress, Play (Lady Day); Best Actress, Musical (Porgy & Bess), Best Featured Actress, Play (A Raisin in the Sun, Master Class); Best Featured Actress, Musical (Ragtime, Carousel). Trivia Alert: She's currently starring in Shuffle Along, which is up for a bunch of Tonys but it's the first time she's ever starred in a musical where she wasn't nominated!
Angela Lansbury - This beloved multiple Emmy & Oscar nominated star is also a significant stage legend. She's made intermittent Broadway appearances since the 1950s. 5 Tonys wins from 7 nominations.
James Earl Jones - His voice is already immortal but this Honorary Oscar winner is also a significant stage star having appeared in 20 or so shows from the 1950s through this past season. 1 Tony win from 4 nominations
Broadway Regulars
Andrew Rannells in The Book of Mormon a few years back
Neil Patrick Harris - Though he's best known for TV roles, he's been in 3 Broadway musicals and one straight play. He's also a former Tony host. 1 Tony win from 1 nomination
Andrew Rannells - Best known for "Girls" his Broadway work has usually been replacements of original cast members but he's a likely nominee next season for "Whizzer" (great part!) in the revival of Falsettos, the first role he gets to originate since his Tony nomination as Elder Price in The Book of Mormon. Falsettos will be his sixth Broadway show.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson - He's been in two Broadway musicals and is currently doing the solo comedy play "Fully Committed". Curiously, despite winning two Drama Desk awards over the years the Modern Family star has not yet been Tony nominated.
Special Cases
Barbra Streisand - This legendary diva did two Broadway shows in the 1960s (I Can Get It For You Wholesale and Funny Girl) and was a sensation in both (two Tony nominations) after which Hollywood snapped her up and she never looked back. She also has a "special" Tony. She's never been back to the stage but since she's so legendary we'll allow it.
Carole King - Several Broadway shows have used her music and she's even acted in one Broadway show in the 1990s. The show based on her life Beautiful: The Carole King Musical is still running
Two Shows
Patina Miller with her Tony from PippinPatina Miller -She's currently on TV in Madam Secretary and appeared in the two final Hunger Games films but she came to fame on Broadway. 1 Tony win from 2 nominations
Sean Hayes - he's done two Broadway shows, one of which is playing right now ("Act of God") plus a concert of Damn Yankees. One Tony nomination.
Steve Martin wrote the book and music for Bright Star (two nominations this year) and previously produced the revival of The Elephant Man
Uzo Aduba - She became a star via Orange is the New Black (2013-) but before she had multiple statues flung at her for "Crazy Eyes" she did two Broadway shows and a benefit concert. She's obviously invited because of her fresh TV fame but she qualifies. Her recent turn in The Wiz Live also reminds us that she has the live performance goods
Diane Lane - She did two plays in the 1970s but she's returning to the boards this fall in a revival of The Cherry Orchard (which was one of her shows in the 1970s!)
One Timers
Ellen Greene and Jake Gyllenhaal doing Little Shop of Horrors. Photo by Joan Marcus
Oprah Winfrey - produced The Color Purple which is in a tight race with She Loves Me for the Best Musical Revival Tony.
Jake Gyllenhaal -One of our favorite movie stars has been boosting his stage profile lately. He's only starred in one Broadway play but lately he's been doing concert one-offs of musicals (Little Shop of Horrors recently and Sunday in the Park with George is next)
Saoirse Ronan - Made her Broadway debut in The Crucible this season. She's got one more month of performances left after which one assumes she'll jump immediately back before cameras given that busy movie schedule.
Marlee Matlin - The Oscar winning star of Children of a Lesser God was part of the ensemble of the revival of Spring Awakening this year
Edie Brickell wrote the lyrics for Bright Star (a nominee this year)
Daniel Dae Kim and Marin Mazzie in The King and I (closing this month)
Daniel Dae Kim -His claim to fame is Lost but he's currently the replacement star of The King and I which closes at the end of this month
Claire Danes has been on Broadway just once in 2007 for a couple of months. She gets to present because... she's a major TV star?
Blair Underwood - One show for a few months in 2012. He gets to present because... he's a TV star?
Lucy Liu - she was a replacement performer in the great play God of Carnage toward the end of its run for a couple of months
Broadway Virgin
Cate Blanchett - her stage cred is significant elsewhere but she's never actually been on Broadway. She's making her debut this January in The Present so expect her to be in the Best Actress discussion next year even though her show won't be running by the time of next year's ceremony since it's a limited engagement.
Reader Comments (22)
Can you imagine the insurance policy that would be required on that car full of talent?
Danes was on stage this season but off Broadway - there were lots of pics of her going to work this spring. I think at the Public... maybe that's why she was asked to present.
Just can't wait until Sunday. And through another regular on this site, Carpool was my happy wakeup earlier this week
Oh my gosh Audra owns that video. How fun!
James Earl Jones has TWO Tonys for The Great White Way and Fences.
Jesse should've been nominated this year.
LOVE Patina Miller, so talented!
Daniel Dae Kim is HOT, baby..
Cannot wait to see Cate in anything, even in the Tonys.
Lol it's The Great White Hope.
That carpool karaoke is a gem though.
Yay--my fav awards show. FYI-in case folks haven't seen this post on why The Good Wife spin-off should be a musical--all the Broadway star crossovers--
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2016/05/20/the_good_wife_spinoff_should_ve_been_a_musical_seriously.html
(And for extra measure, Bebe Neuwirth and Patina Miller on the same network, Madame Secretary!!!)
I have high hopes for James Corden as host.
Not really related directly to this topic of Tony hosts, but still Tony-relevant, I've always had a question about them but haven't really known how to look it up...
It seems like actors only get nominated for originating roles on stage. But does it happen that people get nominated for Tonys for taking over from other actors? For example, would the person who plays Jefferson/Lafayette two generations down the line in "Hamilton" be eligible for a nomination in a couple of years?
Is there any way James Corden can get an Emmy for just the carpool karaoke? If there is a category please let this happen. Audra McDonald has such a beautiful pure voice, what a fun group to watch.
The Tony's are a fun watch, there's always at least 1 live performance that really stands out.
The Jack -- no. Replacements are not eligible for Tonys. You have to originate. So basically a show only has one shot at the Tonys. Unless it closes and reopens constantly for revivals (hi, Les Miz!)
Notable exception: Larry Kert, who replaced Dean Jones in the original production of Company shortly after it opened. (He lost to
Barney MillerHal Linden in The Rothschilds—a disgrace, if you ask me. Company, nominated for six acting awards in all four categories, did not win a single one.)So if the third actor to play a particular role in a show was to totally make the role his own and turn it into an iconic part, he would be unable to get a Tony? The next actor to play the main role in "Book Of Mormon", for example, would know automatically that there was no way of him being nominated, no matter how good he might be in it? Seems unfair.
@ The Jack
I think usually the role itself is pretty iconic (e.g., Hedwig, Dolly Levi, Mame, Momma Rose), which is why performers are eager to do brief to long runs as a replacement with no chance of a Tony nomination. In the case I mentioned above, Dean Jones sounds damn good (and iconic) on the original cast recording of Company, as much as Kert owned the role of Bobby after taking it over (and recording the London cast album).
That would make for a very interesting topic, replacements on Broadway, who deserved the Tony more than the role's originator. A couple come to mind immediately: Bernadette Peters over Catherine ( I'm sleeping every night with a movie star) Jones for " A Little Night Music", and ironically Reba McEntire over Bernadette for "Annie Get Your Gun".
I suppose it's so that the huge, iconic roles don't monopolise the nominations every time a new actor takes over. But like I mentioned in a previous post, it seems kind of unfair that the next actor to play Guy in "Once", for example, will know going in that he has no chance of being nominated for a Tony, no matter how good he might be in it.
Not that awards are everything, of course ;)
This carpool thing made me remember that I actually love musicals. I almost forgot thanks to Hollywood*
*Hire the right people to do them or don't do them at all
Omg I haven't listened to Falsettos in FOREVER!! (runs off to listen to it all night)
Andrew Rannells is almost too on-the-nose for Whizzer. But I am already lusting for that cast album...
I'm super duper excited for the Tony Awards this year!
Audra is a goddess:) Can we cast her in Ocean Ocho with Blanchett & Bullock? She will do some singing bit in Las Vegas if possible!
Los Angeles Pride is this weekend (Carly Rae Jepsen and Charly MCXM... something) are the headliners.
And L A Pride is always the same weekend as the Tonys. I always wonder if it's some little dig between the two cities.
i will be there (Pride) so Celebrate, Everyone!
Audra sang a soprano high C while pregnant and seated in a moving car. That's what we call a BAWSE.
I'm most looking forward to the inevitable coronation of Cynthia Erivo as best leading actress in a musical (she's already won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards).
Everyone, here is a link regarding the now-defunct "best replacement" Tony category: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/95725/best-replacement-tony-award-is-no-more/.
Miss Barbra Streisand, need I say more