37th Tony Awards

37th Tony Awards
37th Tony Awards
Date	June 5, 1983
Location	Gershwin Theatre, New York City, New York
Hosted by	Richard Burton, Lena Horne, and Jack Lemmon
Television/radio coverage
Network	CBS

The 37th Annual Tony Awards was held at the Gershwin Theatre on June 5, 1983, and broadcast by CBS television. Hosts were Richard Burton, Lena Horne, and Jack Lemmon.

The ceremony

Presenters included George Abbott, Diahann Carroll, David Cassidy, James Coco, Cleavant Derricks, Colleen Dewhurst, Sergio Franchi, Bonnie Franklin, Peter Michael Goetz, Mark Hamill, Cheryl Hartley, Florence Lacey, Frank Langella, Court Miller, Liliane Montevecchi, Jerry Orbach, Jay Patterson, John Rubinstein, and Pamela Sousa.^[1]

The Special Salute was a medley of George Gershwin songs. At the end of the ceremony the Uris Theatre was renamed the Gershwin Theatre.^[2] Songs included: "The Real American Folk Song" sung by Diahann Carroll, "Stairway to Paradise" sung by Ben Vereen, "Somebody Loves Me" sung by Jack Lemmon and Ginger Rogers, "Lady Be Good" sung by Hal Linden and Ginger Rogers, "Someone to Watch Over Me" sung by Melissa Manchester, "How Long Has This Been Going On?" sung by Bonnie Franklin, "Vodka" sung by Dorothy Loudon, "I Got Rhythm" sung by Michele Lee and "There's a Boat dat's Leavin' Soon For New York" sung by Robert Guillaume.^[1]

Musicals represented:^[1]

Cats, "Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats" - Company/"Memory" - Betty Buckley
Merlin, "It's About Magic" - Doug Henning, Company
My One and Only, "Kicking the Clouds Away" - Tommy Tune, Company

During his acceptance speech, Torch Song Trilogy producer John Glines thanked his partner and lover, Lawrence Lane, in a statement widely thought to be the first open acknowledgement of a gay partner at a major awards show.^[3]^[4]^[5]

Winners and nominees

Source: BroadwayWorld^[6]

Winners are in bold

Best Play	Best Musical
Torch Song Trilogy – Harvey Fierstein Angels Fall – Lanford Wilson 'night, Mother – Marsha Norman Plenty – David Hare	Cats Blues in the Night Merlin My One and Only
Best Revival	Best Book of a Musical
On Your Toes All's Well That Ends Well A View from the Bridge The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial	T.S. Eliot – Cats Betty Comden and Adolph Green – A Doll's Life Richard Levinson and William Link – Merlin Peter Stone and Timothy S. Mayer – My One and Only
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
*Harvey Fierstein – Torch Song Trilogy* as Arnold Beckoff** Jeffrey DeMunn – K2 as Taylor Edward Herrmann – Plenty as Raymond Brock Tony Lo Bianco – A View from the Bridge as Eddie	*Jessica Tandy – Foxfire* as Annie Nations** Kathy Bates – 'night, Mother as Jessie Cates Kate Nelligan – Plenty as Susan Traherne Anne Pitoniak – 'night, Mother as Thelma Cates
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
*Tommy Tune – My One and Only* as Cpt. Billy Buck Chandler** Al Green – Your Arms Too Short to Box with God as Performer George Hearn – A Doll's Life as Various Characters Michael V. Smartt – Porgy and Bess as Porgy	*Natalia Makarova – On Your Toes* as Vera Barnova** Lonette McKee – Show Boat as Julie La Verne Chita Rivera – Merlin as The Queen Twiggy – My One and Only as Edith Herbert
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
*Matthew Broderick – Brighton Beach Memoirs* as Eugene Jerome** Željko Ivanek – Brighton Beach Memoirs as Stanley Jerome George N. Martin – Plenty as Leonard Darwin Stephen Moore – All's Well That Ends Well as Captain Parolles	*Judith Ivey – Steaming* as Josie** Elizabeth Franz – Brighton Beach Memoirs as Kate Jerome Roxanne Hart – Passion as Kate Margaret Tyzack – All's Well That Ends Well as The Countess of Rossillion
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical	Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
*Charles "Honi" Coles – My One and Only* as Mr. Magix** Harry Groener – Cats as Munkustrap Stephen Hanan – Cats as Bustopher Jones / Asparagus / Growltiger Lara Teeter – On Your Toes as Junior	*Betty Buckley – Cats* as Grizabella** Christine Andreas – On Your Toes as Frankie Frayne Karla Burns – Show Boat as Queenie Denny Dillon – My One and Only as Mickey
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre	Best Choreography
Cats – Andrew Lloyd Webber (music) and T.S. Eliot (lyrics) A Doll's Life – Larry Grossman (music) and Betty Comden and Adolph Green (lyrics) Merlin – Elmer Bernstein (music) and Don Black (lyrics) Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – Gene de Paul, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn (music) and Johnny Mercer, Kasha and Hirschhorn (lyrics)	Thommie Walsh and Tommy Tune – My One and Only George Faison – Porgy and Bess Gillian Lynne – Cats Donald Saddler – On Your Toes
Best Direction of a Play	Best Direction of a Musical
Gene Saks – Brighton Beach Memoirs Marshall W. Mason – Angels Fall Tom Moore – 'night, Mother Trevor Nunn – All's Well That Ends Well	Trevor Nunn – Cats Michael Kahn – Show Boat Ivan Reitman – Merlin Tommy Tune and Thommie Walsh – My One and Only
Best Scenic Design	Best Costume Design
Ming Cho Lee – K2 John Gunter – All's Well That Ends Well David Mitchell – Foxfire John Napier – Cats	John Napier – Cats Lindy Hemming – All's Well That Ends Well Rita Ryack – My One and Only Patricia Zipprodt – Alice in Wonderland
Best Lighting Design
David Hersey – Cats Ken Billington – Foxfire Robert & Beverly Bryan – All's Well That Ends Well Allen Lee Hughes – K2

Special awards

Regional Theatre Award - Oregon Shakespeare Festival Association

Multiple nominations and awards

These productions received multiple nominations:

11 nominations: Cats
9 nominations: My One and Only
7 nominations: All's Well That Ends Well
5 nominations: Merlin and On Your Toes
4 nominations: Brighton Beach Memoirs, 'night, Mother and Plenty
3 nominations: A Doll's Life, Foxfire, K2 and Show Boat
2 nominations: Angels Fall, Porgy and Bess, Torch Song Trilogy and A View from the Bridge

The following productions received multiple awards.

7 wins: Cats
3 wins: My One and Only
2 wins: Brighton Beach Memoirs, On Your Toes and Torch Song Trilogy

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "1983 - 37th Annual Tony Awards" tonyawards.com, accessed April 30, 2011
^ Lawson, Carol." 'Cats' And 'Torch Song Trilogy' Win Top Tonys" New York Times (abstract), June 6, 1983, p. C11
^ Genzlinger, Neil (August 17, 2018). "John Glines, Who Helped Bring 'Torch Song' to Broadway, Dies at 84". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
^ Snow, Nicholas (June 17, 2014). "Who Was the First Person to Ever Thank a Same-Sex Partner on a Nationally Televised Awards Show? (AUDIO/VIDEO)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
^ McPhee, Ryan (August 9, 2018). "Tony-Winning Torch Song Trilogy Producer John Glines Dies at 84". Playbill.com. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
^ "1983 Tony Award Winners" broadwayworld.com, accessed April 30, 2011 Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Official Site

[gershwin-1] "1983 - 37th Annual Tony Awards" tonyawards.com, accessed April 30, 2011

[2] Lawson, Carol." 'Cats' And 'Torch Song Trilogy' Win Top Tonys" New York Times (abstract), June 6, 1983, p. C11

[3] Genzlinger, Neil (August 17, 2018). "John Glines, Who Helped Bring 'Torch Song' to Broadway, Dies at 84". New York Times. Retrieved 12 September 2023.

[4] Snow, Nicholas (June 17, 2014). "Who Was the First Person to Ever Thank a Same-Sex Partner on a Nationally Televised Awards Show? (AUDIO/VIDEO)". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 September 2023.

[5] McPhee, Ryan (August 9, 2018). "Tony-Winning Torch Song Trilogy Producer John Glines Dies at 84". Playbill.com. Retrieved 12 September 2023.

[6] "1983 Tony Award Winners" broadwayworld.com, accessed April 30, 2011 Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

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v t e Tony Awards
American Theatre Wing The Broadway League EGOT Triple Crown of Acting
Play	Best Play Revival Direction Leading Actor Leading Actress Featured Actor Featured Actress Costume Design Lighting Design Scenic Design Sound Design
Musical	Best Musical Revival Direction Leading Actor Leading Actress Featured Actor Featured Actress Book Choreography Costume Design Lighting Design Orchestrations Original Score Scenic Design Sound Design
Special (non-competitive)	Regional Theatre Tony Award Special Tony Award Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Isabelle Stevenson Award
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* Divided into separate awards for plays and musicals