27th Tony Awards


The 27th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on March 25, 1973, at the Imperial Theatre in New York City, and broadcast by ABC television. Hosts were Rex Harrison, Celeste Holm and co-hosts were Sandy Duncan and Jerry Orbach.

The ceremony

The ceremony opened with a song-and-dance medley performed by Gwen Verdon, Paula Kelly, Helen Gallagher and Donna McKechnie.
The theme was the global reach of Broadway. The "Wide World of Broadway" featured narrations by Rex Harrison, Walter Slezak, Rossano Brazzi, Yul Brynner and Peter Ustinov, who brought the viewers to: Vienna: West Side Story; Tokyo: The King and I; Milan: Ciao, Rudy; Paris: Hello, Dolly!; London: Show Boat; Zagreb, Yugoslavia: Man of La Mancha; and Wichita Falls, Texas: My Fair Lady.
Musicals represented:
A new series of awards was started this year, termed "Theater Awards '73", renewable annually.
This was the fourth time that Julie Harris won a Tony Award ; she won a total of five with a sixth for Lifetime Achievement.

Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold
Best PlayBest Musical

  • A Little Night Music
  • * Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
  • * Pippin
  • * Sugar
    • Best Book of a MusicalBest Original Score Written for the Theatre
  • Hugh Wheeler – A Little Night Music
  • * Micki Grant – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
  • * Melvin Van Peebles – Don't Play Us Cheap
  • * Roger O. Hirson – Pippin
  • A Little Night Music – Stephen Sondheim
  • * Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope – Micki Grant
  • * Much Ado About Nothing – Peter Link
  • * Pippin – Stephen Schwartz
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
  • Alan Bates – Butley as Ben Butley
  • * Jack Albertson – The Sunshine Boys as Willie Clark
  • * Wilfrid Hyde-White – The Jockey Club Stakes as Marquis of Candover
  • * Paul Sorvino – That Championship Season as Phil Romano
  • Julie Harris – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Mary Todd Lincoln
  • * Jane Alexander – 6 Rms Riv Vu as Annie Miller
  • * Colleen Dewhurst – Mourning Becomes Electra as Christine Mannon
  • * Kathleen Widdoes – Much Ado About Nothing as Beatrice
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
  • Ben Vereen – Pippin as The Leading Player
  • * Len Cariou – A Little Night Music as Frederick Egerman
  • * Robert Morse – Sugar as Jerry
  • * Brock Peters – Lost in the Stars as Stephen Kumalo
  • Glynis Johns – A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt
  • * Leland Palmer – Pippin as Fastrada
  • * Debbie Reynolds – Irene as Irene O'Dare
  • * Marcia Rodd – Shelter as Maud
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
  • John Lithgow – The Changing Room as Kenny Kendal
  • * Barnard Hughes – Much Ado About Nothing as Dogberry
  • * John McMartin – Don Juan as Sganarelle
  • * Hayward Morse – Butley as Joseph Keyston
  • Leora Dana – The Last of Mrs. Lincoln as Elizabeth Edwards
  • * Maya Angelou – Look Away as Elizabeth Keckley
  • * Katherine Helmond – The Great God Brown as Margaret
  • * Penelope Windust – Elizabeth I as Elizabeth the Player Queen
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
  • George S. Irving – Irene as Madame Lucy
  • * Laurence Guittard – A Little Night Music as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm
  • * Avon Long – Don't Play Us Cheap as David
  • * Gilbert Price – Lost in the Stars as Absalom Kumalo
  • Patricia Elliott – A Little Night Music as Charlotte Malcolm
  • * Hermione Gingold – A Little Night Music as Madame Armfeldt
  • * Patsy Kelly – Irene as Mrs. O'Dare
  • * Irene Ryan – Pippin as Berthe
    • Best Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a Musical
  • A.J. Antoon – That Championship Season
  • * A.J. Antoon – Much Ado About Nothing
  • * Alan Arkin – The Sunshine Boys
  • * Michael Rudman – The Changing Room
  • Bob Fosse – Pippin
  • * Vinnette Carroll – Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope
  • * Gower Champion – Sugar
  • * Harold Prince – A Little Night Music
    • Best ChoreographyBest Scenic Design
  • Bob Fosse – Pippin
  • * Gower Champion – Sugar
  • * Peter Gennaro – Irene
  • * Donald Saddler – Much Ado About Nothing
  • Tony Walton – Pippin
  • * Boris Aronson – A Little Night Music
  • * David Jenkins – The Changing Room
  • * Santo Loquasto – That Championship Season
    • Best Costume DesignBest Lighting Design
  • Florence Klotz – A Little Night Music
  • * Theoni V. Aldredge – Much Ado About Nothing
  • * Miles White – Tricks
  • * Patricia Zipprodt – Pippin
  • Jules Fisher – Pippin
  • * Martin Aronstein – Much Ado About Nothing
  • * Ian Calderon – That Championship Season
  • * Tharon Musser – A Little Night Music

    • Special awards

    These awards were given under the new title of "Theater Awards '73".
    These productions had multiple nominations:
    The following productions received multiple awards.