The 2020 Tony Awards was supposed to happen on June 7, but it has been announced today that it will be postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN reports that the Tony Awards Production has decided to postpone the show for the "health and safety of the Broadway community, artists, and fans." They have not yet made any announcements as to when the 2020 awards show will be rescheduled, given the -- please complete the sentence--
Even before they have announced the rescheduling of the 74th Tony Awards, Broadway theatres have already gone dark due to the coronavirus pandemic. The order came from Governor Andrew Cuomo himself. It began on March 12, starting at 5 pm and will remain until April 12.
New York has become one of the hot zones of the pandemic in the United States. As of today, more than 33,000 cases have been confirmed in the state of New York. That is ten times more than California. The death toll is at 355.
The state is preparing to build a makeshift morgue in Manhattan, as they are expecting more deaths in the next days. More than half of the death reported due to Covid-19 have been those who are 75 and older.
Being the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, the governor says that the state would need about $15 billion for the coronavirus crisis. They have already imposed tighter restrictions all over the state, saying that all non-essential businesses should be closed. The 19 million residents of the state are also asked to stay at home unless they are part of the essential personnel.
Meanwhile, the nominations for the Tony Awards were supposed to be announced this coming April 28, 2020, along with several events, including the Press reception on April 30 and the nominees' luncheon on May 19. It is not known whether these events will still push through, given the pandemic crisis happening right now.
Some of the eligible productions for the awards include A Christmas Carol, The Great Society and The Height of the Storm for original plays, Jagged Little Pill, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical and Tina - The Tina Turner musical for original musicals, Betrayal, The Rose Tattoo and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair De Lune for play revivals.
There is also no announcement on who the host of the 74th Tony Awards will be. Last year James Corden hosted the awards show while the big winners were Hadestown with fourteen nominations and eight awards.