WASHINGTON — Nearly a year after the nominations were announced, the curtain is about to rise for the 74th Tony Awards. But you'll need to be a Paramount+ customer in order to see the majority of the awards be handed out on Sunday night.
The annual Broadway celebration has been repeatedly delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Broadway shut down in March 2020 as coronavirus cases began to rise worldwide and only recently have shows started to reopen in New York City. Because of the pandemic-shortened season, this year's Tony Awards nominations were pulled from just 18 eligible plays and musicals, a fraction of the 34 shows the season before.
How to watch the Tony Awards
The 74th annual Tony Awards broadcast will be a four-hour event split into two parts.
The first half of the show will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+ starting at 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Sept. 26. The majority of the Tony Award winners will be announced during this part of the broadcast, hosted by Audra McDonald.
Starting at 9 p.m. Eastern, the broadcast shifts over to CBS for a celebration of Broadway's return which will be hosted by Leslie Odom Jr. The two-hour special will feature performances from the three shows nominated for Best Musical: "Jagged Little Pill," "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" and "Tina - The Tina Turner Musical."
The bulk of the Tonys — the acting, directing and technical ones — will only be accessible to Paramount+ customers. Odom’s special will cap the night with awards for the three top awards: best play, best play revival and best musical.
TV viewers can get CBS through their cable or satellite plan or over the air via an antenna.
CBS is also available through a number of live TV streaming services such as Hulu with Live TV, FuboTV, DirecTV Stream and YouTube TV.
For streamers, the Paramount+ app is available on iOS for iPhone and iPad, Android phones and tablets and through smart TVs like Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
