TONY AWARDS - 2013

The 67th Annual Tony Awards were held June 9, 2013, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2012–13 season. The ceremony returned to Radio City Music Hall in New York City, after two years at Beacon Theatre, and was broadcast live on CBS television. Neil Patrick Harris hosted for the third consecutive year, his fourth time as host. Awards in four of the eight acting categories, (Best Actress in a Play, Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Featured Actor in a Play) were given to African-American performers. Furthermore, it is the second time in Tony history that both directing prizes went to women. Garry Hynes and Julie Taymor had previously won in 1998. Kinky Boots had a season best 13 nominations and 6 awards. Cyndi Lauper, who wrote the score for Kinky Boots, is the first solo female winner for Best Original Score.

The ceremony featured performances from Tony-nominated musicals in this season:[6]

Annie – It's the Hard Knock Life and Little Girls
Bring It On: The Musical – It's All Happening
A Christmas Story, The Musical – You'll Shoot Your Eye Out
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella – In My Own Little Corner, Impossible, and Ten Minutes Ago
Kinky Boots – Everybody Say Yeah
Matilda The Musical – medley; Naughty, Revolting Children and When I Grow Up
Motown The Musical – medley
Pippin – medley; Corner of the Sky and Magic to Do
The casts of musicals currently running on Broadway introduced the musical nominees, including Chicago; Jersey Boys; Newsies; Once; Mamma Mia!; Rock of Ages; Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark; The Lion King'. The casts of Once, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Rascals performed.


Opening number finale
The Emmy-winning opening number, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt,[9] starred Neil Patrick Harris and "featured neophyte cheerleaders, contortionists, chirpy newsies, a scene-hogging Mike Tyson and, in a Broadway season notable for the number of children in its shows, enough pint-size performers to fill, as Harris aptly quipped, a Chuck-E-Cheese." During the ceremony, three Broadway performers, Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty and Laura Benanti, whose television shows have been cancelled, sang a comic "failed TV career" medley with Harris. The lyrics were written by Michael John LaChiusa and based on several familiar Broadway melodies, including "America", "What I Did For Love", and "The Ladies Who Lunch".

During the "In Memoriam" tribute, Cyndi Lauper performed her 1986 hit True Colors.

The closing number featured Harris and Audra McDonald singing special lyrics to Empire State of Mind, mentioning the winners.