Tony Awards 1956
The 10th Annual Tony Awards took place at the Plaza Hotel Grand Ballroom on April 1, 1956. The Master of Ceremonies was Jack Carter.
Ceremony
The presenter was Helen Hayes, who was President of the American Theatre Wing, and several of the nominees. Jack Carter was host for the first part of the ceremony, and Helen Hayes hosted the second part. More than 500 people attended the dinner dance. [1]
For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast on television, on the DuMont Channel 5 in New York City, in an effort to create "wider public interest in Broadway's most important award-giving ceremony". Also for the first time, the nominees were announced ahead of the ceremony.[2]
Music for the dinner dance was by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra.
Winners and nominees
Sources:Infoplease;[3] BroadwayWorld[4]
Production
Winners are in bold
- The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Produced by Kermit Bloomgarden.
- Bus Stop by William Inge. Produced by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens.
- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Produced by The Playwrights' Company
- Tiger at the Gates by Jean Giraudoux, adapted by Christopher Fry. Produced by Robert L. Joseph, The Playwrights' Company, and Henry M. Margolis.
- The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold. Produced by Irene Mayer Selznick.
- Damn Yankees by George Abbot and Douglass Wallop. Music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith, and Harold S. Prince in association with Albert B. Taylor.
- Pipe Dream. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers. Produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Performance
Winners are in bold
- Paul Muni (Inherit the Wind)
- Ben Gazzara (A Hatful of Rain)
- Boris Karloff (The Lark)
- Michael Redgrave (Tiger at the Gates)
- Edward G. Robinson (Middle of the Night)
Distinguished Dramatic Actress
- Julie Harris (The Lark)
- Barbara Bel Geddes (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
- Gladys Cooper (The Chalk Garden)
- Ruth Gordon (The Matchmaker)
- Siobhán McKenna (The Chalk Garden)
- Susan Strasberg (The Diary of Anne Frank)
- Gwen Verdon (Damn Yankees)
- Carol Channing (The Vamp)
- Nancy Walker (Phoenix '55)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor
- Ed Begley (Inherit the Wind)
- Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain)
- Andy Griffith (No Time for Sergeants)
- Anthony Quayle (Tamburlaine the Great)
- Fritz Weaver (The Chalk Garden)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actress
- Una Merkel (The Ponder Heart)
- Diane Cilento (Tiger at the Gates)
- Anne Jackson (Middle of the Night)
- Elaine Stritch (Bus Stop)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actor
- Russ Brown (Damn Yankees)
- Mike Kellin (Pipe Dream)
- Will Mahoney (Finian's Rainbow)
- Scott Merrill (The Threepenny Opera)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actress
- Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera)
- Rae Allen (Damn Yankees)
- Pat Carroll (Catch a Star)
- Judy Tyler (Pipe Dream)
Craft
- Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker)
- Joseph Anthony (The Lark)
- Harold Clurman (Bus Stop / Pipe Dream / Tiger at the Gates)
- Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker / Six Characters in Search of an Author / Tamburlaine the Great)
- Garson Kanin (The Diary of Anne Frank)
- Elia Kazan (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
- Albert Marre (The Chalk Garden)
- Herman Shumlin (Inherit the Wind)
- Bob Fosse (Damn Yankees)
- Robert Alton (The Vamp)
- Boris Runanin (Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
- Anna Sokolow (Red Roses for Me)
- Peter Larkin (Inherit the Wind / No Time for Sergeants)
- Boris Aronson (The Diary of Anne Frank / Bus Stop / Once Upon a Tailor / A View from the Bridge)
- Ben Edwards (The Ponder Heart / Someone Waiting / The Honeys)
- Jo Mielziner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / The Lark / Middle of the Night / Pipe Dream)
- Raymond Sovey (The Great Sebastians)
- 'Alvin Colt (Pipe Dream)
- Mainbocher (The Great Sebastians)
- Alvin Colt (The Lark / Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
- Helene Pons (The Diary of Anne Frank / Heavenly Twins / A View from the Bridge)
Conductor and Musical Director
- Hal Hastings (Damn Yankees)
- Salvatore Dell'Isola (Pipe Dream)
- Milton Rosenstock (The Vamp)
Stage Technician
- Harry Green, electrician and sound man, (Middle of the Night / Damn Yankees)
- Larry Bland, carpenter, (Middle of the Night / The Ponder Heart / Porgy and Bess)
Special awards
- City Center
- Fourth Street Chekov Theatre
- The Shakespearewrights
- The Threepenny Opera, distinguished Off-Broadway production
- The Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library on its twenty-fifth anniversary, for its distinguished service to the theatre.
References
External links
- ↑ Zolotow, Sam. "Theatre Wing's 'Tony' Awards Presented at Dinner Here: 'Damn Yankees' and 'Anne Frank' Cited as Top Offerings Producing Trio Scores Again Other Award Winners", The New York Times, April 2, 1956, p. 20
- ↑ Gelb, Arthur. "Popularizing the 'Tony' Awards", The New York Times, April 1, 1956, p.93
- ↑ "1956 Tony Awards (Winners)" infoplease.com, accessed June 22, 2012
- ↑ "1956 Tony Award Winners", broadwayworld.com, accessed May 28, 2016