How Playwrights Tony Kushner, Jeremy O. Harris, Martyna Majok and More Mobilized To Rescue The Tony Awards

As BroadwayWorld previously reported, the 2023 Tony Awards are set to air live on CBS, Sunday, June 11, after narrowly avoiding cancelation due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. According to a new report in The New York Times, the Broadway industry has a group of its finest playwrights to thank for the fortuitous turn of events. 

A number of well-known dramatists, many of whom moonlight as screenwriters with the WGA, were behind a concerted effort to convince union leaders to preserve the Tony Awards telecast, citing the necessity of the show in rehabilitating the health of the theatre industry following the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Pulitzer Prize-winner Tony Kushner, author of Angels In America and screenwriter behind such films as The Fabelmans and West Side Story, was part of the effort, using his influence to convince the guild to allow the Tonys to air. Kushner has been seen on picket lines with his fellow screenwriters since the strike began. 

He told The Times, “Theater is having a very hard time coming back from the devastating effects of the pandemic — shows are struggling and nonprofit theaters are struggling terribly...Ethically and morally, this felt like a recognition of the particular vulnerability of the theater industry. It’s the right thing to do, and costs us nothing.”

Kushner was joined by numerous colleagues, including 2023 Tony nominees David Lindsay- Abaire (Kimberly Akimbo), and Martyna Majok (Cost of Living), Pulitzer Prize-winners Lynn Nottage and Quiara Alegría Hudes, acclaimed dramatists Jeremy O. Harris, David Henry Hwang and Donald Marguiles and more in a weekend blitz of emails and phone calls to convince the union to allow the show to go on. 

Tony-nominee Majok said, “I approached them with respect and gratitude for all they have done for me, but this decision was impacting so many of my colleagues and friends deeply, in an industry that is still financially struggling.”

Though the WGA East, home to numerous multi-hyphenate writers, was in favor of the move, understanding the importance of theatre as the lifeblood of many of its members, the Hollywood-oriented WGA West took some convincing. The union had previously rejected a waiver request to allow the show to air as planned. 

Eventually the WGA leadership opted to forego picketing the event when Tony producers agreed to a totally unscripted telecast. Also omitted from the show is a previously planned opening number penned by theatre and film composer, Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Playwright and television writer Tanya Barfield told The Times, “People that don’t work in playwriting don’t always have a meaningful understanding of how important Broadway is to Off Broadway and to regional theaters — they’re really a beacon for the community at large, and even if you don’t care about the glitz and the glamour, if they start to lose money, it has impacts all over the country.”

Read full story at The New York Times.

The 76th Annual Tony Awards will be presented for the first time at the United Palace Theatre, in New York City, on Sunday, June 11, 2023, in a four-hour television and streaming event that will be broadcast live coast to coast. Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose will return to host for the second year in a row.

The celebration will commence at 7:00 - 8:00pm, ET/4:00 - 5:00pm, PT with exclusive content streaming only on Paramount+, followed by the presentation of the American Theatre Wing's 76th Annual Tony Awards from 8:00-11:00pm, LIVE ET/5:00 - 8:00pm, LIVE PT on the CBS Television Network, and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.

THE TONY AWARDS: ACT ONE, a pre-show of live, exclusive content leading into THE 76TH ANNUAL TONY AWARDS, will air at 6:30-8:00pm, ET/3:30-5:00pm PT on Pluto TV. Viewers can access the show on their smart TV, streaming device, mobile app or online by going to Pluto TV and clicking on the "Pluto TV Celebrity" channel (no payment, registration or sign-in required).

Click here to learn Everything We Know About the 2023 Tony Awards.