1971 TONY AWARDS, THE (TV)
Summary
The twenty-fifth annual presentation of the American Theatre Wing Tony (Antoinette Perry) awards for excellence in the Broadway theater, telecast live from the Palace theater in New York. This year's program, hosted by Lauren Bacall, Anthony Quinn, Angela Lansbury, and Anthony Quayle, salutes twenty-five years of award-winning musicals. Included are musical numbers from each of the twenty-four previous Best Musicals, many featuring the original players. First, David Wayne sings "When I'm Not Near the Girl I Love" from "Finian's Rainbow" (1947), Nanette Fabray sings "Papa, Won't You Dance with Me?" from "High Button Shoes" (1948), and Alfred Drake performs "Where Is the Life That Late I Led?" from "Kiss Me Kate" (1949). Awards are presented to the first series of winners, who include Boris Aronson ("Company") for Best Scenic Design, Raoul Pene du Bois ("No, No, Nanette") for Best Costume Design, and H.R. Poindexter ("Story Theatre") for Best Lighting. Next, Ray Walston and company perform "There Is Nothin' Like a Dame" from "South Pacific" (1950), Vivian Blaine sings "Adelaide's Lament" from "Guys and Dolls" (1951), and Patricia Morison and Yul Brynner sing and dance to "Shall We Dance" from "The King and I" (1952). Winners of the awards that follow include Keene Curtis ("The Rothschilds") for Best Supporting Actor, Musical; and Patsy Kelly ("No, No, Nanette") for Best Supporting Actress, Musical. Edie Adams sings "It's Love" from "Wonderful Town" (1953), Alfred Drake sings "The Olive Tree" from "Kismet" (1954), and Gwen Verdon dances to "Can-Can" before presenting an award to Donald Saddler ("No, No, Nanette") for Best Choreographer. John Raitt sings "Hey There" from "The Pajama Game" (1955), and Verdon sings "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)" to Walston from "Damn Yankees" (1956). The next award winner is Hal Prince ("Company") for Best Director, Musical. Stanley Holloway then sings "Get Me to the Church on Time" from "My Fair Lady" (1957), and awards are presented to Rae Allen ("And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little") for Best Supporting Actress, Play; and to Paul Sand ("Story Theatre") for Best Supporting Actor, Play. Next, Robert Preston sings "Ya Got Trouble" from "The Music Man" (1958) and Richard Kiley and Verdon perform "Look Who's in Love" from "Redhead" (1959); special awards are then presented by Dick Cavett to producer Roger L. Stevens, and by Ruby Keeler to John Kluge of Playbill magazine. Tom Bosley sings "The Name's LaGuardia" from "Fiorello!" (1960), Florence Henderson sings the title song from "The Sound of Music" (1960), Paul Lynde sings "Kids" from "Bye Bye Birdie" (1961), Robert Morse sings "I Believe in You" from "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (1962), and Zero Mostel sings "Comedy Tonight" from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1963). The next award is given to Brian Bedford ("The School for Wives") for Best Actor, Play. Next, Carol Channing sings "Before the Parade Passes By" from "Hello, Dolly!" (1964), Mostel sings "If I Were a Rich Man" from "Fiddler on the Roof" (1965), Angela Lansbury sings "Open a New Window" from "Mame" (1966), and Kiley sings "The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" from "Man of La Mancha." Awards are then given to Anthony Shaffer ("Sleuth") for Best Play, and Maureen Stapleton ("The Gingerbread Lady") for Best Actress, Play. Jill Haworth then sings the title song from "Cabaret" (1967), Leslie Uggams performs "Now's the Time" from "Hallelujah, Baby" (1968), William Daniels and Virginia Vestoff sing "Till Then" from "1776" (1969), and Lauren Bacall sings "Welcome to the Theater" from the Best Musical of 1970, "Applause." The final awards are presented, including: Helen Gallagher ("No, No, Nanette") for Best Actress, Musical; Hal Linden ("The Rothschilds") for Best Actor, Musical; Stephen Sondheim for Best Music and Best Lyrics; George Furth ("Company") for Best Book, Musical; and Hal Prince ("Company") for Best Musical. The program concludes as the entire company sings "There's No Business Like Show Business." Commercials deleted. This program contains minor technical problems. This represents the best copy of this program currently available to the Museum.
Cataloging of this program has been made possible by Senator Roy M. Goodman, 1998/1999.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: March 28, 1971 Sunday 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:02:03
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:57378
- GENRE: Award presentations
- SUBJECT HEADING: Award presentations; Tony Awards - 1971
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1971
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Alexander H. Cohen … Producer
- Roy A. Somlyo … Associate Producer
- Clark Jones … Director
- Enid Victor … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Hildy Parks … Writer
- Bob Herget … Choreographer
- Elliot Lawrence … Music (Misc. Credits), Musical Director
- Lauren Bacall … Host
- Angela Lansbury … Host
- Anthony Quayle … Host
- Anthony Quinn … Host
- Dick Cavett … Presenter
- Carol Channing … Presenter, Performer
- Ruby Keeler … Presenter
- Edie Adams … Performer
- Vivian Blaine … Performer
- Tom Bosley … Performer
- Yul Brynner … Performer
- William Daniels … Performer
- Alfred Drake … Performer
- Nanette Fabray … Performer
- Jill Haworth … Performer
- Florence Henderson … Performer
- Stanley Holloway … Performer
- Richard Kiley … Performer
- Paul Lynde … Performer
- Patricia Morison … Performer
- Robert Morse … Performer
- Zero Mostel … Performer
- Robert Preston … Performer
- John Raitt … Performer
- Leslie Uggams … Performer
- Gwen Verdon … Performer
- Virginia Vestoff … Performer
- Ray Walston … Performer
- David Wayne … Performer
- Rae Allen
- Boris Aronson
- Brian Bedford
- Keene Curtis
- George Furth
- Helen Gallagher
- Patsy Kelly
- Hal Linden
- Pene Du Bois, Raoul
- Hal Prince (See also: Harold Prince)
- Donald Saddler
- Paul Sand
- Anthony Shaffer
- Stephen Sondheim
- Maureen Stapleton