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The Tony Awards

Test your knowledge of the Great White Way with this quiz dedicated to Broadway’s most prestigious award—the Tony!

1. Director Harold Prince has won more Tony Awards than any other person in history. How many has he won?
   • 8
   • 15
   • 21
   • 26

   21

   Prince’s 21 awards include 8 for directing, 8 for producing, 2 as producer of the year’s Best Musical, and 3 special Tony Awards.

2. Who has hosted the most Tony telecasts?
   • Angela Lansbury
   • Julie Andrews
   • Hugh Jackman
   • Robert Preston

   Angela Lansbury

   Lansbury has hosted the Tony telecast 5 times; Julie Andrews, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Preston are all tied for second place, each having hosted 3 times.

3. Bob Fosse is the only director to have won a Tony, an Oscar, and an Emmy in the same year. Which year was it?
   • 1980
   • 1972
   • 1973
   • 1978

   1973

   Fosse won the Tony for Pippin, the Oscar for Cabaret, and the Emmy for Liza with a Z, all in 1973.

4. Which of these actresses did not win a Tony and an Oscar in the same year?
   • Shirley Booth
   • Meryl Streep
   • Judi Dench
   • Audrey Hepburn

   Meryl Streep

   Shirley Booth won the Tony for The Time of the Cuckoo and the Oscar for Come Back, Little Sheba in 1953; Audrey Hepburn won the Tony for Ondine and the Oscar for Roman Holiday, also in 1953; and Judi Dench won the Tony for Amy’s View and the Oscar for Shakespeare in Love in 1999. Although she has several Oscars, to date, Meryl Streep has not won a Tony.

5. Rags (1987) holds the distinction of having the shortest run of any Best Musical nominee in Tony Award history. How many performances did it have before it closed?
   • 4
   • 9
   • 15
   • 20

   4

   Rags, the story of immigrants on the Lower East Side of New York City, opened on August 21 and closed on August 23, 1986.

6. Only once in the history of the Tony Awards was there a tie in the Best Musical Category. It happened in 1960—which two musicals won the award?
   • The Sound of Music and Gypsy
   • Gypsy and Fiorello!
   • Gypsy and Take Me Along
   • The Sound of Music and Fiorello!
7. What year were the first Tony Awards presented?
   • 1945
   • 1947
   • 1949
   • 1951

   1947

   The first Tony Awards ceremony was held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel and was broadcast on the radio. Tickets for the event were $7.00.

8. The Tony Award statuette did not appear until the third year the awards were given. What was given to award recipients for the first two years?
   • Cigarette lighter
   • Certificate
   • Bracelet
   • Watch

   Cigarette lighter

   There were actually three types of awards given those first two years, in addition to the scroll with the award title: an engraved sterling silver compact case for women, and a cigarette lighter or bill clip for the men.

9. In 1971, Larry Kert was nominated for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Company. Why was this remarkable?
   • He is the only nominee to leave a show before being nominated
   • He was the only cast member of Company to be nominated
   • He is the only cast replacement to ever be nominated
   • He is the youngest person to be nominated for a Sondheim musical

   He is the only cast replacement to ever be nominated

   Dean Jones originated the role of Robert in Company but left soon after the show opened; Larry Kert was his replacement and received the Tony nomination. It is the only time in Tony Award history that the replacement for an original cast member was given the nomination.

10. Only one play has won Best Revival twice, for two different productions. Which one was it?
    • A Streetcar Named Desire
    • Death of a Salesman
    • A Raisin in the Sun
    • Inherit the Wind

    Death of a Salesman

    This classic Arthur Miller play won Best Revival in 1984 with Dustin Hoffman as Willy Loman, and again in 1999 with Brian Dennehy as Loman.

11. Which person did not win the Tony and the Oscar for the same role?
    • Julie Andrews for The Sound of Music
    • Yul Brynner for The King and I
    • Joel Grey for Cabaret
    • Shirley Booth for Come Back, Little Sheba

    Julie Andrews for The Sound of Music

    Mary Martin was the original Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music on Broadway, and she did win the Tony. Julie Andrews never appeared on stage as Maria.

12. Which show won Best Musical in 2004?
    • Wicked
    • Avenue Q
    • Caroline, or Change
    • The Boy From Oz

    Avenue Q

    Although Wicked was considered by many to be a sure thing to win Best Musical, the irreverent Avenue Q stole the show—and the award.

13. Two Kander & Ebb musicals, Chicago (1976) and Steel Pier (1997), won the same number of Tony Awards. How many did each show win?
    • 0
    • 4
    • 8
    • 11

    0

    Although each show was nominated for 11 awards, they were both completely shut out at the ceremony. Chicago was up against A Chorus Line which swept the awards that year. Ironically, many of the awards for which Steel Pier was nominated were won by the revival of Chicago.

14. Which show did not win Best Musical?
    • Les Miserables
    • West Side Story
    • Phantom of the Opera
    • Cats

    West Side Story

    West Side Story, arguably the most important musical of the modern era, lost to Meredith Wilson’s Music Man in 1958.

15. Of the 9 Tony Awards Bob Fosse won, how many were for Best Choreography?
    • 1
    • 3
    • 8
    • 9

    8

    Fosse’s eight Best Choreography awards were for Pajama Game (1955), Damn Yankees (1956), Redhead (1959), Little Me (1963), Sweet Charity (1966), Pippin (1973), Dancin’ (1978), and Big Deal (1986). The ninth was for Best Direction (Pippin).