The 68th Annual Tony Awards were held June 8, 2014, to recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the 2013–14 season. The ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and was televised live on CBS. Hugh Jackman was the host, his fourth time hosting. The 15 musical Tony Awards went to seven different musicals, and six plays shared the 11 play Tony Awards.
The nominations were announced on April 29, 2014 by Jonathan Groff and Lucy Liu. Audra McDonald won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. In just her ninth Broadway engagement, McDonald established two records as the first actor to win six Tony Awards for acting and the first to win in all four categories, lead and featured in both a play and a musical. In its seventh Broadway incarnation, The Glass Menagerie won its first Tony Award (Lighting Design).
Eligibility
Shows that opened on Broadway during the 2013–14 season before April 24, 2014, were eligible for consideration.
Original plays
Act One
All the Way
Bronx Bombers
Casa Valentina
Mothers and Sons
Outside Mullingar
The Realistic Joneses
The Snow Geese
A Time to Kill
The Velocity of Autumn
Original musicals
After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Big Fish
The Bridges of Madison County
Bullets Over Broadway
First Date
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
If/Then
A Night with Janis Joplin
Rocky the Musical
Soul Doctor
Play revivals
Betrayal
The Cripple of Inishmaan
The Glass Menagerie
Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill
Macbeth
Machinal
No Man's Land
Of Mice and Men
A Raisin in the Sun
Richard III
Romeo and Juliet
Twelfth Night
Waiting for Godot
The Winslow Boy
Musical revivals
Cabaret
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Les Misérables
Violet
Ceremony
During the opening sequence of the ceremony, Jackman hopped along to the song "Take Me to Broadway," in an homage to Bobby Van's hopping in the 1953 film Small Town Girl.
The ceremony included performances from the nominated musicals (both new and revival) as well as other current musicals. The performances include:
Neil Patrick Harris (who hosted the last 3 ceremonies) and the cast of Hedwig and the Angry Inch performing "Sugar Daddy," Sutton Foster with the cast of Violet performing a medley of "On My Way" and "Raise You Up," Alan Cumming and the cast of Cabaret performing "Wilkommen," and Idina Menzel performing "Always Starting Over: from If/Then.
From the other shows that were nominated either for Best Musical or Best Revival. Those performances include:
James Monroe Iglehart, Adam Jacobs, and the cast of Aladdin performing "Friend Like Me"; Ramin Karimloo and the cast of Les Misérables performing "One Day More"; Jessie Mueller and the cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical performing a medley of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" and "I Feel The Earth Move" (with Carole King herself); Bryce Pinkham, Lisa O'Hare, and Lauren Worsham from A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder performing "I've Decided to Marry You"; the cast of Bullets Over Broadway performing "T'Aint Nobody's Business"; and Andy Karl and the cast of Rocky performing "Eye of the Tiger" and the Final Box Fight scene.
Additionally, Wicked performed to celebrate its 10th anniversary, with Christine Dwyer and Jenni Barber in a performance of "For Good"; Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight and Fantasia performed with the cast of After Midnight; and Sting performed a song from his new musical The Last Ship. Jennifer Hudson sang from a new musical, Finding Neverland.
The finale included Jackman in a dance number with all the Tony Award winners on stage.
The presenters included:
Kevin Bacon
Matt Bomer
Wayne Brady
Zach Braff
Kenneth Branagh
Patricia Clarkson
Bradley Cooper
Alan Cumming
Fran Drescher
Clint Eastwood
Emilio Estefan
Gloria Estefan
Vera Farmiga
Tony Goldwyn
Anna Gunn
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Ethan Hawke
Carole King
Zachary Levi
Orlando Bloom
Tina Fey
Jonathan Groff
LL Cool J
Samuel L. Jackson
Judith Light
Lucy Liu
Kate Mara
Leighton Meester
Audra McDonald
Alessandro Nivola
Zachary Quinto
Emmy Rossum
Rosie O'Donnell
T.I. Patrick Wilson