The Tony Awards may physically be back at Radio City Music Hall, but how to physically watch them is impressively confusing. We’ve waded through the long list of watching options to put together a guide to watching Broadway’s biggest night this Sunday.
The night begins with The Tony Awards: Act One at 7 p.m. What is The Tony Awards: Act One? Well, it’s a special hosted by Darren Criss and Julianne Hough, where they give out awards and introduce performances. How is that different from the actual Tony Awards? Remains unclear. What is clear is that if you want to see all the awards and all the performances, your night needs to begin with Paramount+, because it’s the only spot with Act One. We look forward to seeing Hough interact with a man everybody is surprised is straight that’s not her brother, Derek.
Then at 8 p.m., the real show starts. This year, the Tony Awards will be hosted by recent Oscar winner and former Tony nominee Ariana DeBose. Despite the first part of the program being called The Tony Awards: Act One, this second event is not being billed as The Tony Awards: Act Two, an implied event that does not exist. The functional difference between this part of the program and Act One other than who the host is and where you can access it remains unclear. What is clear is that you have a few options for where to watch this part of the show. It will be streaming live on Paramount+, broadcast live on CBS, and airing on live-TV streaming services like Hulu + Live TV and YouTube TV. We’re hoping they give DeBose the T in EGOT just for deigning to host the Tonys, a job normally meant for people who don’t know to keep their mouths shut about Rachel Bloom.
