How to watch, nominees, and what to know about Broadway’s biggest night

Some technical awards will be presented during the pre-show ceremony, hosted by Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar, which will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. ET on Pluto TV.

Who is hosting the Tonys?

For the third year in a row, Ariana DeBose will host the prime-time ceremony. The Academy Award winner and Broadway veteran put her live performance chops to the test during last year’s unscripted ceremony, which was held during the WGA strike.

“We don’t have a script, you guys… To anyone who may have thought that last year was a bit unhinged, to them I say, ‘Darlings, buckle up,’” DeBose said on the broadcast.

This year’s ceremony will return to its usual scripted format, but DeBose has been known to “do the thing” or two on an award show stage, so the night could be full of surprises nonetheless. DeBose is also producing this year and co-choreographed the opening number.

Where are the Tonys being held?

For the first time in the history of the Tony Awards, this year the Tonys will be held at Lincoln Center in New York City. The telecast will take place in the David H. Koch Theater, the home of the New York City Ballet. The Tonys had historically been held at Radio City Music Hall until last year, when they moved uptown to the United Palace in Washington Heights.

Lincoln Center is also home to the Metropolitan Opera House and the Vivian Beaumont Theater, where the Broadway revival of “Uncle Vanya” starring Steve Carell is currently playing. The other shows nominated this year are playing in various Broadway theaters about 15 blocks downtown.

Who are this year’s front-runners?

This Broadway season saw a slew of original musicals opening within a few weeks of each other, but no clear front-runner for best musical has emerged.

The best musical race is especially competitive. Nominees include “Hell’s Kitchen,” a semi-autobiographical Alicia Keys jukebox musical; “Suffs,” a show about women’s suffrage, whose producing team includes Hillary Clinton and Malala Yousafzai; “The Outsiders,” an adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel and the 1983 Francis Ford Coppola film of the same name; and “Illinoise,” a formally inventive dance-forward piece adapted from Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 concept album.

“Hell’s Kitchen” leads the way in terms of nominations, tying best play nominee “Stereophonic” with 13 nominations, followed closely by “The Outsiders,” which received 12.

In the musical revival category, “Merrily We Roll Along” is favored to win over the Eddie Redmayne-led revival of “Cabaret,” which was lauded by U.K. critics upon its West End debut but has received comparatively tepid reviews on this side of the Atlantic. The show still cruised to nine nominations, including a nod for Redmayne, who already has a Tony and an Academy Award to his name, and his co-star Gayle Rankin.

The Stephen Sondheim musical “Merrily We Roll Along” was an infamous Broadway flop when it first debuted in 1981, closing after just 16 performances. Three years after the generational composer’s death, the show was reworked by director Maria Friedman and helmed by an all-star trio, Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe.

All three actors, as well as Friedman, are nominated in their respective categories. Groff, who was previously nominated for roles he originated in “Hamilton” and “Spring Awakening,” is likely to come out on top in the best leading actor in a musical race, and Mendez and Radcliffe face good odds in the supporting actress and actor categories respectively.

“Succession” star Jeremy Strong could be the “No. 1 boy” in the best leading actor in a play category, but faces competition from Leslie Odom Jr., who won his first Tony in 2016 for “Hamilton.” Sarah Paulson (“Appropriate”) and Jessica Lange (“Mother Play”) will face off for the best leading actress in a play trophy, one of the closest races of the night.

The clear front-runner in the original play category, “Stereophonic,” walks the line between musical and play. The show, written by David Adjmi, revolves around a fictional ’70s rock band recording an album. It garnered a record-breaking 13 nominations, more than any Broadway play in history.

See the full list of nominees here.

Who will perform at the Tonys this year?

It is customary for the nominated shows to perform during the broadcast. This year’s Tonys will feature performances from the casts of “Stereophonic,” “Cabaret,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Illinoise,” “Merrily We Roll Along,” “Suffs,” “The Outsiders,” “The Who’s Tommy” and “Water for Elephants.”

“Our show is going to move like a Broadway show. We want to give you a full Broadway experience,” DeBose told The Associated Press.

Presenters at the ceremony include Cynthia Erivo, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sean Hayes, Jennifer Hudson, Idina Menzel, Ben Platt, Pete Townshend, Tamara Tunie, Adrienne Warren and Jeffrey Wright.

Angelina Jolie, Nick Jonas and Anthony Ramos are also slated to present.