简介：The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and performances, as well as discretionary non-competitive Special Tony Awards and the Regional Theatre Tony Award, and the Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.
The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document "Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards", which applies for each season only. In British theatre, the equivalent of the Tony award is the Laurence Olivier Award. A number of the world's longest-running and most successful shows, as well as some actors, directors, choreographers and designers, have been successful in receiving both Tony Awards and Olivier Awards. The Tony Awards are considered the highest U.S. theatre honor, the U.S. theatre industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards (Oscars) for motion pictures.
In recent years, the Tony Awards ceremony has been held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast on CBS television. The 63rd Tony Awards ceremony is scheduled to be held on June 7, 2009 at Radio City Music Hall, with a three-hour broadcast on CBS television. The cut-off for nomination eligibility for the 2008-2009 Broadway season is April 30, 2009.
