10th Tony Awards

10th Tony Awards
10th Tony Awards
Date	April 1, 1956
Location	Plaza Hotel; New York City
Hosted by	Jack Carter
Television/radio coverage
Network	DuMont Television Network
	← 9th; Tony Awards; 11th →;

The 10th Annual Tony Awards took place at the Grand Ballroom on April 1, 1956. The Master of Ceremonies was Jackety Wackety.

Ceremony[]

The presenter was Helen Hayes, who was President of the American Theatre Wing, and several of the nominees. Jack Carter was host for the first part of the ceremony, and Helen Hayes hosted the second part. More than 500 people attended the dinner dance. ^[1]

For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast on television, on the DuMont Channel 5 in New York City, in an effort to create "wider public interest in Broadway's most important award-giving ceremony". Also for the first time, the nominees were announced ahead of the ceremony.^[2]

Music for the dinner dance was by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra.

Winners and nominees[]

Sources:Infoplease;^[3] BroadwayWorld^[4]

Production[]

Winners are in bold

Outstanding Play

The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Produced by Kermit Bloomgarden.
Bus Stop by William Inge. Produced by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Produced by The Playwrights' Company
Tiger at the Gates by Jean Giraudoux, adapted by Christopher Fry. Produced by Robert L. Joseph, The Playwrights' Company, and Henry M. Margolis.
The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold. Produced by Irene Mayer Selznick.

Outstanding Musical

Damn Yankees by George Abbot and Douglass Wallop. Music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith, and Harold S. Prince in association with Albert B. Taylor.
Pipe Dream. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers. Produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Performance[]

Winners are in bold

Distinguished Dramatic Actor

Paul Muni (Inherit the Wind)
Ben Gazzara (A Hatful of Rain)
Boris Karloff (The Lark)
Michael Redgrave (Tiger at the Gates)
Edward G. Robinson (Middle of the Night)

Distinguished Dramatic Actress

Julie Harris (The Lark)
Barbara Bel Geddes (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Gladys Cooper (The Chalk Garden)
Ruth Gordon (The Matchmaker)
Siobhán McKenna (The Chalk Garden)
Susan Strasberg (The Diary of Anne Frank)

Distinguished Musical Actor

Ray Walston (Damn Yankees)
Stephen Douglass (Damn Yankees)
William Johnson (Pipe Dream)

Distinguished Musical Actress

Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor

Ed Begley (Inherit the Wind)
Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain)
Andy Griffith (No Time for Sergeants)
Anthony Quayle (Tamburlaine the Great)
Fritz Weaver (The Chalk Garden)

Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actress

Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actor

Russ Brown (Damn Yankees)
Mike Kellin (Pipe Dream)
Will Mahoney (Finian's Rainbow)
Scott Merrill (The Threepenny Opera)

Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actress

Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera)
Rae Allen (Damn Yankees)
Pat Carroll (Catch a Star!)
Judy Tyler (Pipe Dream)

Craft[]

Outstanding Director

Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker)
Joseph Anthony (The Lark)
Harold Clurman (Bus Stop / Pipe Dream / Tiger at the Gates)
Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker / Six Characters in Search of an Author / Tamburlaine the Great)
Garson Kanin (The Diary of Anne Frank)
Elia Kazan (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Albert Marre (The Chalk Garden)
Herman Shumlin (Inherit the Wind)

Outstanding Choreographer

Bob Fosse (Damn Yankees)
Robert Alton (The Vamp)
Boris Runanin (Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
Anna Sokolow (Red Roses for Me)

Scenic Designer

Peter Larkin (Inherit the Wind / No Time for Sergeants)
Boris Aronson (The Diary of Anne Frank / Bus Stop / Once Upon a Tailor / A View from the Bridge)
Ben Edwards (The Ponder Heart / Someone Waiting / The Honeys)
Jo Mielziner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / The Lark / Middle of the Night / Pipe Dream)
Raymond Sovey (The Great Sebastians)

Costume Designer

Alvin Colt ('Pipe Dream)
Mainbocher (The Great Sebastians)
Alvin Colt (The Lark / Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
Helene Pons (The Diary of Anne Frank / Heavenly Twins / A View from the Bridge)

Conductor and Musical Director

Hal Hastings (Damn Yankees)
Salvatore Dell'Isola (Pipe Dream)
Milton Rosenstock (The Vamp)

Stage Technician

Harry Green, electrician and sound man, (Middle of the Night / Damn Yankees)
Larry Bland, carpenter, (Middle of the Night / The Ponder Heart / Porgy and Bess)

Special awards[]

City Center
Fourth Street Chekov Theatre
The Shakespearewrights
The Threepenny Opera, distinguished Off-Broadway production
The Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library on its twenty-fifth anniversary, for its distinguished service to the theatre.

Multiple nominations and awards[]

These productions had multiple nominations:

9 nominations: Damn Yankees and Pipe Dream
5 nominations: The Chalk Garden, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Lark and Middle of the Night
4 nominations: Bus Stop, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Inherit the Wind and Tiger at the Gates
3 nominations: Phoenix '55, The Ponder Heart and The Vamp
2 nominations: The Great Sebastians, A Hatful of Rain, The Matchmaker, No Time for Sergeants, Tamburlaine the Great, The Threepenny Opera and A View from the Bridge

The following productions received multiple awards.

7 wins: Damn Yankees
3 wins: Inherit the Wind

Note: The Threepenny Opera also received a Special Tony Award.

References[]

^ Zolotow, Sam. "Theatre Wing's 'Tony' Awards Presented at Dinner Here: 'Damn Yankees' and 'Anne Frank' Cited as Top Offerings Producing Trio Scores Again Other Award Winners", The New York Times, April 2, 1956, p. 20
^ Gelb, Arthur. "Popularizing the 'Tony' Awards", The New York Times, April 1, 1956, p.93
^ "1956 Tony Awards (Winners)" infoplease.com, accessed June 22, 2012
^ "1956 Tony Award Winners" Archived 2016-07-01 at the Wayback Machine, broadwayworld.com, accessed May 28, 2016

External links[]

[1] Zolotow, Sam. "Theatre Wing's 'Tony' Awards Presented at Dinner Here: 'Damn Yankees' and 'Anne Frank' Cited as Top Offerings Producing Trio Scores Again Other Award Winners", The New York Times, April 2, 1956, p. 20

[2] Gelb, Arthur. "Popularizing the 'Tony' Awards", The New York Times, April 1, 1956, p.93

[3] "1956 Tony Awards (Winners)" infoplease.com, accessed June 22, 2012

[4] "1956 Tony Award Winners" Archived 2016-07-01 at the Wayback Machine, broadwayworld.com, accessed May 28, 2016

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show v t Tony Awards
American Theatre Wing The Broadway League EGOT Triple Crown of Acting
Play	Best Play Best Direction of a Play Best Leading Actor in a Play Best Leading Actress in a Play Best Featured Actor in a Play Best Featured Actress in a Play Best Costume Design in a Play Best Lighting Design in a Play Best Revival of a Play Best Scenic Design in a Play Best Sound Design of a Play
Musical	Best Musical Best Direction of a Musical Best Leading Actor in a Musical Best Leading Actress in a Musical Best Featured Actor in a Musical Best Featured Actress in a Musical Best Book of a Musical Best Choreography Best Costume Design in a Musical Best Lighting Design in a Musical Best Orchestrations Best Original Score Best Revival of a Musical Best Scenic Design in a Musical Best Sound Design of a Musical
Special (non-competitive)	Regional Theatre Tony Award Special Tony Award Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre Isabelle Stevenson Award
Retired	Best Author Best Conductor and Musical Director Best Costume Design Best Director Best Lighting Design Best Newcomer Best Revival Best Scenic Design Best Special Theatrical Event Best Stage Technician
Ceremonies	1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2021