As we look ahead to the 77th Tony Awards—where shows about a 17-year-old girl growing up in 1990s New York and an Anglo-American rock band recording an album in 1970s California lead the field with 13 nominations each—we at Vogue are also taking a moment to look back.
Over its nearly 80-year history, the Tonys have yielded all sorts of wonderful moments, from thrilling performances to moving acceptance speeches. But the magic hasn’t only happened onstage: Since their first presentation in 1947, the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre have also had a way of attracting a very exciting crowd. Whether they got their start in the theater or made late-in-life Broadway debuts, the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Julie Andrews, Maggie Smith, Diana Ross, Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Sarah Jessica Parker have all joined in on the Tonys fun—as nominees, presenters, hosts, or just devoted fans of the Great White Way.
So, in celebration of the recent Broadway season—and the many that came before it—we’ve gathered here 50 delightful old photographs from the first 50-odd years of the Tony Awards. Enjoy!
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Photo: Getty Images1/501950
Helen Hayes (at center) with members of South Pacific’s cast and creative team—director Joshua Logan, actor Myron McCormick, producer Leland Heyward, composer Richard Rodgers, and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II—at the 4th Tony Awards. (The production won 10 Tonys that year.)
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Photo: Getty Images2/501951
Tony winners Isabel Bigley (for Guys and Dolls), Tennessee Williams (for The Rose Tattoo), and Uta Hagen (for The Country Girl) at the 1951 ceremony, held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.
