Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, James Earl Jones in August Wilson's FENCES, 1987

Welcome to BroadwayWorld's Tony Award Countdown: 30 Years In 30 Days, a look at some of the Tony Awards' most memorable moments from the past three decades.

It seems that every year there's the discussion about how to present the nominated plays on the Tony Awards telecast in a manner that's both engaging and properly showcases the extraordinary work of the artists involved.

They didn't seem to have much trouble in 1987, when the telecast featured live scenes from all four Best Play nominees. There was Linda Lavin and Jonathan Silverman having a mother and son chat in Neil Simon's BROADWAY BOUND, Annette Bening and Timothy Daly in a quirky love scene from Tina Howe's COASTAL DISTURBANCES and Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan bantering of sexual politics in Christopher Hampton's LES LIASONS DANGEREUSES.

But the most riveting moment of the program came when nominees James Earl Jones and Courtney B. Vance played their scene from what would be voted the season's best play, August Wilson's FENCES. Later in the evening, one of American theatre's great couples, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, handed Jones his second Best Actor in a Play Tony Award. The first came in 1969 for THE GREAT WHITE HOPE.

The American Theatre Wing's 70th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Tony Award winner James Corden, will air on the CBS Television Network on Sunday, June 12, 2016 (8:00-11:00 PM, ET/delayed PT) live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City.