Tony Awards to Appeal Again to WGA; Reports Say Ceremony Will Not Be Postponed

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, the current WGA strike is having a major impact on the 76th Annual Tony Awards. On Friday, the union rejected a waiver submitted by the ceremony's organizers that requested the broadcast go on as planned on June 11.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Tony Awards Management Committee will appeal to the Writers Guild of America and ask the guild not to picket the televised awards ceremony, to potentially move forward with the broadcast. The decision to appeal again was made after the Tony Awards Management Committee held an emergency meeting today. Another potential option for the Tony Awards would be presenting the awards at a non-televised event. According to The Hollywood Reporter, postponement is no longer an option.

The last WGA strike lasted for three months in 2007-08. The 2023 strike officially began on May 2, 2023, with main issues revolving around increased pay, better residuals from streaming media, AI "writing" regulation, and staffing minimum requirements.

At this time, all other awards ceremonies of the 2022/23 theatre season, including the Drama League Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, etc., remain uneffected by the strike.

The 76th Annual Tony Awards nominations were announced on May 2, 2023. Check out the full list of nominees. At this time, the cermony is still set to be hosted by Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose from the historic United Palace in New York City's Washington Heights on Sunday, June 11.