NEW YORK - 02 May 2001: The Tony Awards® return to the world wide web. On Wednesday afternoon, May 2nd, WWW.TONYS.ORG, the official website of The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards was launched from the Times Square Visitors' Center by Seussical's Aaron Carter and Tony Award winners Heather Headley of Aida and Hal Linden of The Gathering.
The official website is built and sponsored by IBM in partnership with Tony Award Productions. IBM hosts the site, developing the applications, providing systems integration and managing the operation of the site for the event's duration.
The content on the site is provided by Playbill On-line, the digital arm of Playbill Inc., has grown since its inception six years ago to become the largest source of theatre information on the Internet including breaking news, feature stories, event and job listings, and exclusive Club services. Described by The New York Times as "a front-row seat to the latest theatre news," Playbill On-Line is the premiere theatre portal.
Starting May 2nd, theatergoers who visit the website will experience unique, live multimedia coverage of this year's Tony-related events and take advantage of the most up-to-date and in-depth resource for information on Tony Awards history and trivia available anywhere, online or off, on a year-round basis. In addition, www.Tonys.org will offer the following:
Live Webcasting From the 55th Annual Tony Awards, June 3rd:
- Arrivals of the stars at this year's Tony Awards, live from the red carpet at Radio City Music Hall.
- Exclusive video webcast of the half-hour pre-show from 7:30 -- 8:00 PM live from the stage of Radio City Music Hall. This webcast marks the first time that this half-hour of instructions to the nominees and the live audience has ever been seen outside of the theatre.
- Backstage interviews with the nominees, presenters and performers immediately following their exit from the stage of Radio City Music Hall.
- The return of the official www.Tonys.org "Tony Cam." Set at Radio City Music Hall on the red carpet and the press room, web visitors can point and zoom on their favorite Broadway stars.
Complete e-xceptance Speeches from the 2001 Tony Winners:
- This year, Tony winners will be able to deliver their complete Tony acceptance speech without any time restraints via www.Tonys.org. The site will exclusively offer this year's Tony acceptance speeches in their entirety.
Live Audio Coverage of the 55th Announcement of the Annual Tony Award Nominations, Monday, May 7th at 8:30 AM
- Hear Reba McEntire and Eric McCormack announce the Tony nominations live from Sardi's in New York City. (Nominations will be posted on the site immediately following the announcement.)
Official Tony Playbill on the Web
- On Sunday evening, June 3rd, www.Tonys.org visitors can read the content of the official Tony Awards Playbill, previously exclusive to the audience at Radio City Music Hall.
Video Archive
- Video excerpts from this season's nominated plays and musicals.
- Exclusive "Tony Memory" interviews with past winners.
- Interviews with this year's nominees from the official nominee's brunch on Wednesday, May 16th.
Data Archive
- Script excerpts from this season's nominated plays and musicals.
- A comprehensive historical database of Tony winners and nominees, searchable by name, show, year, category. Also, complete list of 55 years of radio and TV broadcasts.
News and Feature Stories
- Keep up to date with the latest Tony related news provided by Playbill Online.
Tony Diaries
- First hand journal entries from cast members of this year's nominated productions.
Predict the Winners
- Visitors to www.Tonys.org can now submit their predictions. The results will be tallied and posted onsite on Saturday, June 2nd.
Send a Nominee an Official Tony e-Postcard
- www.Tonys.org visitors can now "give their regards to Broadway" by sending an e-gram to their favorite nominees.
Register Your Tony Party
- Users can register as Official Tony Parties by sending us a description of their plans. The "most inventive" Tony party descriptions will be posted on the site and sent an official limited-edition 2001 Tony Awards poster.
The American Theatre Wing's 55th Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 3. PBS stations begin the national telecast at 8:00 PM (ET/PT) with"The First Ten Awards: Tonys 2001," produced for PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York. CBS will televise "The 2001 Tony Awards"9:00-11:00 PM (ET/PT).
Due to the seating capacity at Radio City Music Hall, a limited number of tickets will be sold to the public at $100 and $250 beginning Monday, May 7th at 10:00 AM. Tickets can be purchased through Ticketmaster Tony Hotline by calling (212) 307-4544. Visa is the exclusive card accepted at the Tonys.
The Tonys are presented by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the Tonys in 1947. The Antoinette Perry Tony Awards® are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway.. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards extant and the annual telecast - the night America watches Broadway - is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television.
The American Theatre Wing, founded in 1917, is the service organization for the theatre community throughout the United States offering professional training in all aspects of theatre, seminars, educational outreach, theatre initiation programs for young people and scholarships. Antoinette "Tony" Perry, for whom the Tony Awards were named, is a founding member of the American Theatre Wing. Roy A. Somlyo is President and Isabelle Stevenson is Chairman.
The League of American Theatres and Producers, founded in 1930, is the national trade organization for the Broadway industry with over 400 members including theatre owners, operators, producers and presenters of Broadway productions in New York and 140 cities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Jed Bernstein is President and Cy Feuer is Chairman.
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM is dedicated to helping customers, business partners and developers across a wide range of industries leverage the power of the Internet for e-business. More information about IBM is available at www.ibm.com.
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Contact(s) information
Marcos Rada
IBM Media Relations
(914) 642-3868
rada@us.ibm.com
Keith Sherman
Tony Award Productions
(212) 764-7900
keiths@keithshermanassociates.com
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