The 75th Annual Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 12. Cheddar News takes a closer look at who's nominated and what audiences can expect from the ceremony. 

Between Bells

Countdown to the 75th Annual Tony Awards 

tell you a story this show because we had the prefix. Yeah. I had the honor of seeing the show in person. It is fab. And if you didn't know that was a clip from the Tony nominated six the musical. And yes, it's finally time to dust off your shiny new tux, grab your playbills because broadway's biggest night is finally here. That is right. We're talking about the 75th annual Tony Awards and this year's show is sure to be one for the books. The Tonys returns to CBS and Radio City music called sunday june 12th and honors the first full broadway season since the Covid 19 shutdown. It also marks the first time the ceremony will be televised on the West Coast broadcasting Coast to coast actor. Ariana DeBose has been taped tapped to host the ceremonies. 29 productions. They're nominated this year. So there's a lot to choose from. Yeah, she is a star. A strange loop by the way, dominating with 11 nominations. Meanwhile, MJ the musical and Paradise Square tie with 10 knots Of course, in true Tony's fashions will see performances from all six of the ceremonies most coveted best musical nominees, including probably one of the most talked about production surrounding the King of Pop himself. Take a look. Mhm No. So, So that's why I'm secretly rooting for MJ. The musical's lead. Miles frost is a shoo in to take home the best actor award. The 21 year old has taken Broadway by storm and perhaps what's most impressive. He said he was a college junior studying audio engineering when he got the call to audition. How cool this year's representation. Or this year representation is on full display with eight black writers debuting their work and of those include a stranger Loop which is expected to make a sweep this year. The mega musical follows a queer black man writing about well a queer gay black man. The show takes audiences on a loopy ride as the main character battles demons and doubts whether trying to write a show while trying to write a show. The play also makes history after the Starla morgan lee became the first openly trans performer to be nominated for her performance for Colored Girls. It's also making broadway history, its director and choreographer, Camille A Brown is the first black woman to do both on broadway in more than 60 years. The play lends seven Tony nominations, including best director direction, choreography and costume design. This also marks Brown's directorial debut on broadway. The play is based on poems and features various experiences of black women set to dance and song. Brown says the nominations mean a lot of both herself and her community and hopefully this shows little black girls like me when I used to look up to Diane McIntyre and Marley here be it shows them that you can dance, you can choreograph and you can direct. So I feel like it's a powerful statement and it's a moment and I cherish and appreciate it. I saw this opening night. It was so powerful for Colored Girls will have to go up against second stages. Take me out in the battle for the best revival of a play award. The play has been in headlines, but not for what you think unless you've been living under a rock, you know, that that leaked video and images exposing star and friend of the network jesse Williams Naked body caused quite the controversy. But despite the mishap, the play is really gaining critical acclaim for its story of acceptance and inclusion and details the fictional story of a baseball player who comes out as gay and the repercussions it has on his team. The play landed for Tony nods, including best performance by an actor. Williams says the entire journey has been a surreal experience. We're working so hard and it's really a testament to our our collective team. It is a really terrific material. It starts with the writer Richard Greenberg on up through our director scott Ellis, and I'm just, it's really humbling and we just try to put together, you know, it's interesting because we still have to put together eight shows a week. So I gotta go to work after this and get on stage and make it real for everybody that comes through. So I'm I'm really, really honored and thankful to the entire broadway community for for welcoming me and and and letting me play around a little bit. Another play inspired by true stories is Broadway's newest musical, Paradise Square. Take a look, the striking sound of different people finding to survive and the city's biggest mama on the street and disrepair. I built a little weed Kam Paradise Square. As you mentioned earlier, the plate landed 10 nominations. The play was built from scratch and put together entirely during the Covid era and tells the story of the mixed irish and black community in lower Manhattan, famously known as the five point slum. The community lives in perfect harmony until it's sudden depart are suddenly torn apart by the Civil War draft riots. Star AJ Shively is up for the Best Actor Award and says the nod is a true dream come true. You know, I joined the project in 2018 back in its developmental phase. Um and it's, the show has grown and changed so much and I as an actor have grown and changed so much Just being a part of it. We were supposed to come to New York in 2020 and were sidelined by the pandemic. Like so many other shows and just getting to broadway felt like a dream come true. So the fact that we've been recognized in in such a fantastic way with all of these, these accolades and nominations is it's just, it's unbelievable, my money is on this for choreography, absolutely incredible. And come sunday, all of these plays and the people behind their success will finally get the recognition they deserve. We know they were hit very hard by the pandemic, so we're rooting for everyone.