20th Tony Awards

The 20th Annual Tony Awards was broadcast on June 16, 1966 from the The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center on Radio Station WCBS. This was the first afternoon Tony Awards ceremony. The Masters of Ceremonies were George Abbott and Ginger Rogers. The ceremony was sponsored by the League of New York Theatres in conjunction with the American Theatre Wing, which had previously solely arranged the ceremony.^[1]

Presenters: Lauren Bacall, Herschel Bernardi, Sandy Dennis, Henry Fonda, Phil Ford, Mimi Hines, Ray Milland, Barry Nelson, Mike Nichols, Thelma Oliver, April Olrich, Maureen O'Sullivan, Neil Simon

Music was by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra.

Award winners and nominees

Winners are in bold

Production

Best Play

• Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss. English version by Geoffrey Skelton. Produced by the David Merrick Arts Foundation
• Inadmissible Evidence by John Osborne. Produced by the David Merrick Arts Foundation
• Philadelphia, Here I Come! By Brian Friel. Produced by the David Merrick Arts Foundation
• The Right Honourable Gentleman by Michael Dyne. Produced by Peter Cookson, Amy Lynn, and Walter Schwimmer

Best Musical

• Man of La Mancha. Book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, lyrics by Joe Darion. Produced by Albert W. Seldon and Hal James
• Mame. Book by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, music and lyrics by Jerry Herman. Produced by Sylvia and Joseph Harris, Robert Fryer, and Lawrence Carr
• Skyscraper. Book by Peter Stone, music by James Van Heusen, lyrics by Sammy Cahn. Produced by Cy Feuer and Ernest M. Martin
• Sweet Charity. Book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Produced by Sylvia and Joseph Harris, Robert Fryer, and Lawrence Carr

Performance

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

• Hal Holbrook (Mark Twain Tonight!)
• Roland Culber (Ivanov)
• Donal Donnelly and Patrick Bedford (Philadelphia, Here I Come!)
• Nicol Williamson (Inadmissible Evidence)

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

• Rosemary Harris (The Lion in Winter)
• Sheila Hancock (Entertaining Mr. Sloan)
• Kate Reid (Slapstick Tragedy)
• Lee Remick (Wait Until Dark)

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

• Richard Kiley (Man of La Mancha)
• Jack Cassidy (Superman)
• John Cullum (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)
• Harry Secombe (Pickwick)

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

• Angela Lansbury (Mame)
• Barbara Harris (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)
• Julie Harris (Skyscraper)
• Gwen Verdon (Sweet Charity)

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

• Patrick Magee (Marat/Sade)
• Burt Brinckerhoff (Cactus Flower)
• Larry Haines (Generation)
• Eamon Kelly (Philadelphia, Here I Come!)

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

• Zoe Caldwell (Slapstick Tragedy)
• Glenda Jackson (Marat/Sade)
• Mairin D. O'Sullivan (Philadelphia, Here I Come!)
• Brenda Vaccaro (Cactus Flower)

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

• Frankie Michaels (Mame)
• Roy Castle (Pickwick)
• John McMartin (Sweet Charity)
• Michael O'Sullivan (Superman)

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

• Beatrice Arthur (Mame)
• Helen Gallagher (Sweet Charity)
• Patricia Marand (Superman)
• Charlotte Rae (Pickwick)

Craft

Best Direction of a Play

• Peter Brook (Marat/Sade)
• Hilton Edwards (Philadelphia, Here I Come!)
• Ellis Rabb (You Can't Take It With You)
• Noel Willman (The Lion on Winter)

Best Direction of a Musical

• Albert Marre (Man of La Mancha)
• Cy Feuer (Skyscraper)
• Bob Fosse (Sweet Charity)
• Gene Saks (Mame)

Best Choreography

• Bob Fosse (Sweet Charity)
• Jack Cole (Man of La Mancha)
• Michael Kidd (Skyscraper)
• Onna White (Mame)

Tony Award for Best Composer and Lyricist

• Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion (Man of La Mancha)
• Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields (Sweet Charity)
• Jerry Herman (Mame)
• Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner (On a Clear Day You Can See Forever)

Best Scenic Design

• Howard Bay (Man of La Mancha)
• William Eckart and Jean Eckart (Mame)
• David Hays (Drat! The Cat!)
• Robert Randolph (Anya, Skyscraper and Sweet Charity)

Tony Award for Best Costume Design

• Gunilla Palmstierna-Weiss (Marat/Sade)
• Loudon Sainthill ^[2] (The Right Honourable Gentleman)
• Howard Bay and Patton Campbell (Man of La Mancha)
• Irene Sharaff (Sweet Charity)

Special awards

Helen Menken (posthumous), for a lifetime of devotion and dedicated service to the Broadway theatre.

See also

Tony Awards

References

External links

• Tony Awards official site