The 2023-2024 Broadway season that kicked off last June with the opening of “Grey House” featured 36 productions of new and revived musicals and plays. This staggeringly crowded year – especially this spring with its 19 openings in March and April alone – means that the nominations for the 77th Tony Awards will likely be as unpredictable as ever, so review our official racetrack odds in the top 17 of 26 categories. The nominations will be announced on the morning of April 30 by Tony winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Take Me Out”) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”).
These official odds for the 77th Tonys are derived from the predictions of our Experts, Editors, Top 24 Users, All-Star Top 24 and all our Users, who make up the largest and often savviest bloc of predictors.
Below, see our 2024 Tony Awards predictions in 17 of the 26 categories. Make or edit your predictions before the nominations are unveiled on April 30.
Musicals
Best Musical...
These official odds for the 77th Tonys are derived from the predictions of our Experts, Editors, Top 24 Users, All-Star Top 24 and all our Users, who make up the largest and often savviest bloc of predictors.
Below, see our 2024 Tony Awards predictions in 17 of the 26 categories. Make or edit your predictions before the nominations are unveiled on April 30.
Musicals
Best Musical...
- 4/28/2024
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Perhaps no single theatrical image sums up Broadway’s 2023 more effectively than Jessica Chastain’s Nora leaving her dreary, unfulfilled doll house life to exit directly into the unlimited possibilities of an honest-to-god New York City street.
Unless maybe it’s that huge tree that sprouts up smack dab in the middle of an abandoned Southern plantation home after the Appropriate cast has left the stage, a gut-punch reminder that the sins of a nation’s past don’t just wither away because we don’t want to see them.
Or maybe it was Leslie Odom Jr. delivering that eulogy-coda in Purlie Victorious, blessing his “Africanic brothers” — and the audience — with the words “Now may the Constitution of the United States go with you; the Declaration of Independence stand by you; the Bill of Rights protect you; and the State Commission Against Discrimination keep the eyes of the law upon you,...
Unless maybe it’s that huge tree that sprouts up smack dab in the middle of an abandoned Southern plantation home after the Appropriate cast has left the stage, a gut-punch reminder that the sins of a nation’s past don’t just wither away because we don’t want to see them.
Or maybe it was Leslie Odom Jr. delivering that eulogy-coda in Purlie Victorious, blessing his “Africanic brothers” — and the audience — with the words “Now may the Constitution of the United States go with you; the Declaration of Independence stand by you; the Bill of Rights protect you; and the State Commission Against Discrimination keep the eyes of the law upon you,...
- 12/29/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“Segregation is a ridiculous institution and it makes decent people do ridiculous things,” playwright, actor-director, and activist Ossie Davis told the New York Times on September 24, 1961, four days before his play Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch opened on Broadway, co-starring himself and his wife, Ruby Dee. “Maybe if they can be made to laugh at it they can see how absurd it is.”
Especially on a Great White Way where actors played predominantly to white audiences that had seen few comedies by Black playwrights, let alone satires on segregation, Purlie Victorious must have been a jolting event. Though the play, which ran for nearly eight months on Broadway, begat a film adaptation in 1963 (Gone Are the Days!) and the successful musical Purlie in 1970, Davis’s comedy about an aggrieved “self-made minister” righteously “disembezzling” a racist plantation owner has largely faded from popular memory.
Opening one day...
Especially on a Great White Way where actors played predominantly to white audiences that had seen few comedies by Black playwrights, let alone satires on segregation, Purlie Victorious must have been a jolting event. Though the play, which ran for nearly eight months on Broadway, begat a film adaptation in 1963 (Gone Are the Days!) and the successful musical Purlie in 1970, Davis’s comedy about an aggrieved “self-made minister” righteously “disembezzling” a racist plantation owner has largely faded from popular memory.
Opening one day...
- 9/28/2023
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
Merrily We Roll Along, the new Broadway revival of the Sondheim classic musical starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, broke the six-performance house record at the Hudson Theatre with a $1.3 million gross in its first week of previews.
Filling every seat in the venue, the revival carried an eye-popping average ticket price of $225.07, besting the $166.11 of the usual frontrunner Hamilton by a wide margin for the week ending September 24.
Merrily, the Off Broadway transfer from New York Theatre Workshop, grossed, to be exact, $1,304,508 for its first six Broadway previews, breaking the previous six-performance week record of $1.18 million set by David Byrne’s American Utopia. Merrily opens on October 10.
Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily...
Filling every seat in the venue, the revival carried an eye-popping average ticket price of $225.07, besting the $166.11 of the usual frontrunner Hamilton by a wide margin for the week ending September 24.
Merrily, the Off Broadway transfer from New York Theatre Workshop, grossed, to be exact, $1,304,508 for its first six Broadway previews, breaking the previous six-performance week record of $1.18 million set by David Byrne’s American Utopia. Merrily opens on October 10.
Directed by Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along features music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a book by George Furth, and is based on the original play by George S. Kaufman & Moss Hart. Spanning three decades in the entertainment business, Merrily...
- 9/26/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Broadway Revival Of ‘Purlie Victorious’ Starring Leslie Odom, Jr. Sets Preview Date, Additional Cast
The previously announced Broadway revival of the Ossie Davis comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starring Leslie Odom, Jr. will begin previews on Thursday, September 7, at The Music Box Theatre, with an opening date to be announced.
The preview date was announced today, along with complete casting details. In addition to Odom, the revival will star Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, Noah Pyzik, Noah Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, Heather Alicia Simms, Bill Timoney, and Kara Young. Kenny Leon directs.
The play marks Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.mThe creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Adam Honoré and sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.
Purlie Victorious tells the story of a Black preacher’s machinations to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church.
The preview date was announced today, along with complete casting details. In addition to Odom, the revival will star Vanessa Bell Calloway, Billy Eugene Jones, Noah Pyzik, Noah Robbins, Jay O. Sanders, Heather Alicia Simms, Bill Timoney, and Kara Young. Kenny Leon directs.
The play marks Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.mThe creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa, lighting design by Adam Honoré and sound design by Peter Fitzgerald.
Purlie Victorious tells the story of a Black preacher’s machinations to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church.
- 6/15/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Leslie Odom Jr. is returning to Broadway this summer in a revival of Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.
Kenny Leon, who directed Topdog/Underdog and Ohio State Murders this season, will helm the revival of the play by Ossie Davis. The play is scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, which will place it in the 2023-2024 season, but exact dates and the theater have not yet been announced.
This is the first time Odom has appeared on Broadway since winning a Tony Award for his role in the original cast of Hamilton. Since then, he has appeared in several films, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Harriet and One Night in Miami.
The play, which is a satirical look at life in the South, originally premiered on Broadway in 1961, with the playwright starring as Purlie Victorious Judson (the role Odom will play in the new production) and his wife,...
Kenny Leon, who directed Topdog/Underdog and Ohio State Murders this season, will helm the revival of the play by Ossie Davis. The play is scheduled to begin in late summer 2023, which will place it in the 2023-2024 season, but exact dates and the theater have not yet been announced.
This is the first time Odom has appeared on Broadway since winning a Tony Award for his role in the original cast of Hamilton. Since then, he has appeared in several films, including Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Harriet and One Night in Miami.
The play, which is a satirical look at life in the South, originally premiered on Broadway in 1961, with the playwright starring as Purlie Victorious Judson (the role Odom will play in the new production) and his wife,...
- 2/1/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tony & Grammy winner Leslie Odom, Jr. will star in a new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by Ossie Davis. Purlie Victorious will be staged by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, with the production scheduled to begin in late summer 2023 for the 2023-2024 Broadway season.
The play will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his celebrated performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
The creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa and lighting design by Adam Honoré.
The producing team is led by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Kayla Greenspan and Leslie Odom, Jr., making his Broadway producing debut.
Theatre, dates, additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
The play will mark Odom’s return to Broadway after winning the Tony for his celebrated performance as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.
The creative team will feature scenic design by Derek McLane, costume design by Emilio Sosa and lighting design by Adam Honoré.
The producing team is led by Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Irene Gandy, Jacob Soroken Porter, Kayla Greenspan and Leslie Odom, Jr., making his Broadway producing debut.
Theatre, dates, additional casting and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
- 2/1/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Producer Tonya Lewis Lee, tweeted the above photo last night, along with the caption: Pauletta Washington and @iamKENNYLEON working on the set of #wgtb. And in case you weren't aware, Pauletta Washington is superstar Denzel Washington's wife, who's an actress as well. The couple first met her back in 1977, when she was Pauletta Pearson, on the set of the 1977 TV movie Wilma, which both actors co-starred in, and which was Pauletta's very first on screen role. 4 years later, in 1981, she would get to work again on her second TV movie role, in the comedy/musical Purlie. And then, 2 years later, the couple got married, Pauletta put her career...
- 4/22/2013
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
El Paso, Texas — Friends and family remembered actor Sherman Hemsley at his funeral Wednesday in Texas by showing video clips of him as George Jefferson, the TV role that was his best known.
About 150 people attended the service at Cielo Vista Church in El Paso. Hemsley, 74, died of lung cancer on July 24, but a fight over his estate delayed his burial.
Mourners couldn't help but laugh as they watched the clips of Hemsley playing the feisty, bigoted owner of a chain of dry-cleaning businesses on "The Jeffersons."
"He helped us to laugh, gave us an opportunity to forget the troubles, the stresses of life," El Paso Police Department chaplain Sam Faraone said during Hemsley's eulogy.
Hemsley, an Air Force veteran, was buried at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
"The best way I can describe it is by how we released a dove" at the burial, longtime friend Flora Enchinton Bernal...
About 150 people attended the service at Cielo Vista Church in El Paso. Hemsley, 74, died of lung cancer on July 24, but a fight over his estate delayed his burial.
Mourners couldn't help but laugh as they watched the clips of Hemsley playing the feisty, bigoted owner of a chain of dry-cleaning businesses on "The Jeffersons."
"He helped us to laugh, gave us an opportunity to forget the troubles, the stresses of life," El Paso Police Department chaplain Sam Faraone said during Hemsley's eulogy.
Hemsley, an Air Force veteran, was buried at the Fort Bliss National Cemetery.
"The best way I can describe it is by how we released a dove" at the burial, longtime friend Flora Enchinton Bernal...
- 11/22/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Beloved television actor Sherman Hemsley, who starred as high-strung George Jefferson on CBS' The Jeffersons, has died. He was found at his home in El Paso, Texas, yesterday and is said to have died of natural causes. He was 74 years old.
Sherman Alexander Hemsley was born in Philadelphia, studied drama in New York at the Negro Ensemble Company and the Urban Arts Company. He made his Broadway debut in the satirical musical comedy Purlie and later toured with the show.
Norman Lear lured him away from Broadway to play George Jefferson, a recurring character on the popular All in the Family sitcom. Lear once said, "The cocky energy of the guy was totally in sync with the offstage image we had created of George." George and wife "Weezy" (Isabel Sanford) proved to be so popular that they were later given their own spin-off, The...
Sherman Alexander Hemsley was born in Philadelphia, studied drama in New York at the Negro Ensemble Company and the Urban Arts Company. He made his Broadway debut in the satirical musical comedy Purlie and later toured with the show.
Norman Lear lured him away from Broadway to play George Jefferson, a recurring character on the popular All in the Family sitcom. Lear once said, "The cocky energy of the guy was totally in sync with the offstage image we had created of George." George and wife "Weezy" (Isabel Sanford) proved to be so popular that they were later given their own spin-off, The...
- 7/25/2012
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
TV legend Sherman Hemsley has died at age 74. Circumstances of his death are still unclear but no foul play is suspected. Hemsley, a former post office worker, drifted into acting in stage productions before he was cast by Norman Lear in the hit sitcom All in the Family. He guest-starred as George Jefferson, an African American version of Carroll O'Connor's Archie Bunker, as both characters were bigots who still maintained admirable traits. The character of George Jefferson, a successful Harlem businessman, was innovative on television in that he channeled much of the black community's frustrations over prejudice and intolerance. Hemsley's performance was so well-received that Lear spun him off into his own sitcom, The Jeffersons, from 1975-1985. On that show, Hemsley's foil was his wise-cracking, no nonsense wife Weezie (Isabele Sanford). Following that show, Hemsley had a five year run in anothet hit sitcom, Amen. He continued to appear...
- 7/25/2012
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Sherman Hemsley, who starred in the iconic 1970s sitcom The Jeffersons, was found dead in his El Paso, TX home today, according to reports. He was 74. Hemsley was personally picked by All In The Family creator Norman Lear to play George Jefferson alongside Louise Jefferson (Isabel Sanford) as the newly arrived neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker. Lear eventually spun off the characters in 1975 and created The Jeffersons, about a successful black family who lived in Manhattan. The show ran 10 years. Hemsley, who also starred on Broadway in the 1970s musical comedy Purlie, later starred on the sitcom Amen playing a church deacon.
- 7/24/2012
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Sherman Hemsley, the hot-tempered, upwardly mobile, janitor-turned-dry-cleaner-owner George Jefferson in TV's iconic The Jeffersons, has died at 74. Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas, police say. A cause of death was not immediately known. Introduced each week with the gospel Movin' On Up theme song, producer Norman Lear's show gave Hemsley a larger-than-life character who delivered a brand of comedy all his own. Zingers like "If I paid you to think, you could cash your check at the penny arcade!" paired with over-the-top gestures left audiences across the country in stitches. The show has lived on for years in reruns on cable.
- 7/24/2012
- by Maggie Coughlan
- PEOPLE.com
The New McCree Theatre was award a $10,000 Access to Artistic Excellence grant for Musical Theater by the National Endowment for the Arts. This grant is being used to support McCree?s Traveling Theatre Experience (Tte)program. Tte is presenting the hit Broadway musical, Purlie, based on the play, Purlie Victorious by Ossie Davis, June 12 and 13, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. at the beautiful Malcolm Field Theatre on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, 7400 Bay Road, 3 miles north of the Fashion Square Mall.
- 5/13/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Based on the play, Purlie Victorious by Ossie Davis, Purlie Victorious, that struttin' new fangled preacher is back home and he wants a church and he wants freedom. Memorable music and heaps of fun unfold as Purlie out maneuvers ol' massa. Purlie will preview at the "New" McCree Theatre, 322 E. Hamilton, Flint, February 19 -21, 2009. Regular performances will be held February 26 - March 14, 2009. All performances will be held on Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Admission prices for previews are: Advance tickets, $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for students and senior citizens; at the door prices are $10.00 for adults and $6.00 for students and senior citizens. Admission prices for regular performances are $12.00 and $7.00 in advance, and $15.00 and $10.00 at the door.
- 2/12/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.