What to Expect at Sunday’s Tony Awards on CBS

On the Tony Awards broadcast (which CBS will beam from Radio City Music Hall this Sunday from 8-11 pm), it’s all about the musical numbers, from ”The King and I” and “Something Rotten” (starring two stars of the late lamented TV musical “Smash”) to “An American in Paris.” That’s why I watch–to see choice bits of the Broadway shows I haven’t been able to see–especially these days, as Hollywood and Broadway have fallen back in love, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in.

Will Carey Mulligan (“The Audience”) beat Helen Mirren (“The Audience”) and Ruth Wilson (“Constellations”) for Best Actress in A Drama? Will Bradley Cooper score for “The Elephant Man”? Will the show pay some kind of tribute to the legendary songwriting team Betty Comden & Adolph Green, who wrote lyrics for “On The Town,” “On The Twentieth Century” and on the TV side, “Peter Pan,” which was broadcast live by NBC. We know that the night’s Lifetime Achievement winner is Tommy Tune, who is also slated to be a presenter. 

Read: Tony Awards: Hollywood Falls for Broadway but Some Shows Get the Tony Cold Shoulder 

As Neil Patrick Harris licks his Oscar wounds, the co-hosts are Tony nominee Kristin Chenoweth (“On the Twentieth Century”) and Alan Cumming (who won for “Cabaret” and stars in CBS’s “The Good Wife”). Presenters include Bryan Cranston, Neil Patrick Harris, Jim Parsons, Anna Chlumsky, Larry David and Rose Byrne, plus more. 

Read: 12 Broadway Shows with Hollywood Connections in 2015

The Tony Awards show will include Josh Groban plus a record for the Tonys, 175 performers on-stage for a special performance, along with the following performances by 2015 Tony nominees for Best Musical and Best Musical Revival including among others, Vanessa Hudgens, Matthew Morrison, Kelli O’Hara, Ken Watanabe, Kelsey Grammer, Brian D’Arcy James, Christian Borle, Tyne Daly, Chita Rivera and more.

The Tonys will also promote some musicals that are still running, even though they haven’t been nominated:  

Gigi (“The Night They Invented Champagne”)

Finding Neverland (“Stronger”)

It Shoulda Been You (“Jenny’s Blues”)

Jersey Boys (“Oh What A Night”)

Snippets from the THR video roundtables for Actress and Actress are below.