34th Tony Awards


The 34th Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS television on June 8, 1980, from the Mark Hellinger Theatre. The hosts were Mary Tyler Moore and Jason Robards. The theme was "understudies"; each of the hosts and presenters had been understudies and offered anecdotes of that beginning.

The ceremony

Presenters: Eve Arden, Carol Channing, Hume Cronyn, Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow, James Earl Jones, Elia Kazan, Richard Kiley, James MacArthur, Nancy Marchand, Dudley Moore, Anthony Perkins, Gilda Radner, Lynn Redgrave, Tony Roberts, Jessica Tandy, Cicely Tyson, Dick Van Dyke.
Musicals represented:
Winners are in bold
Best PlayBest Musical

  • Evita
  • * A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
  • * Barnum
  • * Sugar Babies
    • Best RevivalBest Book of a Musical
  • Morning's at Seven
  • * Major Barbara
  • * Peter Pan
  • * West Side Story
  • Tim Rice – Evita
  • * Dick Vosburgh – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
  • * Mark Bramble – Barnum
  • * Ralph G. Allen and Harry Rigby – Sugar Babies
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
  • John Rubinstein – Children of a Lesser God as James Leeds
  • * Charles Brown – Home as Cephus Miles
  • * Gerald Hiken – Strider as Strider
  • * Judd Hirsch – Talley's Folly as Matt Friedman
  • Phyllis Frelich – Children of a Lesser God as Sarah Norman
  • * Blythe Danner – Betrayal as Emma
  • * Maggie Smith – Night and Day as Ruth Carson
  • * Anne Twomey – Nuts as Claudia Draper
    • Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
  • Jim Dale – Barnum as P. T. Barnum
  • * Gregory Hines – Comin' Uptown as Scrooge
  • * Mickey Rooney – Sugar Babies as Mickey
  • * Giorgio Tozzi – The Most Happy Fella as Tony
  • Patti LuPone – Evita as Eva Perón
  • * Christine Andreas – Oklahoma! as Laurey Williams
  • * Sandy Duncan – Peter Pan as Peter Pan
  • * Ann Miller – Sugar Babies as Ann
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
  • David Rounds – Morning's at Seven as Homer Bolton
  • * David Dukes – Bent as Horst
  • * George Hearn – Watch on the Rhine as Kurt Muller
  • * Earle Hyman – The Lady from Dubuque as Oscar
  • * Joseph Maher – Night and Day as Geoffrey Carson
  • Dinah Manoff – I Ought to Be in Pictures as Libby Tucker
  • * Maureen Anderman – The Lady from Dubuque as Carol
  • * Pamela Burrell – Strider as Various Characters
  • * Lois de Banzie – Morning's at Seven as Myrtle Brown
    • Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a MusicalBest Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
  • Mandy Patinkin – Evita as Che
  • * David Garrison – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine as Serge B. Samovar
  • * Harry Groener – Oklahoma! as Will Parker
  • * Bob Gunton – Evita as Juan Perón
  • Priscilla Lopez – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine as Gino/Usherette
  • * Debbie Allen – West Side Story as Anita
  • * Glenn Close – Barnum as Charity 'Chairy' Barnum
  • * Josie de Guzman – West Side Story as Maria
    • Best Original Score Written for the TheatreBest Choreography
  • Evita – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
  • * A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine – Frank Lazarus and Dick Vosburgh
  • * Barnum – Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart
  • * Sugar Babies – Arthur Malvin
  • Tommy Tune and Thommie Walsh – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
  • * Ernest Flatt – Sugar Babies
  • * Larry Fuller – Evita
  • * Joe Layton – Barnum
    • Best Direction of a PlayBest Direction of a Musical
  • Vivian Matalon – Morning's at Seven
  • * Gordon Davidson – Children of a Lesser God
  • * Peter Hall – Betrayal
  • * Marshall W. Mason – Talley's Folly
  • Harold Prince – Evita
  • * Ernest Flatt and Rudy Tronto – Sugar Babies
  • * Joe Layton – Barnum
  • * Tommy Tune – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
    • Best Scenic DesignBest Costume Design
  • John Lee Beatty – Talley's Folly
  • David Mitchell – Barnum
  • * Timothy O'Brien and Tazeena Firth – Evita
  • * Tony Walton – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
  • Theoni V. Aldredge – Barnum
  • * Pierre Balmain – Happy New Year
  • * Timothy O'Brien and Tazeena Firth – Evita
  • * Raoul Pene Du Bois – Sugar Babies
    • Best Lighting Design-
  • David Hersey – Evita
  • * Beverly Emmons – A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine
  • * Craig Miller – Barnum
  • * Dennis Parichy – Talley's Folly
    		• -

    Special awards

  • Lawrence Langner Memorial Award for Distinguished Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre — Helen Hayes
  • Regional Theatre Award Winner - Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky
  • Mary Tyler Moore, Whose Life Is It Anyway?.

    Multiple nominations and awards

    • These productions had multiple nominations:
    The following productions received multiple awards.