The Beacon Theatre Will Host the 2011 Tony Awards

The 2011 Tony Awards will take place on June 12, 2011, at the Beacon Theatre. The annual awards show was forced to depart Radio City Music Hall, where the event has taken place for the last 13 years, due to the previously scheduled engagement of Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana. The event will air live on CBS.

The Beacon Theatre has a seating capacity of 2,894 compared to Radio City's 5,933 seats. The venue, which is not a Broadway theater, mostly plays host to concerts and recently housed the short-lived Cirque du Soleil show Banana Shpeel. The Beacon is located north of the Theater District at Broadway and 74th Street.

"We’re excited to bring the Tony Awards to the Beacon Theatre. We very much look forward to taking this amazing evening honoring the very best in theatre, and presenting it to America and the world, from a new venue—completely invigorated with a fresh feel, new set and a clean palette to create from,” said Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment, executive producers of the telecast.