The Tony Awards Ceremony Will Return to the Beacon Theatre

After a 13-year stint at Radio City Music Hall, the Tony Awards ceremony was displaced by the Cirque du Soleil spectacle Zarkana in 2011, and it looks like the awards show won't be returning to the storied venue any time soon. In a behind-the-scenes look at Cirque and Zarkana on July 24, CBS Sunday Morning reported that the acrobatic spectacular plans to return to Radio City Music Hall for the next five summers.

With Zarkana having booked Radio City, the June 12, 2011 Tony Awards ceremony took place at the Beacon Theatre on New York’s Upper West Side. According to a Tony Awards spokesperson, the Awards have “a multi-year contract” with the Beacon, though no specific timeframe was announced. Likewise, a spokesperson for Zarkana couldn’t confirm the number of years the show plans to stay at Radio City Music Hall, but confirmed that a return engagement is expected.

The Tony ceremony was held in a Broadway theater from 1967 (the year the event was first televised nationally) to 1996 and again in 1999. Before that, the Tonys were presented from a hotel ballroom. The initial move to Radio City in 1997 was considered controversial.