# 53rd Tony Awards

The 53rd Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by CBS from the Gershwin Theatre on June 6, 1999. "The First Ten" awards ceremony was telecast on PBS television. The show did not have a formal host.

## Eligibility

Shows that opened on Broadway during the 1998–1999 season before April 30, 1999 are eligible.

## The ceremony

The opening number was "There's No Business Like Show Business", sung by Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat.
Presenters
The musicals represented were:
* The Civil War ("Freedom's Child" - Lawrence Clayton and Company)
* Peter Pan ("I'm Flying" - Cathy Rigby and children)
* Parade ("This Is Not Over Yet"/"The Old Red Hills of Home" - Carolee Carmello, Brent Carver and Company)
* You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ("My New Philosophy"/"Happiness" - Kristin Chenoweth, Anthony Rapp and Company)
* Fosse ("Sing Sing Sing" - Company)
* Little Me ("Boom Boom" - Martin Short and Company)
* Annie Get Your Gun ("I Got the Sun in the Morning"/"Hoedown"/"Old-Fashioned Wedding" - Tom Wopat, Bernadette Peters and Company)
The telecast included a special presentation (a "collage of moments") featuring performers from several of the productions nominated as Best Play and Best Revival of a Play.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are in bold
| Best Play | Best Musical |
| Side Man – Warren Leight Closer – Patrick Marber The Lonesome West – Martin McDonagh Not About Nightingales – Tennessee Williams | Fosse The Civil War It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues Parade |
| Best Revival of a Play | Best Revival of a Musical |
| Death of a Salesman – Arthur Miller Electra – Sophocles The Iceman Cometh – Eugene O'Neill Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare | Annie Get Your Gun Little Me Peter Pan You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown |
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play |
| Brian Dennehy – Death of a Salesman as Willy Loman Brían F. O'Byrne – The Lonesome West as Valene Connor Corin Redgrave – Not About Nightingales as Bert "Boss" Whalen Kevin Spacey – The Iceman Cometh as Theodore Hickman | Judi Dench – Amy's View as Esme Allen Stockard Channing – The Lion in Winter as Eleanor of Aquitaine Marian Seldes – Ring Round the Moon as Madame Desmermortes Zoë Wanamaker – Electra as Electra |
| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical |
| Martin Short – Little Me as Noble Eggleston and Various Characters Brent Carver – Parade as Leo Frank Adam Cooper – Swan Lake as The Swan Tom Wopat – Annie Get Your Gun as Frank Butler | Bernadette Peters – Annie Get Your Gun as Annie Oakley Carolee Carmello – Parade as Lucille Frank Dee Hoty – Footloose as Vi Moore Siân Phillips – Marlene as Marlene Dietrich |
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play |
| Frank Wood – Side Man as Gene Kevin Anderson – Death of a Salesman as Biff Finbar Lynch – Not About Nightingales as Jim Allison Howard Witt – Death of a Salesman as Charley | Elizabeth Franz – Death of a Salesman as Linda Claire Bloom – Electra as Clytemnestra Samantha Bond – Amy's View as Amy Thomas Dawn Bradfield – The Lonesome West as Girleen Kelleher |
| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical |
| Roger Bart – You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown as Snoopy Desmond Richardson – Fosse as Various Characters Ron Taylor – It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues as Various Characters Scott Wise – Fosse as Various Characters | Kristin Chenoweth – You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown as Sally Brown Gretha Boston – It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues as Various Characters Valarie Pettiford – Fosse as Various Characters Mary Testa – On the Town as Madame Maude P. Dilly |
| Best Book of a Musical | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre |
| Alfred Uhry – Parade Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor and Dan Wheetman – It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues Pam Gems – Marlene Dean Pitchford and Walter Bobbie – Footloose | Parade – Jason Robert Brown (music and lyrics) Footloose – Tom Snow (music), Dean Pitchford (lyrics), Kenny Loggins, Eric Carmen, Sammy Hagar and Jim Steinman (music and lyrics) The Civil War – Frank Wildhorn (music) and Jack Murphy (lyrics) Twelfth Night – Jeanine Tesori (music) |
| Best Scenic Design | Best Costume Design |
| Richard Hoover – Not About Nightingales Bob Crowley – The Iceman Cometh Bob Crowley – Twelfth Night Ricardo Hernandez – Parade | Lez Brotherston – Swan Lake Santo Loquasto – Fosse John David Ridge – Ring Round the Moon Catherine Zuber – Twelfth Night |
| Best Lighting Design | Best Orchestrations |
| Andrew Bridge – Fosse Mark Henderson – The Iceman Cometh Natasha Katz – Twelfth Night Chris Parry – Not About Nightingales | Ralph Burns and Douglas Besterman – Fosse David Cullen – Swan Lake Don Sebesky – Parade Harold Wheeler – Little Me |
| Best Direction of a Play | Best Direction of a Musical |
| Robert Falls – Death of a Salesman Howard Davies – The Iceman Cometh Garry Hynes – The Lonesome West Trevor Nunn – Not About Nightingales | Matthew Bourne – Swan Lake Richard Maltby, Jr. and Ann Reinking – Fosse Michael Mayer – You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown Harold Prince – Parade |
| Best Choreography | |
| Matthew Bourne – Swan Lake Patricia Birch – Parade Rob Marshall – Little Me A. C. Ciulla – Footloose | |

## Special awards

The following non-completive awards were presented:
* Regional Theater Tony Award
** Crossroads Theatre (New Brunswick, New Jersey)
* Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award
** Arthur Miller
* Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award
** Isabelle Stevenson
* Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award
** Uta Hagen
* Special Tony Award For a Live Theatrical Presentation
** Fool Moon (Bill Irwin and David Shiner)