Claim: Jessica Lange is a Broadway actor.

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre , more commonly known as Tony Award , recognizes the excellence in live Broadway theatre . The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City . The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances , and an award is given for regional theatre . Several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given , including a Special Tony Award , the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre , and the Isabelle Stevenson Award . The awards are named after Antoinette `` Tony '' Perry , co-founder of the American Theatre Wing .   The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document `` Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wing 's Tony Awards '' , which applies for that season only . The Tony Awards are considered the highest U.S. theatre honor , the New York theatre industry 's equivalent to the Academy Awards -LRB- Oscars -RRB- for motion pictures , the Grammy Awards for music , and the Emmy Awards for television . It also forms the fourth spoke in the EGOT , that is someone who has won all four awards . The Tony Awards are also considered the equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award in the United Kingdom and the Molière Award of France .   From 1997 to 2010 , the Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television , except in 1999 , when it was held at the Gershwin Theatre . In 2011 and 2012 , the ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre . From 2013 to 2015 , the 67th , 68th , and 69th ceremonies returned to Radio City Music Hall . The 70th Tony Awards were held on June 12 , 2016 at the Beacon Theatre . The 71st Tony Awards will be held on June 11 , 2017 , at Radio City Music Hall with Kevin Spacey as host .