Which Broadway creative deserves the next Tony for Lifetime Achievement? [Poll]
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This year’s Tonys will be held on June 11, so the American Theatre Wing will likely be announcing their lifetime achievement award recipient in the near future. Who do you think should be taking home this prestigious trophy? Scroll down to let us know in our poll which behind-the-scenes creative deserves the honor this year.
The Tony for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre honors an individual’s body of work, and in some years we’ve gotten multiple recipients. Last year legendary five-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury received this honor about four months before her death on October 11 at the age of 96. The following living creatives have already received this award so they’re not eligible to be chosen again: Paul Gemignani, Alan Ayckbourn, Athol Fugard, Jane Greenwood, Sheldon Harnick, Marshall W. Mason, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harold Wheeler, and Graciela Daniele.
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Here are 10 possibilities, all of them creatives over the age of 65:
SEETonys 2023: Which veteran performer deserves the next Lifetime Achievement Award? [Poll]
LYNN AHRENS
Tony-winning lyricist for “Ragtime” (1998). Previous nominee as both book writer and lyricist for “Once on This Island” (1991).
JOHN KANDER
Three-time Tony-winning composer of “Cabaret” (1967), “Woman of the Year” (1981), and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993). Additional nominations for “The Happy Time” (1968), “Zorba” (1969), “Chicago” (1976), “The Act” (1978), “The Rink” (1984), “Steel Pier” (1997), “Curtains” (2007), “The Scottsboro Boys” (2011), and “The Visit” (2015).
JAMES LAPINE
Pulitzer Prize winner for “Sunday in the Park with George” (1984). Three-time Tony-winning book writer for “Into the Woods” (1988), “Falsettos” (1992), and “Passion” (1994). Additional nominations for directing “Dirty Blonde” (2000) and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (2005), as well as playwright for “Act One” (2014).
CAMERON MACKINTOSH
Four-time Tony-winning producer of “Cats” (1983), “Les Misérables” (1987), “The Phantom of the Opera” (1988), and “Carousel” (1994). Additional nominations for “Song and Dance” (1986), “Miss Saigon” (1991), “Five Guys Named Moe” (1992), “Oklahoma!” (2002), and “Mary Poppins” (2007).
MARSHA NORMAN
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “‘night, Mother” (1983). Tony-winning book writer of “The Secret Garden” (1991). Additional nomination as book writer for “The Color Purple” (2006).
JACK O’BRIEN
Three-time Tony-winning director of “Hairspray” (2003), “Henry IV” (2004), and “The Coast of Utopia” (2007). Additional nominations for “Porgy and Bess” (1977), “Two Shakespearean Actors” (1992), “The Full Monty” (2001), “The Invention of Love” (2001), and “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (2005).
ANN ROTH
Tony-winning costume designer for “The Nance” (2013). Ten additional nominations for “The Royal Family” (1976), “The Crucifer of Blood” (1979), “The House of Blue Leaves” (1986), “The Book of Mormon” (2011), “Shuffle Along” (2016), “Carousel” (2018), “The Iceman Cometh” (2018), “Three Tall Women” (2018), “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” (2019), and “To Kill a Mockingbird” (2019).
JULIE TAYMOR
The first woman to ever win a Tony for Best Direction of a Musical for “The Lion King” (1998). Additional nominations for helming and designing “Juan Darien” (1997).
PAULA VOGEL
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of “How I Learned to Drive” (1998). Tony nominee for “Indecent” (2017).
JERRY ZAKS
Four-time Tony-winning director of “The House of Blue Leaves” (1986), “Lend Me a Tenor” (1989), “Six Degrees of Separation” (1991), and “Guys and Dolls” (1992). Four additional nominations for “Anything Goes” (1988), “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” (1995), “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (1996), and “Hello, Dolly!” (2017).
PREDICT the 2023 Tony Award nominees through May 2
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