The Tony Awards Are This Sunday… But We Won’t Be On The Carpet | An Open Letter

The final touches are being made. Camera rehearsals are well underway. Casts have been hard at work for weeks now. Broadway’s biggest night is this Sunday when the 77th Tony Awards broadcast live from Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theatre…but unfortunately we won’t be on the carpet and that is not by choice. 

Like any awards show, the Tony Awards are a machine, run jointly by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League. Every year an external press team is hired to handle all aspects of PR from interviews with nominees, announcements, red carpet, media room, and everything in between.

Unfortunately Theatrely was not offered a position on the red carpet this year after the past few seasons of covering.

When we started planning our coverage of the Tony Awards back in January, this possibility never occurred to us. The decision has left our team, and many others in the industry, puzzled and frustrated. I am not naive to know we are the new kids on the block in terms of the press world. Theatrely was founded during the throws of the pandemic in 2020 as a platform for the younger generation to discover and fall in love with Broadway and theatre both here in New York City and around the globe. I am extremely proud of the team and all we have accomplished in the past few years and look forward to supporting and celebrating the industry we know and love for years to come.  

Last week, we were notified that there was limited space due to the ceremony’s location this year and that we would not have a spot on the carpet. After numerous emails with the Tony Awards press team, in addition to communication with the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, unfortunately the answer remained the same with the reply simply being, “our hands are tied, there is no space.”

This is not about the glitz and glam of a carpet, but its exclusionary nature of us and many other theatrical press outlets during the pinnacle of recognition in our industry is dispiriting. 

Every day we are seeing the downfall of journalism in real time with outlets shutting down left and right. With no access to the Tony Awards red carpet, not only are the outlets being affected, but the industry. At a time when diversifying the audience is incredibly important to the community, theater viewership to the Gen Z and younger millennial audiences will directly be impacted by the choice to exclude primary industry outlets. Why in a season celebrating the biggest year in recent Broadway memory do we have the smallest carpet to celebrate it. To not include those who work so hard all year long and are the staunchest advocates for the industry on its biggest night is disheartening to say the least. 

Many of the outlets who will be on the carpet this Sunday are mainstream platforms. Their main focus is to get soundbites from the A-list celebrities currently on our stages. The artists, designers, stage focused actors are often not given the time of day. As theater outlets, these are the people we love to highlight – to give credit where credit is due.  

I do not write this note for pity. We will still have our full editorial team incredibly busy this Sunday night, bringing you the best of Broadway with journalists and photographers all over Midtown Manhattan.

We as an industry have work to do. Theatrely is excited to jump into next season, where we will continue to uplift the best of Broadway and commit to supporting and discovering new audiences and their love for the theatre.

To shut the door to the few outlets who support Broadway 365 days a year feels antithetical to the mission of The Tony Awards, The Wing, The League, and theatre in general. I hope for a better future where the work we do is appreciated by all in the industry that we tirelessly support because if there is not mutual respect, why are we here? 

Best of luck to all of the nominees this Sunday, and see you at the theatre!

Kobi Kassal

Editor-in-Chief 

To write a note to the Editorial Board, they can be reached at info@theatrely.com