The Tony Awards are fast approaching, and with no strike in sight to mar this year’s proceedings, it promises to be a spectacularly starry song-filled spectacle!
What’s more? The show is set to debut at a brand-new location this year: The David H. Koch Theatre for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
Hankering for more on the history of this hallowed hall? Here’s everything you need to know!
Nestled amongst the trees on the South Side of Lincoln Center’s main plaza, the David H. Koch Theater has been standing tall since 1964.
The then-named New York State Theater, designed by architect Philip Johnson specifically for George Balanchine and his dance company, built with funds from the State of New York, was its contribution to the 1964-1965 World’s Fair. Following the fair, the theater then became property of the City, under which it still operates today. At the time of its unveiling, it was only the second major venue to open at Lincoln Center. (The first was Philharmonic Hall, then and now home to the New York Philharmonic).
It soon solidified itself as the home for the New York City Ballet, under which it still operates today. In addition, it housed the New York City Opera from inception to 2011, serves as a secondary venue for the American Ballet Theatre in the fall, and plays host to other dance companies and events in the interim, including the Lincoln Center Festival, and the Mostly Mozart Festival.
In the fall of 2008 (coincidentally the last year the Tonys ceremony fell on Father’s Day) at a New York City Ballet Gala held in his honor, the venue was rechristened the David H. Koch Theater after its namesake philanthropist signed a grant to provide $100 million as an operating and maintenance endowment in order to renovate and further preserve and restore the space.
As the theater continues to undergo restoration and improvement, it will continue to bear Koch’s name for at least another 34 years.
Among the auditorium’s noted architectural features are a hybrid of traditional and continental style seating on the orchestra level, and five ascending rows of balconies. The proscenium is approximately 60 feet high, the stage depth at center is 54 feet long, and the venue has a seating capacity of 2,544. The chandelier centerpiece that hangs prominently from the ceiling uses 500 lightbulbs, 5,000 watts of electricity and weighs – no kidding! – two tons.
“I love the way you come up the stairs and the grandeur of the space always comes as [a] surprise,” says architectural critic and lecturer Paul Goldberger, gazing upward, enamored by his surroundings. “It has a timelessness to it, in its simplicity and its elegance.”
The intricate statues adorning the lobby, notably Circus Women and Two Nudes, both by Elie Nadelman, hand-carved in Italy from Carrara marble, were commissioned by Balachine himself, in an effort to infuse the space with imagery influencing the world of ballet, from mythology to numbers to the human body.
Holding the Main Stem’s biggest bash here is fitting, too, as the building’s ties to Broadway run deep.
On the heels of the opera and ballet companies, another early tenant of the space was the Music Theater of Lincoln Center, whose president was none other than Richard Rodgers. During his tenure – when the ballet was not in season – the company produced fully staged revivals of classic Broadway musicals (his own among them), including The King and I, Carousel (with original star John Raitt), South Pacific, Show Boat, and Annie Get Your Gun, the latter with original star Ethel Merman.
And that fun will continue Sunday. Previous two-time emcee Ariana DeBose returns for a three-peat, expertly donning “all the hats” in an effort to pull off a performance we’re sure to remember. 
And while one would think a venue change would present challenges, DeBose is quick to point out its perks.
To start, “There’s a different energy to the Tonys than [other awards ceremonies],” she told the hosts of CBS Mornings in an interview earlier this week. But furthermore, “There is an energy to the space [this year] that is very different from last year.”
But the energy shift isn’t the catalyst for a new take – shaking it up has long been something DeBose has believed in. “I never feel the need to duplicate or recycle anything that I’ve done,” she continues. “I believe in versatility…. It’s an ambitious season, so why not try to make an ambitious show that [tackles] something new?!”
Of course, while it’s the first time the ceremony has been held in Lincoln Center, such a switch in venue shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially given the similar swaps in recent years.
For a good portion of its history, the Tonys have been held at the famed Radio City Music Hall, with some exception – including last year’s bash at the United Palace in Washington Heights, the post-COVID celebration in September 2021 at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre (now home to the Tony-nommed Back to the Future), and past ceremonies held at the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, when the Rockettes’ abode was booked and unavailable.
Nonetheless, the Wing is thrilled to embrace their newest home come Sunday. In remarking on how, with its construction, it fulfilled Johnson’s mission to allow “the country [to] take its rightful place on the international cultural stage,” Goldberger adds that the lasting result serves as a “reminder to not [be] afraid to dream big.”
Today, hailed as “one of the finest concert halls on the planet” and long considered one of the world’s greatest performing arts venues, we’d certainly say those dreams have been fulfilled.
And while next year may shake things up even further, we’re happy — for now — to be calling this place home.
The 77th Annual Tony Awards will be held at the David H. Koch Theater (20 Lincoln Center Plaza, within the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts), concurrently airing on CBS & Paramount Plus, on June 16th, 2024. For more information, please visit www.tonyawards.com.
