Playbill Vault’s Today in Theatre History: April 6

1947 The first Tony Awards ceremony is held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. Thirteen awards are presented to the likes of Helen Hayes, Ingrid Bergman, Fredric March, José Ferrer, Agnes de Mille, Kurt Weill, and Elia Kazan. No Best Play or Best Musical category yet exists, but the Best Author award goes to a young Arthur Miller for All My Sons. No medallions yet either; men get engraved cigarette lighters or money clips, women get compacts.

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Look Back at Diane Paulus’ Revival of Hair on Broadway

Following a Public Theater concert in 2007, the 2009 revival of Hair opened at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre March 31 after beginning preview performances March 6. The revival, starring Gavin Creel, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, Sasha Allen, and more, ran for 519 performances, concluding it’s run June 27, 2010. The Diane Paulus-helmed production would go on to earn eight Tony Award nominations including a win for Best Revival of a Musical.

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