The Ceremony
For the first time in Tony history, awards were not presented for lead actor and actress in a musical and choreography. As Ken Mandelbaum noted: "1985: Things get bad enough musically to require the elimination of the Best Musical Actor and Actress categories, as well as the choreography prize." The Associated Press wrote: "For the first time in the Tony's 39-year history, awards in three categories _ best actor and actress in a musical and best choreography _ were scrapped because of a lack of candidates." In a further report, the Associated Press noted: "The award for best actress, musical was eliminated this season because there was only one eligible candidate. The nominating committee declined to give nominations in the leading actor in a musical and choreography categories because they did not consider any of the performances or choreography outstanding or excellent."
Musicals represented:
- Big River ("Muddy Water"/" River in the Rain"- Daniel Jenkins, Ron Richardson and Company)
- Grind ("This Must Be the Place" - Ben Vereen and Company)
- Leader of the Pack (Medley - Company)
Presenters and Performers: Danny Aiello, Susan Anton, Hinton Battle, Deborah Bauers, Deborah Burrell, Terry Burrell, Jim Dale, Loretta Devine, Jackie Gleason, Julie Harris, Rex Harrison, George Hearn, Van Johnson, Raul Julia, Rosetta LeNoire, Mary Martin, Millicent Martin, Maureen McGovern, Rita Moreno, Mike Nichols, Stefanie Powers, Juliet Prowse, Tony Randall, Lee Roy Reams, Lynn Redgrave, Chita Rivera, Wanda Richert, Tony Roberts, Rex Smith, Leslie Uggams, Dick Van Dyke, Ben Vereen, Tom Wopat.
Read more about this topic: 39th Tony Awards
Famous quotes containing the word ceremony:
“The geometry of landscape and situation seems to create its own systems of time, the sense of a dynamic element which is cinematising the events of the canvas, translating a posture or ceremony into dynamic terms. The greatest movie of the 20th century is the Mona Lisa, just as the greatest novel is Gray’s Anatomy.”
—J.G. (James Graham)
““Dirty fellow!” exclaimed the Captain, seizing both her wrists, “hark you, Mrs. Frog, you’d best hold your tongue; for I must make bold to tell you, if you don’t, that I shall make no ceremony of tripping you out of the window, and there you may lie in the mud till some of your Monseers come to help you out of it.””
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)