Tonys: Broadway hopes to razzle-dazzle its way out pandemic

By MARK KENNEDY
AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway is in need of a boost these days so it has smartly called on one of its most beloved, award-winning stage veterans for help — Audra McDonald. McDonald has been tapped to host the Tony Awards on Sunday. Theater producers hope the telecast can serve as a splashy advertisement that a post-pandemic Broadway is inching back to normalcy. The typical three-hour awards show this year has been expanded to four, with McDonald handing out Tonys and Leslie Odom Jr. hosting a “Broadway’s Back!” celebration for the second half.