1974 Tony Awards: History was made with wins by ‘The River Niger’ and ‘Raisin’

Susan King
·4 min read
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With the 96th Academy Awards in the history books, it’s time to become obsessed over the 77th Tony Awards. Nominations are April 30th with the awards set to air on CBS on June 16 from Lincoln Center. Among the contenders for Tony nominations are many musicals based on movies including “Back to the Future,’ “The Notebook,” “Water for Elephants” and “The Outsiders”: high profile revivals such as Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” with Jeremy Strong; “Cabaret” with Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne and the Who’s “Tommy”; imports from London and transfers from off-Broadway.

Do you remember the Tony landscape 50 years ago? The 28th annual honors took place April 21, 1974, at the Shubert Theater and aired on ABC.  And to say it was a star-studded affair is something of an understatement. Robert Preston, Peter Falk, Cicely Tyson, Florence Henderson hosted; presenters included Al Pacino –-let’s hope he had better luck announcing the winner — Alan Alda, Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, Johnny Carson, Jane Powell, Esther Rolle and Lesley Ann Warren. Bea Arthur, Carol Channing, Will Geer, Joel Grey, Henderson, Cleavon Little, Charles Nelson Reilly and Nancy Walker were the performers.

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It was a big night for Black Americans. Joseph A. Walker’s “The River Niger” took home the best play honors. The play had originally premiered off-Broadway in 1972 and transferred to Broadway in 1973 where it played 162 performances. Douglas Turner Ward was nominated for featured actor, while Roxie Roker was a supporting actress contender. Roker is best known as Helen Willis on CBS “The Jeffersons” and the mother of singer/songwriter Lenny Kravitz.

And the best musical honors went to “Raisin,” based on the 1959 Lorraine Hansberry drama “A Raisin in the Sun.” The show, which ran 847 performances, entered the ceremony with nine nominations, the most of any show. Besides best musical, it also won best actress for Virginia Capers. Two familiar faces earned nominations: Ralph Carter, who was then 12, was nominated for featured actor; he was also a regular on CBS “Good Times,” and Joe Morton, a popular character actor best known as Olivia’s shady pop on ABC’s “Scandal,” was in contention for best performance by an actor in a musical.

Christopher Plummer, whose musical numbers were dubbed in “The Sound of Music,” won the Tony for lead actor in a musical for “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Tommy Tune, who would become a powerhouse musical director, picked up his first Tony for featured actor in a musical for ‘Seesaw.” Michael Bennett also won for his choreography of the musical version of “Two for the Seesaw.” Janie Sell won for featured actress for “Over Here!” And speaking of “Over Here!” the nostalgia-tinged musical also featured such newbies as Marilu Henner in her Broadway debut, as well as John Travolta, Treat Williams, Samuel J. Wright and Ann Reinking.

Harold Wheeler won the Tony for his new book for the revival of the 1956 operetta “Candide.” Though the original production was a flop, this refreshing, which ran for 740 performances, was the big winner of the evening earning five Tonys including for best director Harold Prince. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe won best original score for “Gigi,” though most of the songs had been featured in the Oscar-winning 1958 musical.

Michael Moriarty won best performance by leading actor in a play for “Find Your Way Home.” Colleen Dewhurst won leading actress for the lauded revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “A Moon for the Misbegotten.” Ed Flanders won featured actor for the production and Jose Quintero took home the Tony for best director of play for the revival. Frances Sternhagen won for featured actress for Neil Simon’s “The Good Doctor.”

Because there no best revival category of a play and musical, both “Moon for the Misbegotten” and “Candide” received special Tonys. Also receiving special Tonys that evening were Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler for “adding luster to the Broadway season.” And Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, the co-stars and writers of “Good Evening” also earned a special Tony.

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