The 10th Annual Tony Awards took place at the Plaza Hotel Grand Ballroom on April 1, 1956. The Master of Ceremonies was Jack Carter.
The presenter was Helen Hayes, who was President of the American Theatre Wing, and several of the nominees. Jack Carter was host for the first part of the ceremony, and Helen Hayes hosted the second part. More than 500 people attended the dinner dance.
For the first time, the ceremony was broadcast on television, on the DuMont Channel 5 in New York City, in an effort to create "wider public interest in Broadway's most important award-giving ceremony". Also for the first time, the nominees were announced ahead of the ceremony.
Music for the dinner dance was by Meyer Davis and his Orchestra.
Winners and nominees
Sources:Infoplease;BroadwayWorld
Winners are in bold
Outstanding Play
The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. Produced by Kermit Bloomgarden.
Bus Stop by William Inge. Produced by Robert Whitehead and Roger L. Stevens.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. Produced by The Playwrights' Company
Tiger at the Gates by Jean Giraudoux, adapted by Christopher Fry. Produced by Robert L. Joseph, The Playwrights' Company, and Henry M. Margolis.
The Chalk Garden by Enid Bagnold. Produced by Irene Mayer Selznick.
Outstanding Musical
Damn Yankees by George Abbot and Douglass Wallop. Music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Produced by Frederick Brisson, Robert Griffith, and Harold S. Prince in association with Albert B. Taylor.
Pipe Dream. Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, music by Richard Rodgers. Produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Winners are in bold
Distinguished Dramatic Actor
Paul Muni (Inherit the Wind)
Ben Gazzara (A Hatful of Rain)
Boris Karloff (The Lark)
Michael Redgrave (Tiger at the Gates)
Edward G. Robinson (Middle of the Night)
Distinguished Dramatic Actress
Julie Harris (The Lark)
Barbara Bel Geddes (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Gladys Cooper (The Chalk Garden)
Ruth Gordon (The Matchmaker)
Siobhan McKenna (The Chalk Garden)
Susan Strasberg (The Diary of Anne Frank)
Distinguished Musical Actor
Ray Walston (Damn Yankees)
Stephen Douglass (Damn Yankees)
William Johnson (Pipe Dream)
Distinguished Musical Actress
Gwen Verdon (Damn Yankees)
Carol Channing (The Vamp)
Nancy Walker (Phoenix '55)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor
Ed Begley (Inherit the Wind)
Anthony Franciosa (A Hatful of Rain)
Andy Griffith (No Time for Sergeants)
Anthony Quayle (Tamburlaine the Great)
Fritz Weaver (The Chalk Garden)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actress
Una Merkel (The Ponder Heart)
Diane Cilento (Tiger at the Gates)
Anne Jackson (Middle of the Night)
Elaine Stritch (Bus Stop)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actor
Russ Brown (Damn Yankees)
Mike Kellin (Pipe Dream)
Will Mahoney (Finian's Rainbow)
Scott Merrill (The Threepenny Opera)
Distinguished Supporting or Featured Musical Actress
Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera)
Rae Allen (Damn Yankees)
Pat Carroll (Catch a Star)
Judy Tyler (Pipe Dream)
Outstanding Director
Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker)
Joseph Anthony (The Lark)
Harold Clurman (Bus Stop / Pipe Dream / Tiger at the Gates)
Tyrone Guthrie (The Matchmaker / Six Characters in Search of an Author / Tamburlaine the Great)
Garson Kanin (The Diary of Anne Frank)
Elia Kazan (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)
Albert Marre (The Chalk Garden)
Herman Shumlin (Inherit the Wind)
Outstanding Choreographer
Bob Fosse (Damn Yankees)
Robert Alton (The Vamp)
Boris Runanin (Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
Anna Sokolow (Red Roses for Me)
Scenic Designer
Peter Larkin (Inherit the Wind / No Time for Sergeants)
Boris Aronson (The Diary of Anne Frank / Bus Stop / Once Upon a Tailor / A View from the Bridge)
Ben Edwards (The Ponder Heart / Someone Waiting / The Honeys)
Jo Mielziner (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof / The Lark / Middle of the Night / Pipe Dream)
Raymond Sovey (The Great Sebastians)
Costume Designer
'Alvin Colt (Pipe Dream)
Mainbocher (The Great Sebastians)
Alvin Colt (The Lark / Phoenix '55 / Pipe Dream)
Helene Pons (The Diary of Anne Frank / Heavenly Twins / A View from the Bridge)
Conductor and Musical Director
Hal Hastings (Damn Yankees)
Salvatore Dell'Isola (Pipe Dream)
Milton Rosenstock (The Vamp)
Stage Technician
Harry Green, electrician and sound man, (Middle of the Night / Damn Yankees)
Larry Bland, carpenter, (Middle of the Night / The Ponder Heart / Porgy and Bess)
City Center
Fourth Street Chekov Theatre
The Shakespearewrights
The Threepenny Opera, distinguished Off-Broadway production
The Theatre Collection of the New York Public Library on its twenty-fifth anniversary, for its distinguished service to the theatre.
