Andrew Lloyd Webber & Chita Rivera to receive special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Andrew Lloyd Webber & Chita Rivera will be honored at The 72nd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Hall on Sunday, June 10, 2018.

The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing have officially announced that multiple-time Tony Award-winning composer and producer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber and two-time Tony Award-winning actress Chita Rivera will be honored with special Tony Awards for "Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre" at The 72nd Annual Tony Awards, which will be held on Sunday, June 10, 2018 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Andrew Lloyd Webber commented: "I am completely overwhelmed as a Brit to be honoured by the Broadway community at the Tonys, particularly at the time when musicals are flying higher in their spiritual home New York than they have for two generations."

Chita Rivera says: "My performing aspirations began with ballet training as a child in Washington, DC. When I came to New York and auditioned for George Balanchine, who gave me a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, I could never have imagined the amazing journey I have had in the theatre. I would not trade my life in the theatre for anything as the theatre IS life. I am deeply honored to be recognized with the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre this year."

Andrew Lloyd Webber is currently represented on the Great White Way by The Phantom of the Opera (Broadway's longest-running show) and School of Rock and his past Broadway productions have included Cats, Sunset Boulevard, Evita, Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Starlight Express, and many more.

Chita Rivera won Tony Awards for her performances in Kiss of the Spider Woman in 1993 and The Rink in 1984. She also earned Tony nominations for The Visit (2015), Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life (2006), Nine (2003), Jerry's Girls (1986), Merlin (1983), Bring Back Birdie (1981), Chicago (1976), and Bye Bye Birdie (1961). 

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will be co-hosted by Broadway alumni and popular recording artists Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban on Sunday, June 2018. Continuing the long-standing tradition, CBS will broadcast the ceremony live, as it has done since 1978.

On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, "Smash" alumni Leslie Odom, Jr. and Katharine McPhee are set to co-host the Nominations Announcement for the biggest night in Broadway's theatre calendar  from The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

All Broadway productions in the 2017-2018 season, who officially open on or before the eligibility cut-off date of Thursday, April 26, 2018 (and meet all other requirements) can be considered for nominations.