James Corden will host 2016 Tony Awards. Will viewers tune in?
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Tony Award-winning actor and the host of CBS鈥檚 鈥淟ate Late Show鈥 James Corden will host this year鈥檚 Tony Awards ceremony.
This year鈥檚 contenders will include the musical phenomenon 鈥淗amilton鈥 as well as such productions as 鈥淜ing Charles III,鈥 鈥淣oises Off,鈥 and 鈥淭he Color Purple.鈥
Corden won a Tony Award for best actor in a play in 2012 for his work in the production 鈥淥ne Man, Two Guvnors.鈥澛
He has since acted in the 2014 film version of the musical 鈥淚nto the Woods鈥 as well as the 2013 movie 鈥淏egin Again鈥 and the 2015 movie 鈥淭he Lady in the Van.鈥 He began his time as host of 鈥淟ate鈥 this past March.
Corden follows such recent hosts as Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Neil Patrick Harris, and Hugh Jackman.聽
Will Corden be able to draw viewers to the ratings-challenged Tony Awards broadcast?
Last year, when Chenoweth and Cumming hosted, the Tonys drew the fewest聽viewers 18 to 49 years old in its history. The lowest ratings ever for total viewers came in 2012, when Harris hosted for the third go-round.聽
Will Corden be able to bring in interest? He brought more 18- to 49-year-olds to late night than his 鈥淟ate Late鈥 predecessor, Craig Ferguson, and聽, Corden comes in behind such hosts as Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Seth Meyers but ahead of Conan O鈥橞rien and Carson Daly.聽
We鈥檒l see when the ceremony airs if Corden has enough of a crossover appeal with non-theater fans to bring good ratings to the TV show. 鈥淚nto the Woods鈥 was a box office hit and he鈥檚 been on the air with "Late Late" for almost a year now.聽
Ratings for the Tonys have been low for years, with writing in 2001 that the then-big hit on the White Way, 鈥淭he Producers,鈥 鈥渨as apparently insufficient to draw significantly more viewers to the Tony Awards broadcast on Sunday night than had watched in the past few years.鈥澛
Those behind the Tony Awards have recruited hosts with jobs outside of the stage for some time now, perhaps thinking that non-theater fans will tune in to see these personalities. These selections include Harris, who starred on the CBS sitcom 鈥淗ow I Met Your Mother,鈥 and Jackman, who stars in the 鈥淴-Men鈥 franchise.聽
So why do ratings remain low?聽
wrote in 2012, following the lowest-ever total viewership for the ceremony, 鈥淚t's no secret the Tony Awards aren't a huge audience draw. Outside the East Coast, not many demographics care about Broadway.鈥澛
And last year, wrote that the Tony Awards may be alienating the people who will tune in 鈥 the Broadway fans.
鈥淩ecognizing history is something the Tonys, in recent years, have become not just indifferent to but openly fearful about,鈥 Harris wrote. 鈥淣o teenager decides to endure a three-hour show just because you鈥檝e promised that Nick Jonas or Ashley Tisdale is going to present or that Vanessa Hudgens will sing something from 鈥楪igi鈥; they watch because they want to, or they don鈥檛 watch鈥 It should be by, about, and for people who love Broadway theater 鈥 and in fact, that鈥檚 who鈥檚 watching.鈥
Will this year be different? If it is, it could be because of that little show called 鈥淗amilton.鈥 The promise of a number or two from the musical being performed during the telecast could bring in more viewers.