Virtual Tony Awards to take place this fall

The curtain came crashing down on Broadway in March thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but that won't keep the Tony Awards from happening this year.

Tony Awards Productions announced on Friday that a digital version of the awards saluting Broadway's best will take place sometime this fall. An official date and platform for the ceremony will be announced soon.

“Though unprecedented events cut the Broadway season short, it was a year full of extraordinary work that deserves to be recognized,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, president and chief executive officer of the American Theatre Wing in a joint statement. “We are thrilled not only to have found a way to properly celebrate our artists’ incredible achievements this season, but also to be able to uplift the entire theater community and show the world what makes our Broadway family so special at this difficult time. The show must go on, no matter what — and it will.”

Broadway theaters have been closed since March 12. Final eligibility requirements are still being worked out by the Tony Awards Administration Committee, but are expected to be announced within the next few days. Last fall's high-profile premieres including "The Inheritance," "Jagged Little Pill" and "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical" should have no problem qualifying.

While many of the spring heavy-hitters, such as "Plaza Suite" with Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker and "The Lehman Trilogy," never officially opened, a few — notably Ivo van Hove's radical reworking of "West Side Story" and the Bob Dylan musical "Girl From the North Country" — did play a handful of performances before the shutdown.

Some other highly anticipated shows that were set to open this spring— including Martin McDonagh's "Hangmen" and a revival of Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" starring Laurie Metcalf and Rupert Everett — canceled their runs.