The 43rd Annual Tony Awards, which honor achievement in the Broadway theatre was held on June 4, 1989, at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and broadcast by CBS television. Angela Lansbury hosted the event and although it was the last time she hosted it, she remains the person who has hosted Tony telecasts more than any other individual with five telecasts: 1968, 1971, 1987, 1988, and 1989.
The biggest winner of the night was Black and Blue – a musical revue celebrating the black culture of dance and music in Paris between World War I and World War II. The production was based on an idea by Mel Howard and conceived by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia. It comprised songs by artists such as W. C. Handy, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Eubie Blake, and Big Maybelle and skits peppered with bits of bawdy humor.
In all, Black and Blue got nine nominations and three wins. Here are the five African-Americans who won for their roles in the Black and Blue musical.
