Yes, it's Broadway's biggest night of the year, and Emmy Award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") has returned, marking his fourth time as Tony host, following his work on the 63rd Annual Tony Awards in 2009, the 65th Annual Tony Awards in 2011 and the 66th Annual Tony Awards in 2012. Harris also acts as a producer, along with executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment.

The telecast, which begins at 8 PM ET on CBS, features appearances by Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver, Anna Kendrick, Bernadette Peters, Zachary Quinto, Sally Field, Audra McDonald, Cyndi Lauper, Jane Krakowski, Alan Cumming, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jon Cryer, Megan Hilty, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Andrew Rannells, Matthew Morrison, Cuba Gooding Jr, Jesse Eisenberg, Laura Benanti, Steven Van Zandt, Martha Plimpton, Hal Prince, Barrett Foa and Mike Tyson.

The evening also promises performances by the casts of the Tony Award-nominated musicals A Christmas Story, The Musical; Annie; Bring It On: The Musical; Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella; Kinky Boots; Matilda The Musical; Motown The Musical; and Pippin.

Viewers will also enjoy appearances by the casts of the currently running Broadway musicals Chicago; Jersey Boys; Newsies; Once; Mamma Mia!; Rock of Ages; Spider-Man Turn Off the Dark; The Lion King; and The Phantom of the Opera.

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. The Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. (Those interested can view a live video webcast of the stars' arrivals at Radio City Music Hall beginning at 6 PM ET at TonyAwards.com.)

Tony nominations were announced April 30 by Tony winner Sutton Foster and stage and screen star Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Two new musicals, Kinky Boots and Matilda the Musical, earned 13 and 12 nominations, respectively, the most of any productions of the season. Two musical revivals also fared well: Stephen Schwartz's Pippin nabbed 10 nominations, while Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella received nine nominations. Leading the plays were the revival of Golden Boy with eight nominations, and the late Nora Ephron's Lucky Guy and Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, with six nominations apiece.

Nominations follow:

Best Play

The Assembled Parties
Author: Richard Greenberg

Lucky Guy
Author: Nora Ephron

The Testament of Mary
Author: Colm Toíbín

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Author: Christopher Durang

Best Musical
Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical

Best Revival of a Play
Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best Revival of a Musical
Annie
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella

Best Book of a Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical
Joseph Robinette

Kinky Boots
Harvey Fierstein

Matilda The Musical
Dennis Kelly

Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella
Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Story, The Musical
Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Hands on a Hardbody
Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green

Kinky Boots
Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper

Matilda The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Carrie Coon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play
John Lee Beatty, The Nance
Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties
David Rockwell, Lucky Guy
Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Scott Pask, Pippin
David Rockwell, Kinky Boots

Best Costume Design of a Play
Soutra Gilmour, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ann Roth, The Nance
Albert Wolsky, The Heiress
Catherine Zuber, Golden Boy

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Kinky Boots
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Dominique Lemieux, Pippin
William Ivey Long, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Lucky Guy
Donald Holder, Golden Boy
Jennifer Tipton, The Testament of Mary
Japhy Weideman, The Nance

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kenneth Posner, Kinky Boots
Kenneth Posner, Pippin
Kenneth Posner, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
Hugh Vanstone, Matilda The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play
John Gromada, The Trip to Bountiful
Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Leon Rothenberg, The Nance
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, Golden Boy

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm, Pippin
Peter Hylenski, Motown The Musical
John Shivers, Kinky Boots
Nevin Steinberg, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

Best Direction of a Play
Pam MacKinnon, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy

Best Direction of a Musical
Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin

Best Orchestrations
Chris Nightingale, Matilda The Musical
Stephen Oremus, Kinky Boots
Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, Motown The Musical
Danny Troob, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella

* * *

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Bernard Gersten
Paul Libin
Ming Cho Lee

Regional Theatre Award
Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, MA

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Larry Kramer

Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre
Career Transition For Dancers
William Craver
Peter Lawrence
The Lost Colony
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
The four actresses who created the title role of Matilda The Musical on Broadway - Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro

For more information visit TonyAwards.com.