CBS is counting down to its Sunday, June 15 American Theatre Wing Tony Awards® telecast with a first-ever event: an hour-long concert generating excitement about the Tonys and celebrating the Broadway season, hosted by TV and Broadway star Mario Lopez. The Visa Signature Tony Awards Preview Concert, which will be broadcast in more than 50 cities around the country starting Saturday, June 7, features performers from all of this year’s Tony-nominated musicals singing numbers from their productions. In addition, the program incorporates behind-the-scenes interviews with nominees from the season’s plays. See below for a list of cities and broadcast dates.

Musical Performances

Along with Lopez, who is currently headlining in the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, the special features performances from ten shows—A Catered Affair, Cry-Baby, Grease, Gypsy, In The Heights, Passing Strange, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park with George, The Little Mermaid, and Xanadu—on stage at the Allen Room at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, with its spectacular, floor-to-ceiling views of Central Park South visible to viewers of the telecast.

Nominees who perform on the program include Laura Benanti (Gypsy), Daniel Breaker and Stew (Passing Strange), Kerry Butler (Xanadu), Daniel Evans (Sunday in the Park with George), Faith Prince (A Catered Affair), and Loretta Ables Sayre (South Pacific).

“We’ve tried very hard not to cannibalize anything that will be on the actual Tony telecast, but just to whet people’s appetites for June 15,” says The Broadway League’s Jan Friedlander Svendsen, who is an executive producer of the special. “We purposely didn’t want this in costume, we didn’t want big production numbers. We wanted it to feel very intimate. And we wanted to have those up-close-and-personal profiles.”

Up-Close and Personal

Actor nominees who are interviewed during the pre-Tony telecast include Laurence Fishburne, who talks about his role as a Supreme Court justice in Thurgood, and Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood, who reveal a touching story from the casting of their revival of Macbeth. Steppenwolf Theatre Company members Laurie Metcalf (November) and Deanna Dunagan, Amy Morton, and Rondi Reed from the Best Play nominee August: Osage County celebrate the success of Steppenwolf-ers on Broadway this season—the roster also includes Martha Plimpton and Kevin Anderson—who all told represent six different Broadway shows.

“One of the issues with the Tonys is, often times, not all of our nominees are as well known as, say, Oscar nominees,” says Svendsen. “It’s great to let audiences be exposed to some of those who aren’t as well known. It’s kind of like the Olympics. Many of those athletes aren’t as famous, and one of my favorite parts of watching the Games is getting to know those athletes from a human interest side. Then I have an emotional connection with them and a more rooting interest in who’s going to win.”

The preview concert is sponsored by Visa, which has been a major Broadway booster for nine years. Svendsen says she looks forward to doing more of these shows in future seasons. “I look at all of this as an exciting experiment. It’s something that we’ve never done before. This will help get people excited about tuning in and watching the real thing on June 15.”

Broadcast Schedule

Anchorage, AK - KTVA, Saturday, June 7 at 11:30 p.m.
Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX - KFDM, Saturday, June 7 at 11:30am
Billings, MT - KTVQ, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Boston, MA - WBZ-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m.
Bowling Green, KY - WNKY, date and time to be announced (check local listings)

Butte-Bozeman, MT - KXLF, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Casper-Riverton, WY - KGWC - Sunday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m.
Charlotte, NC - WBTV - Sunday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m.
Chicago, IL - WBBM-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Cleveland, OH - WOIO-TV, Friday, June 13 at 7:00 p.m.

Columbia, SC - WLTX - Saturday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Columbus, MS - WCBI-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Dallas, TX - KTVT-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 2:00 p.m.
Denver, CO - KCNC, Sunday, June 8 at 11:00 a.m.
Detroit, MI - WWJ-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m.

Fresno-Visilia, CA - KGPE, Sunday, June 8 at 4:30 p.m.
Great Falls, MT - KRTV- date and times to be announced (check local listings)
Honolulu, HI - KGMB, Saturday, June 7 at 6:00 p.m.
Indianapolis, IN - WISH, Saturday, June 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Jacksonville, FL - WTEV, Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m.

Kansas City, MO - KCTV, Sunday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Knoxville, TN - WVLV-TV, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Lafayette, LA - KLFY, Saturday, June 7 at 1:00 p.m.
Lansing, MI - WLMS-TV, Saturday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Las Vegas, NV - KLAS, Sunday, June 15 at 4:00 p.m.

Lexington, KY - WKYT, Sunday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Los Angeles, CA - KCBS-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m.
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL - WFOR-TV, Saturday, June 7 at 1:00 p.m.
Mikwaukee, WI - WDJ-TV, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Minneapolis, MN - WCCO-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 11:00 a.m.

Missoula, MT - KPAX, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Nashville, TN - WTVF-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 2:00 p.m.
New York, NY - WCBS-TV, Saturday, June 7 at 7:00 p.m.
Paducah-Cape Girardeau, KY - KFVS, Sunday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Philadelphia, PA - KYW-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 11:00 a.m.

Pittsburgh, PA - KDKA-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m.
Portland, OR - KOIN, Saturday, June 14 at 3:00 p.m.
Providence, RI - WPRI, Sunday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA - WDBJ, Sunday, June 15 at 3:00 p.m.
Sacramento, CA - KOVR-TV, Saturday, June 7 at 3:00 p.m.

Salt Lake City, UT - KUTV-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 2:00 p.m.
San Francisco, CA - KPIX-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 1:00 p.m.
South Bend-Elkhart, IN – WSBT, Saturday, June 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Toccoa, GA - WNEG-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 1:00 p.m.
Topeka, KS - WIBW, date and time to be announced (check local listings)

Tulsa, OK - KOTV-TV, Sunday, June 8 at 12:00 p.m.
Tyler-Longview, TX - KYTX, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Wausau-Rhinelander, WI – WSAW, Sunday, June 8 at 11:00 a.m.
Washington, DC - WUSA-TV, Sunday, June 15 at 2:00 p.m.
West Palm Beach, FL - WPEC, date and time to be announced (check local listings)

Wheeling-Steubenville, WV - WTRF, date and time to be announced (check local listings)
Wilmington, NC – WILM, Sunday, June 15 at 12:00 p.m.

Check back soon for additional listings.