The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway LeagueThe League of American Theatres and Producers was renamed "The Broadway League", see Gans, Andrew."League of American Theatres and Producers Announces Name Change",playbill.com, December 18, 2007 at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre. A discretionary non-competitive Special Tony Award and the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre are also given.Tony Homepage and "About the Tonys: Who We Are" The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

The rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document "Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards", which applies for each season only."Tony Awards Rules and Regulations for 2008-09 season",tonyawards.com, accessed June 1, 2009 The Tony Awards are considered the highest U.S. theatre honor, the U.S. theatre industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards (Oscars) for motion pictures. In British theatre, the equivalent of the Tony Award is the Laurence Olivier Award.

Since 1997, the Tony Awards ceremony has generally been held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television. The 63rd Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 7, 2009, at Radio City Music Hall, with a three-hour broadcast on CBS.