The awards are provided for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre.
Some discretionary non-competitive awards also given, as well as a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.
The regulations for the Tony Awards winner are set forth in the authorized document "Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards", which be valid for that season only. The Tony Awards are considered the highest U.S. theatre honor, the New York theatre industry's equivalent to the Academy Awards (Oscars) for motion pictures, the Grammy Awards for music and the Emmy Awards for television, and the Laurence Olivier Award for West End theatre in England.
The Tony Awards for winner ceremony regularly been held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and aired live on CBS television since 1997,. The 65th Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 12, 2011 at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, and broadcast on CBS television.