Sheldon Harnick and Marshall W. Mason to Receive Special Tony Awards

Tony Award-winning lyricist Sheldon Harnick and multiple Tony-nominated director Marshall W. Mason have been announced as this year's recipients of the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. They will be presented with the awards at the 70th Annual Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday, June 12 at the Beacon Theatre.

"It is our pleasure to present two very deserving legends with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their extraordinary careers and countless achievements," said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing. "Mr. Harnick has crafted some of the most beautiful and recognizable scores in the theatrical repertoire that have spanned generations. Mr. Mason has gifted his ingenious visions to dozens of Broadway’s biggest hits. We are thrilled to play a part in their history with this honor."

Harnick is best known as the Tony-winning lyricist of Fiddler on the Roof, now being revived at the Broadway Theatre, and is also represented on Broadway this season in the Roundabout revival of She Loves Me at Studio 54. Harnick also penned the lyrics to Fiorello! (Tony Award), The Apple Tree, and The Rothschilds.

Mason was the Founding Artistic Director of the Circle Repertory Company, and enjoyed a 44-year collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson. Over the course of his career, Mason directed 12 Broadway plays that earned him five Tony nominations for Best Director: Knock Knock by Jules Feiffer, Talley’s Folly, Fifth of July, Angels Fall by Lanford Wilson, and As Is by William M. Hoffman.

The nominations for the 2016 Tony Awards will be announced live on Tuesday, May 3, from the Paramount Hotel in New York City.

For more information and tickets to the 2016 Tony Awards, click here.