The awards instituted to honour the best from the American theatre, is often touted as the most anticipated evening in American theatre. The ceremony will be held at the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York for the seventh year running, says a company release.

The award ceremony will be hosted by a Tony nominee Hugh Jackman, who is nominated this year for his role as Peter Allen in the Broadway hit The Boy from Oz.

Awarded by a panel of approximately 700 judges from various areas of the industry, it is generally regarded as the theatre's closest equivalent to the Oscars.

Among the celebrated names nominated for awards at this year's ceremonies are Kevin Kline, Frank Langella, Christopher Plummer, Anne Heche, Phylicia Rashad, Ben Chaplin, and Hugh Jackman.

The list of presenters include luminaries such as Carol Channing, Sean Combs, Taye Diggs, Ethan Hawke, Billy Joel, Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman, Nathan Lane, Laura Linney, John Lithgow, LL Cool J, Anna Paquin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bernadette Peters, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, and Renee Zellweger.

While Tony Bennett and Mary J. Blige will perform a musical salute to Broadway with the classic tunes "Lullaby Of Broadway" and "What I Did For Love," the award ceremony will also feature musical performances from nominated shows including Assassins, Avenue Q, The Boy From Oz, Caroline, or Change, Fiddler on the Roof, Wicked and Wonderful Town, adds the release.