Kristin Chenoweth and Jim Parsons to Announce 2012 Tony Award Nominations

NEW YORK -- Nominations for the 66th annual Tony Awards will be announced May 1 by Kristin Chenoweth and Jim Parsons, co-hosting from the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

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Currently starring in ABC's new comedy GCB, Chenoweth was a Tony winner in 1999 for featured actress in a musical in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and was also nominated in 2004 as lead actress in a musical for Wicked. Her most recent Broadway appearance was in the 2010 revival of Promises, Promises. While plans are not yet official, Chenoweth is expected to return to Broadway in a revival next season of the 1978 musical comedy On the 20th Century.

A two-time Emmy winner for his role in the CBS hit The Big Bang Theory, Parsons made his Broadway debut in 2011 in Larry Kramer's landmark AIDS play The Normal Heart. He is slated to reprise his role of activist Tommy Boatwright in the forthcoming Ryan Murphy film version, opposite Mark Ruffalo, Julia Roberts, Alec Baldwin and Matt Bomer. Parsons currently is in rehearsals to play the lead role of Elwood P. Dowd in the Broadway revival of Mary Chase's 1944 play Harvey, which begins previews May 18 at Studio 54, with official opening set for June 14. That production will be the first entry in the 2012-13 Broadway season.

Hosted for the third time by Neil Patrick Harris, the Tony Awards, honoring the best of the Broadway season, will air live on CBS Sunday June 10 from New York's Beacon Theatre. The May 1 nominations announcement will be streamed on tonyawards.com and broadcast live on cable news channel NY1 at 8:30am ET.

In early awards news, it was announced this week that Emanuel "Manny" Azenberg, the veteran Broadway producer best known for his long association with the plays of Neil Simon, will receive a Special Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. In a career starting in the mid-'60s, Azenberg has previously won eight Tony Awards and received 25 nominations.