Tonys change tabulators

In a triumph of image over substance, accounting giant KPMG has replaced the small firm that has tabulated Broadway’s Tony Awards votes for more than half a century.

The change was made in the hopes of bringing a higher profile to the Tony Awards telecast, according to Alan Wasser, an executive with the awards. The Tonys are a joint venture of the Broadway League, a trade organization, and the American Theatre Wing, a service group that owns the Tony Awards name.

“When we came on board, we decided that we wanted a Big Four firm,” said Wasser, who is in his first year as one of two general managers of Tony Awards Productions, which produces the show.

CBS will present the award show from Radio City Music Hall on June 7.

Asked what difference the change would bring, Wasser said, “It gives the Tonys the imprimatur of credibility.”

Until this year, Tony voters returned their ballots to Lutz & Carr, a Midtown Manhattan accounting firm. The tally of votes remains secret until the telecast, when a principal of the company hands the name of each winner to the award presenter.

A former manager of the awards, Elizabeth I. McCann, questioned whether viewers of the telecast will notice the change.