By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The Tonys are likely moving to an off-off-Broadway theater next year, as the award show could move from Radio City Music Hall to the United Palace Theater in Washington Heights.
Although CBS, which broadcasts the awards show, still has to approve the move, it is more than likely a done deal, reports the New York Post. The paper says the move is being prompted by a scheduling conflict with a future Cirque du Soleil performance scheduled to take place at the Radio City Music Hall at the same time as the Tonys.
The United Palace Theater is an architectually-eclectic Depression-era theater on 175th Street and Broadway.
It has attracted tours by big name performers including Bob Dylan and Bjork and has long served as the home the Christ Community United Church, led by the flamboyant late Rev. Frederick "Ike" Eikerenkoetter II, who saved the church from being torn down in 1969.
Recently, big name performers have held concerts at night, long after church ceremonies come to a close.
The Allman Brothers also relocated their concert to the United Palace Theater last fall after their original venue, the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side, hosted a conflicting run of the Cirque du Soleil performance “Banana Shpeel.”
