It was duly noted, early in the 73rd Tony Awards, that the festivities followed a record year on Broadway — more tickets sold and more dollars grossed than ever. But the tight, tinny, careful show broadcast by CBS on Sunday night didn’t feel celebratory — it seemed alternately self-satisfied and insecure, as if it felt it had to keep making excuses for itself.

It was reflected in the use, or the lack thereof, of the usually riotous James Corden, hosting the Tonys for the second time. The charm, endless energy and physical grace that make him an ideal awards host were all evident. But he was saddled throughout the night with bad ideas based on the notion of the Tonys’ inadequacy compared to television, or to streaming video, or to hip-hop music.

And he disappeared for long stretches, which isn’t unusual for awards-show hosts these days — one of the marginally funnier sketches, involving him and last year’s hosts, Josh Groban and Sara Bareilles, hiding out in Radio City Music Hall restroom stalls, floated the idea of the Tonys copying the now hostless Oscars in an attempt to shore up ratings.

[“Hadestown” triumphed at the 2019 Tony Awards.]

But after his verbal dexterity enlivened an overcrowded and bland opening number that did little to showcase the season’s musicals, the material continually failed him, whether it was a tortured audience-participation gag about putting on a loser’s face for the cameras, or a tortured audience-participation gag about generating some rap-style beefs between Broadway stars. (That one ended on a high note, when Audra McDonald and Laura Linney faced off with hilarious ferocity.)