Curtain goes up on Broadway's Tony Awards starring new host James Corden

James Corden will host Broadway's biggest night of the year as the musical Hamilton looks to sweep the board at the 2016 Tony Awards.

The smash-hit production has a record 16 nominations including nods for best musical and best lead actor in a musical for its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and his co-star Leslie Odom Jr.

The Pulitzer prize-winning show, which is reportedly set to open at London's Victoria Palace Theatre in October 2017, has achieved sell-out performances and rave reviews since making its debut in February last year.

The hip-hop musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's founding fathers and an influential figure in the drafting of the US constitution.

US president Barack Obama is a fan of the show, with the cast performing at the White House in March.

Hamilton could break the record for the number of Tony Award wins, set by the musical The Producers when it scooped 12 gongs in 2001.

Corden, who won a 2012 Tony Award for his performance in One Man, Two Guvnors, will host the ceremony following his successful stint as the presenter of the Late, Late Show in America.

King Charles III, the fictional account of the Prince of Wales's accession to the throne, is nominated for five awards.

Tim Pigott-Smith, who plays Charles, is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role, while Richard Goulding, who plays Prince Harry, is up for best performance by an actor in a featured role.

British actor Mark Strong is nominated for best actor in a play for his role in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge, while Irish star Gabriel Bryne is nominated in the same category for his performance in Long Day's Journey Into Night.

Oscar-winners Jessica Lange and Lupita Nyong'o will compete for the best actress in a play award.

The awards will include performances from nine nominated musicals, including Hamilton, Fiddler on the Roof, The Color Purple and Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock. Gloria Estefan's musical On Your Feet! will also feature.

Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Claire Danes and Jake Gyllenhaal are among the star-studded list of award presenters. Barbara Streisand will take to the Tony Awards stage for the first time in 46 years to hand out a prize.

The 70th Tony Awards take place at New York's Beacon Theatre at 8pm local time (1am Monday BST).