UPDATE, Writethru with more info, complete list of nominees: History filtered through the prisms of race and sex will dominate the race to the June 12 Tony Awards, as nominees for Broadway’s top prizes were announced this morning. Leading the pack are Hamilton, with a record-breaking 16 nominations, and Shuffle Along, with 10 nominations including Best Musical. Danai Gurira’s Eclipsed, about women in war-torn Liberia (and marking the Broadway debut of Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o), and Stephen Karam’s The Humans, about a family’s struggles in Post-9/11 Manhattan, will face off in the the Best Play category.
The nominees reflect an extraordinarily diverse range of on- and offstage talent. Filling out the card for Best Musical are Waitress, marking the Broadway debut of pop singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles leading an all-female creative team; Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s bluegrass-inspired musical Bright Star; and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s return to hit form with his adaptation of School Of Rock, written with Downton Abbey author Julian Fellowes.
Also competing for Best Play are Florian Zeller’s The Father, starring nominee Frank Langella as a man dealing, or not dealing, with Alzheimer’s disease, and Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III, in which nominee Tim Pigott-Smith played an imagined Prince Charles ascending to the throne after the death of the Queen.
Adding to the drama are the leading candidates in the revival categories, with Scott Ellis’ affectionate presentation of She Loves Me for the Roundabout Theatre Company leading the nominees for Best Musical Revival with eight nods. A revamped, stripped-down version of The Color Purple followed with four nominations, along with Fiddler On The Roof and Spring Awakening each taking three.
American modern classics from Arthur Miller (The Crucible, A View From The Bridge), both staged by Belgian director Ivo Van Hove, and Eugene O’Neill (Long Day’s Journey Into Night), staged by the UK’s Jonathan Kent, lead the Best Play Revival category, along with David Harrower’s Blackbird and Alan Ayckbourn’s Noises Off.
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, already the winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has been a phenomenon. Kicking off the new season in August after a sold-out off-Broadway run, Hamilton has banked advance ticket sales of some $80 million — an unprecedented number — on the strength of continuing acclaim across the political spectrum for its rap-infused, racially inverted story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Miranda alone has three nominations, for his leading performance in the title role, for his book, and for the score.
Bookending the season was Shuffle Along, or The Making Of The Musical Sensation Of 1921 And All That Followed, which opened on the final day of eligibility for this year’s Tonys. Double nominee (as writer and director) George C. Wolfe’s musical drama follows the early Twenties hit from the African-American team of composer Eubie Blake and lyricist Noble Sissle, and its impact on white Broadway (Shuffle Along was not eligible in the Best Score category because the songs came from the earlier show). Producer Scott Rudin added some extra drama to the nominations process by requesting that Shuffle Along be considered in the Best Revival category, which Tony officials rejected last week.
Perhaps the most surprising omission from the list of nominees is Shuffle Along star Audra McDonald, whose performance was hailed by most critics and who already has a record six Tony medallions on her mantel. Among the other stars appearing this season but ending up nominationless were Al Pacino (David Mamet’s China Doll, also ignored), Benjamin Walker (American Psycho), Keira Knightley (Therese Raquin), Bruce Willis (Misery) and Forest Whitaker (Hughie). Notably absent from the nominees in the top categories were new musical productions On Your Feet!, the Gloria and Emilio Estefan biomusical; Duncan Sheik’s American Psycho; and Tuck Everlasting, among new musicals.
Here is the complete list of nominees:
Best Play
Eclipsed
Author: Danai Gurira
Producers: Stephen C. Byrd, Alia Jones-Harvey, Paula Marie Black, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Alani Lala Anthony, Michael Magers, Kenny Ozoude, Willette Klausner, Davelle, Dominion Pictures, Emanon Productions, FG Productions, The Forstalls, MA Theatricals, The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Patrick Willingham
The Father
Author: Florian Zeller
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove
The Humans
Author: Stephen Karam
Producers: Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Roundabout Theatre Company, Fox Theatricals, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Roy Furman, Daryl Roth, Jon B. Platt, Eli Bush, Broadway Across America, Jack Lane, Barbara Whitman, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman, Amanda Lipitz, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, Lauren Stein, The Shubert Organization, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers
King Charles III
Author: Mike Bartlett
Producers: Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman Productions, Almeida Theatre, Robert G. Bartner, Norman Tulchin, Lee Dean & Charles Diamond, Scott M. Delman, Ruth Hendel, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jon B. Platt, Scott Rudin, Richard Winkler, Zeilinger Productions, The Shubert Organization
Best Musical
Bright Star
Producers: Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Zebulon LLC, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Len Blavatnik, James L. Nederlander, Carson & Joseph Gleberman, Balboa Park Productions, The Shubert Organization, Jamie deRoy/Catherine Adler/Cricket Jiranek, Rodger Hess, A.C. Orange International, Broadway Across America, Sally Jacobs & Warren Baker, Diana DiMenna, Exeter Capital, Agnes Gund, True Love Productions, The Old Globe
Hamilton
Producers: Jeffrey Seller, Sander Jacobs, Jill Furman, The Public Theater
School of Rock—The Musical
Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Really Useful Group, Warner Music Group & Access Industries, The Shubert Organization, The Nederlander Organization
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Producers: Scott Rudin, Roy Furman, Columbia Live Stage, Center Theatre Group, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Broadway Across America, Heni Koenigsberg, The Araca Group, Peter May, Jon B. Platt, Daryl Roth, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman, Ruth Hendel, Independent Presenters Network, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Spring Sirkin, Eli Bush, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, Color Mad Productions, Len Blavatnik
Waitress
Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler, Norton and Elayne Herrick, David I. Berley, Independent Presenters Network, A.C. Orange International, Peter May, Michael Roiff, Ken Schur, Marisa Sechrest, Jam Theatricals, 42nd.club/Square 1 Theatrics, Benjamin Simpson & Joseph Longthorne/Shira Friedman, The American Repertory Theater
Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Len Blavatnik, Roy Furman, Peter May, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Jane Bergère, Sonia Friedman Productions, Ruth Hendel, JFL Theatricals, Stacey Mindich, Jon B. Platt, Megan Savage, Spring Sirkin, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Producers: Scott Rudin, Lincoln Center Theater, Eli Bush, Robert G. Bartner, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Roy Furman, Peter May, Amanda Lipitz, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Scott M. Delman, Sonia Friedman, John Gore, Ruth Hendel, JFL Theatricals, Heni Koenigsberg, Jon B. Platt, Daryl Roth, Spring Sirkin, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, The Young Vic
Blackbird
Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Roger Berlind, William Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Peter May, Jon B. Platt, Len Blavatnik, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Jay Alix & Una Jackman, Heni Koenigsberg, Stacey Mindich, Wendy Federman, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers, Ryan Murphy
Noises Off
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers
Best Revival of a Musical
The Color Purple
Producers: Scott Sanders Productions, Roy Furman, Oprah Winfrey, David Babani, Tom Siracusa, Caiola Productions, James Fantaci, Ted Liebowitz, Stephanie P. McClelland, James L. Nederlander, Darren Bagert, Candy Spelling, Adam Zotovich, Eric Falkenstein/Morris Berchard, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Tanya Link Productions, Adam S. Gordon, Jam Theatricals, Kelsey Grammer, Independent Presenters Network, Carol Fineman, Sandy Block, Menier Chocolate Factory Productions
Fiddler on the Roof
Producers: Jeffrey Richards, Jam Theatricals, Louise Gund, Jerry Frankel, Broadway Across America, Rebecca Gold, Stephanie P. McClelland, Barbara Freitag & Company/Catherine Schreiber & Company, Greenleaf Productions, Orin Wolf, Patty Baker, Caiola Productions, The Nederlander Organization, Gabrielle Palitz, Kit Seidel, TenTex Partners, Edward M. Kaufmann, Soffer/Namoff Entertainment, Healy Theatricals, Clear Channel Spectacolor, Jessica Genick, Will Trice
She Loves Me
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers
Spring Awakening
Producers: Ken Davenport, Cody Lassen, Hunter Arnold, David J. Kurs, Deaf West Theatre, Carl Daikeler, Sandi Moran, Chockstone Pictures, Caiola Productions, Marguerite Hoffman, H. Richard Hopper, Learytodd Productions, Markoltop Productions, R&D Theatricals, Brian Cromwell Smith, Invisible Wall Productions, Monica Horan Rosenthal
Best Book of a Musical
Bright Star
Steve Martin
Hamilton
Lin-Manuel Miranda
School of Rock—The Musical
Julian Fellowes
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
George C. Wolfe
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Bright Star
Music: Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Lyrics: Edie Brickell
Hamilton
Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda
School of Rock—The Musical
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Glenn Slater
Waitress
Music & Lyrics: Sara Bareilles
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Gabriel Byrne, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Jeff Daniels, Blackbird
Frank Langella, The Father
Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III
Mark Strong, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Laurie Metcalf, Misery
Lupita Nyong’o, Eclipsed
Sophie Okonedo, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Michelle Williams, Blackbird
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Alex Brightman, School of Rock—The Musical
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Zachary Levi, She Loves Me
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Laura Benanti, She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
Jessie Mueller, Waitress
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Reed Birney, The Humans
Bill Camp, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
David Furr, Noises Off
Richard Goulding, King Charles III
Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Pascale Armand, Eclipsed
Megan Hilty, Noises Off
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
Andrea Martin, Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Brandon Victor Dixon, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
Christopher Jackson, Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Jennifer Simard, Disaster!
Adrienne Warren, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt, Thérèse Raquin
Christopher Oram, Hughie
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
David Zinn, The Humans
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Es Devlin & Finn Ross, American Psycho
David Korins, Hamilton
Santo Loquasto, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
David Rockwell, She Loves Me
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jane Greenwood, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Michael Krass, Noises Off
Clint Ramos, Eclipsed
Tom Scutt, King Charles III
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Tuck Everlasting
Jeff Mahshie, She Loves Me
Ann Roth, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Justin Townsend, The Humans
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Ben Stanton, Spring Awakening
Justin Townsend, American Psycho
Best Direction of a Play
Rupert Goold, King Charles III
Jonathan Kent, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello, The Humans
Liesl Tommy, Eclipsed
Ivo Van Hove, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Spring Awakening
John Doyle, The Color Purple
Scott Ellis, She Loves Me
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
George C. Wolfe, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Savion Glover, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Hofesh Shechter, Fiddler on the Roof
Randy Skinner, Dames at Sea
Sergio Trujillo, On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan
Best Orchestrations
August Eriksmoen, Bright Star
Larry Hochman, She Loves Me
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Daryl Waters, Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
