EXCLUSIVE: Audiences don’t alway see eye to eye with Tony voters, as we see again in this year’s Audience Choice Awards from Broadway.com. Presented exclusively to Deadline for today’s reveal, the fan-selected top winners are Be More Chill, Pretty Woman and American Son, none of which scored Tony noms for best musical or play.
And Aaron Sorkin’s To Kill A Mockingbird, snubbed by Tony as best play, was named just that by audiences.
This year – the awards’ 20th – Be More Chill tops the list with four awards, including Favorite New Musical, Favorite Featured Actor in a Musical (George Salazar), and – in very non-Tony-like categories, Favorite Funny Performance (Stephanie Hsu) and Favorite Onstage Pair (Will Roland and George Salazar).
Coming in with three awards was Pretty Woman – The Musical: Favorite Leading Actor/Musical (Andy Karl), Favorite Featured Actress/Musical (Orfeh), and, again in a non-Tony-ish achievement, Favorite Diva Performance (Orfeh).
Daniel Fish’s radical reworking of Oklahoma! won for Best Musical Revival over the more traditional Kiss Me, Kate, while Favorite Play Revival went to last summer’s The Boys in The Band, directed by Joe Montello and soon to be a Netflix movie.
Favorite New Song was the gorgeous “Wait For Me” from Hadestown.
The 20th Annual Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards are named in 22 competitive categories. The winners were selected by fans who voted for all eligible candidates in a comprehensive Broadway.com survey. The voting period ran from May 7 to May 12, and Awards will be presented at a private reception on Thursday, May 30. In recent years, the ceremony has featured Award Winners Uma Thurman, Andrew Garfield, Tina Fey, Ben Platt, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Broadway.com is a theater news and ticket sale website, owned by the John Gore Organization. “Broadway.com has always provided a direct connection between Broadway and its fans,” said producer John Gore. “We are proud to be celebrating 20 years of giving Broadway’s biggest fans a voice in recognizing the season’s best through the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards.”
In addition to the more traditional categories, the Audience Choice Awards go to Favorite Onstage Pair, Favorite Funny Performance and Favorite Tour. Check out the complete list below.
Stars with multiple wins this year are Jeremy Jordan and George Salazar.
The 20th Annual Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards (winners in Bold):
FAVORITE NEW MUSICAL
Be More Chill
Beetlejuice
The Cher Show
Hadestown
The Prom
FAVORITE NEW PLAY
Choir Boy
The Ferryman
Hillary and Clinton
Network
To Kill a Mockingbird
FAVORITE MUSICAL REVIVAL
Kiss Me, Kate
Oklahoma!
FAVORITE PLAY REVIVAL
All My Sons
The Boys in the Band
Burn This
King Lear
Torch Song
FAVORITE LONG-RUNNING SHOW
Come From Away
Dear Evan Hansen
Hamilton
Waitress
Wicked
FAVORITE TOUR
Anastasia
The Book of Mormon
Dear Evan Hansen
Hamilton
Waitress
FAVORITE LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice
Reeve Carney, Hadestown
Santino Fontana, Tootsie
Andy Karl, Pretty Woman
Will Roland, Be More Chill
FAVORITE LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show
Sophia Anne Caruso, Beetlejuice
Caitlin Kinnunen, The Prom
Beth Leavel, The Prom
Eva Noblezada, Hadestown
FAVORITE LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY
Paddy Considine, The Ferryman
Bryan Cranston, Network
Jeff Daniels, To Kill a Mockingbird
Jim Parsons, The Boys in the Band
Daniel Radcliffe, The Lifespan of a Fact
FAVORITE LEADING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Annette Bening, All My Sons
Laura Donnelly, The Ferryman
Glenda Jackson, King Lear
Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton
Kerry Washington, American Son
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL
Corbin Bleu, Kiss Me, Kate
Gerard Canonico, Be More Chill
Andre De Shields, Hadestown
George Salazar, Be More Chill
Jason Tam, Be More Chill
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL
Kerry Butler, Beetlejuice
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Stephanie Hsu, Be More Chill
Bonnie Milligan, Head Over Heels
Orfeh, Pretty Woman
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY
Gbenga Akinnagbe, To Kill a Mockingbird
Matt Bomer, The Boys in the Band
Gideon Glick, To Kill a Mockingbird
Jeremy Jordan, American Son
Andrew Rannells, The Boys in the Band
FAVORITE FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Joan Allen, The Waverly Gallery
Jenni Barber, All My Sons
Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, To Kill a Mockingbird
Tatiana Maslany, Network
FAVORITE FUNNY PERFORMANCE
Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom
Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice
Stephanie Hsu, Be More Chill
Leslie Kritzer, Beetlejuice
Beth Leavel, The Prom
FAVORITE DIVA PERFORMANCE
Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom
Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Kelli O’Hara, Kiss Me, Kate
Orfeh, Pretty Woman
FAVORITE ONSTAGE PAIR
Samantha Barks and Andy Karl, Pretty Woman
Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, Hadestown
Stephanie Hsu and Will Roland, Be More Chill
Caitlin Kinnunen and Isabelle McCalla, The Prom
Will Roland and George Salazar, Be More Chill
FAVORITE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (MALE)
Gbenga Akinnagbe, To Kill a Mockingbird
Matt Bomer, The Boys in the Band Charlie Carver,
The Boys in the Band Armie Hammer, Straight White Men
Ephraim Sykes, Ain’t Too Proud
FAVORITE BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE (FEMALE)
Samantha Barks, Pretty Woman
Sophia Anne Caruso, Beetlejuice
Isabelle McCalla, The Prom
Ali Stroker, Oklahoma!
Stephanie Styles, Kiss Me, Kate!
FAVORITE REPLACEMENT (MALE)
Alex Boniello, Dear Evan Hansen
Gavin Creel, Waitress
Andrew Barth Feldman, Dear Evan Hansen
Jeremy Jordan, Waitress
Sky Lakota-Lynch, Dear Evan Hansen
FAVORITE REPLACEMENT (FEMALE)
Krystina Alabado, Mean Girls
Shoshana Bean, Waitress
Mallory Bechtel, Dear Evan Hansen
Laura Benanti, My Fair Lady
Jessica Vosk, Wicked
FAVORITE NEW SONG
“Dance With You” – The Prom
“I Love Play Rehearsal” – Be More Chill
“Loser Geek Whatever” – Be More Chill
“Michael in the Bathroom” – Be More Chill
“Wait For Me” – Hadestown
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