)
The nominees for best musical are “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” “Beetlejuice,” “Hadestown,” “The Prom” and “Tootsie.”
Best play nominees are “Choir Boy,” “The Ferryman,” “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” “Ink” and “What the Constitution Means to Me.”
Among the boldfaced names nominated were Annette Bening, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Daniels, Adam Driver, Elaine May and Laurie Metcalf.
The awards ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, June 9, at Radio City Music Hall, and will be broadcast on CBS. James Corden is the host.
)
)
)
‘Hadestown’ and ‘The Ferryman’ get Tonys love
“Hadestown,” a folk-and-blues-inflected musical reimagining the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, led the Tony nominations Tuesday morning, winning nods in 14 categories.
But the nominations were notable not only for those they honored, but for those they ignored. “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Network,” two costly dramas that have been big hits at the box office, did not get nominated in the best new play category. But they did not come away empty-handed — “Mockingbird” was nominated in nine other categories and “Network” in five.
The current Broadway season, much to the surprise of many who worried that the industry is being swallowed by big brand blockbuster musicals, was dominated by plays — 21 in all, many of them new, several of them profitable and some quite adventurous.
The Tony race for best new play is now likely to be a faceoff between “The Ferryman,” Jez Butterworth’s gripping family drama set in a troubled Northern Ireland in 1981, and the much more intimate “What the Constitution Means to Me,” an autobiographical piece by Heidi Schreck about gender and American legal history, inspired by her adolescent experience giving speeches about the Constitution to win scholarship money.
The other contenders for best new play are “Choir Boy,” “Gary: A Sequel To Titus Andronicus” and “Ink.”
The race for best play revival is wide open, but among the hopefuls are “The Waverly Gallery,” a Kenneth Lonergan drama, first produced in 1999, about how Alzheimer’s disease affects a woman and her family, and “The Boys in the Band,” a pioneering 1968 play by Mart Crowley about a group of gay men gathered for a birthday party. Neither play had ever been staged on Broadway before.
Also nominated: “All My Sons,” “Burn This” and “Torch Song.”
A panel of 42 theater experts who saw all 34 eligible shows over the last year voted on the nominations. The nominators are not allowed to have any financial relationship with any of the eligible shows.
A medley of musicals in the running
The musicals vying for big awards this season could hardly be more different from one another.
“Hadestown” is an unconventional show born of the downtown theater scene — sung-through, poetic, packed with both emotion and politics. That show will now face off against “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” an exuberantly sung and danced jukebox musical, which garnered 12 nominations, and “Tootsie,” a musical comedy that, like many Broadway shows today, was adapted from a popular film, but smartly updated to reflect today’s gender politics. It got 11 nominations.
Also in the running is “The Prom,” which is about a group of egotistic New York actors who decide to come to the aid of an adolescent girl in Indiana who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, and “Beetlejuice,” adapted from the Tim Burton film.
There were only two musical revivals this season. Both were well reviewed and both were nominated for the prize in that category: a revised “Kiss Me, Kate” and a revisionist “Oklahoma!”
Prominent performances are recognized
This season did not feature a talk-of-the-town starmaking performance like those of Cynthia Erivo in “The Color Purple” or Ben Platt in “Dear Evan Hansen” in recent seasons.
But the nominators gave nods to performers well known from television and film, including Cranston, as a decompensating television anchor in “Network”; Bening, as the determined mother trying to hold a troubled family together in “All My Sons”; Driver, as the wild-eyed suitor of his recently deceased brother’s roommate in “Burn This”; and Daniels as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
Metcalf will be up for her third Tony in three years for her fierce-yet-fragile performance as Hillary Clinton in “Hillary and Clinton.” Also noteworthy: May, 86, the beloved comedian and director, was nominated for portraying a woman losing her memory in “The Waverly Gallery” — her first time appearing on Broadway in 50 years.
Many of the acting categories appear to be hotly contested — the featured performances were especially strong this season — so watch for a lot of campaigning, Tonys-style, over the next few weeks. The nominees will be showing up for gala dinners and fancy luncheons and giving a lot of interviews as they try to remind voters of their charm and skill.
The path to the ceremony
There are 831 Tony voters — actors, producers, writers, directors, designers and others active in the theater community, some with financial interest in the nominated shows — who now have until noon June 7 to cast ballots.
The Tony Awards, formally called the Antoinette Perry Awards, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing.
Invariably, the awards process creates losers as well. Broadway is a brutal business, and watch for some shows that fare poorly in the nominations or voting to announce closings, particularly at the end of the summer as the tourist season wraps up.
They are already winners
The Tony Awards administrators have already announced the winners of several noncompetitive prizes.
Playwright Terrence McNally, actress Rosemary Harris, and orchestrator Harold Wheeler will be honored with special Tony Awards for lifetime achievement in the theater.
Special Tony Awards will be given to Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Co., the Australian creators of the giant animatronic title puppet in the new musical “King Kong”; Jason Michael Webb, for the musical arrangements in the play “Choir Boy”; and posthumously to the actress Marin Mazzie for her work on women’s health issues.
Actress Judith Light will receive the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, which honors volunteerism by a member of the theater community, in recognition of her work on HIV/AIDS issues and her support for gay rights.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley will receive the 2019 Regional Theater Tony Award.
And Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater will be presented to Broadway Inspirational Voices, a choir founded by Michael McElroy; Peter Entin, a retired Shubert Organization executive; Joseph Blakely Forbes, founding president of Scenic Art Studios, a scene painting studio in Newburgh, New York; and Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9, a Midtown firehouse that lost 15 firefighters on Sept. 11.
—
Tony Awards 2019: Full List of Nominations
Best Musical
“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
“Beetlejuice”
“Hadestown”
“The Prom”
“Tootsie”
Best Play
“Choir Boy”
“The Ferryman”
“Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
“Ink”
“What the Constitution Means to Me”
Best Revival of a Musical
“Kiss Me, Kate”
“Oklahoma!”
Best Revival of a Play
“All My Sons”
“The Boys in the Band”
“Burn This”
“Torch Song”
“The Waverly Gallery”
Best Book of a Musical
“Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”: Dominique Morisseau
“Beetlejuice”: Scott Brown and Anthony King
“Hadestown”: Anaïs Mitchell
“The Prom”: Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin
“Tootsie”: Robert Horn
Best Original Score
“Beetlejuice,” music and lyrics: Eddie Perfect
“Be More Chill,” music and lyrics: Joe Iconis
“Hadestown,” music and lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell
“The Prom,” music by Matthew Sklar; lyrics by Chad Beguelin
“Tootsie,” music and lyrics: David Yazbek
“To Kill a Mockingbird,” music by Adam Guettel
Best Direction of a Play
Rupert Goold, “Ink”
Sam Mendes, “The Ferryman”
Bartlett Sher, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Ivo van Hove, “Network”
George C. Wolfe, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Best Direction of a Musical
Rachel Chavkin, “Hadestown”
Scott Ellis, “Tootsie”
Daniel Fish, “Oklahoma!”
Des McAnuff, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Casey Nicholaw, “The Prom”
Best Leading Actor in a Play
Bryan Cranston, “Network”
Paddy Considine, “The Ferryman”
Jeff Daniels, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Adam Driver, “Burn This”
Jeremy Pope, “Choir Boy”
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Annette Bening, “All My Sons”
Laura Donnelly, “The Ferryman”
Elaine May, “The Waverly Gallery”
Janet McTeer, “Bernhardt/Hamlet”
Laurie Metcalf, “Hillary and Clinton”
Heidi Schreck, “What the Constitution Means to Me”
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, “The Prom”
Derrick Baskin, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Alex Brightman, “Beetlejuice”
Damon Daunno, “Oklahoma!”
Santino Fontana, “Tootsie”
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, “The Cher Show”
Caitlin Kinnunen, “The Prom”
Beth Leavel, “The Prom”
Eva Noblezada, “Hadestown”
Kelli O’Hara, “Kiss Me, Kate”
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Bertie Carvel, “Ink”
Robin de Jesús, “The Boys in the Band”
Gideon Glick, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Brandon Uranowitz, “Burn This”
Benjamin Walker, “All My Sons”
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Fionnula Flanagan, “The Ferryman”
Celia Keenan-Bolger, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Kristine Nielsen, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Julie White, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Ruth Wilson, “King Lear”
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
André De Shields, “Hadestown”
Andy Grotelueschen, “Tootsie”
Patrick Page, “Hadestown”
Jeremy Pope, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Ephraim Sykes, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Lilli Cooper, “Tootsie”
Amber Gray, “Hadestown”
Sarah Stiles, “Tootsie”
Ali Stroker, “Oklahoma!”
Mary Testa, “Oklahoma!”
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Bunny Christie, “Ink”
Rob Howell, “The Ferryman”
Santo Loquasto, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Jan Versweyveld, “Network”
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Peter England, “King Kong”
Rachel Hauck, “Hadestown”
Laura Jellinek, “Oklahoma!”
David Korins, “Beetlejuice”
Best Costume Design of a Play
Rob Howell, “The Ferryman”
Toni-Leslie James, “Bernhardt/Hamlet”
Clint Ramos, “Torch Song”
Ann Roth, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Ann Roth, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Michael Krass, “Hadestown”
William Ivey Long, “Tootsie”
William Ivey Long, “Beetlejuice”
Bob Mackie, “The Cher Show”
Paul Tazewell, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, “Ink”
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”
Peter Mumford, “The Ferryman”
Jennifer Tipton, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Jan Versweyveld and Tal Yarden, “Network”
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, “The Cher Show”
Howell Binkley, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Bradley King, “Hadestown”
Peter Mumford, “King Kong”
Kenneth Posner and Peter Negrini, “Beetlejuice”
Best Sound Design in a Play
Adam Cork, “Ink”
Scott Lehrer, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Fitz Patton, “Choir Boy”
Nick Powell, “The Ferryman”
Eric Sleichim, “Network”
Best Sound Design in a Musical
Peter Hylenski, “King Kong”
Peter Hylenski, “Beetlejuice”
Steve Canyon Kennedy, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Drew Levy, “Oklahoma!”
Nevin Steinberg and Jessica Paz, “Hadestown”
Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, “Choir Boy”
Warren Carlyle, “Kiss Me, Kate”
Denis Jones, “Tootsie”
David Neumann, “Hadestown”
Sergio Trujillo, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Best Orchestrations
Michael Chorney and Todd Sickafoose, “Hadestown”
Simon Hale, “Tootsie”
Larry Hochman, “Kiss Me, Kate”
Daniel Kluger, “Oklahoma!”
Harold Wheeler, “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations”
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater
Rosemary Harris
Terrence McNally
Harold Wheeler
Isabelle Stevenson Award
Judith Light
Regional Theater Tony Award
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley
Special Tony Award
Marin Mazzie
Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company
Jason Michael Webb
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater
Broadway Inspirational Voices - Michael McElroy, Founder
Peter Entin
FDNY Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 9
Joseph Blakely Forbes
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.