By Meryl Gottlieb | mg986611@ohiou.edu | @buzzlightmeryl
The 68th Tony Awards, hosted by Hugh Jackman, will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 8 on CBS
The nominations for the 68th annual Tony Awards were held early Tuesday morning and were announced by Broadway babe Jonathan Groff and TV star Lucy Liu.
A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder leads with 10 nominations, followed by Hedwig and the Angry Inch with eight noms and After Midnight, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, The Glass Menagerie and Twelfth Night each garnering seven nominations. Other notable productions are The Cripple of Inishmaan with six nominations, Aladdin: The Musical with five and Rocky with four.
I suspect A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder will dominate the award show as Kinky Boots, Once and The Book of Mormon did in their respective years. I guess I'll have to add it to my list of must-see shows for when I'm in NYC.
I haven't heard much about Gentleman's Guide so I can't fairly assess the nominations, but I'm surprised that with all the buzz, Rocky didn't make the top mark of a Best Musical nomination.
I'm beyond thrilled to see some of my favorites up there: Neil Patrick Harris, Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald and Kelli O'Hara. There's no doubt in my mind that these are deserved nominations. As much as I love Idina Menzel, I have to question this nomination. I haven't heard great things about If/ Then and am a bit surprised she is getting one of its two nominations. I hate to say it, but I feel this is more of a popularity vote because she is so high right now. Get ready for tons of Frozen jokes and "Let It Go" parodies.
The nominees in Best Revival of a Play are essentially dominating all of the other play categories — a section we can only hope is finally presented in a better way than usual.
The only snub I think worth mentioning is the absence of Cabaret in the Best Revival of a Musical category. I'm quite surprised by that one.
Lastly, my loudest initial thought is remorse over the fact that First Date was not nominated for anything. I know it was a long shot, but a girl can hope. First Date was quite possibly one of the best musical comedies I've ever seen. It should at least be recognized for its score.
What do you think of the nominations? Is your favorite show missing from the list? Let me know @buzzlightmeryl
Here is a full list of the nominees:
Best Play
Act One
All the Way
Casa Valentina
Mothers and Sons
Outside Mullingar
Best Musical
After Midnight
Aladdin
Beautiful - The Carole King Musical
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Best Revival of a Play
The Cripple of Inishmaan
The Glass Menagerie
A Raisin in the Sun
Twelfth Night
Best Revival of a Musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Les Miserables
Violet
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Samuel Barnett — Twelfth Night
Bryan Cranston — All the Way
Chris O'Dowd — Of Mice and Men
Mark Rylance — Richard III
Tony Shalhoub — Act One
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Audra McDonald — Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill
Tyne Daly — Mothers and Sons
Estelle Parsons — The Velocity of Autumn
LaTanya Richardson Jackson — A Raisin in the Sun
Cherry Jones — The Glass Menagerie
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Ramin Karimloo — Les Miserables
Neil Patrick Harris — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Jefferson Mays — A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Bryce Pinkham — A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Andy Karl — Rocky
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Idina Menzel — If/Then
Mary Bridget Davis — A Night with Janice Joplin
Jessie Mueller — Beautiful: The Carole King Musical
Kelli O'Hara — The Bridges of Madison County
Sutton Foster — Violet
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Reed Birney — Casa Valentina
Paul Chahidi — Twelfth Night
Stephen Fry — Twelfth Night
Mark Rylance — Twelfth Night
Brian J. Smith — The Glass Menagerie
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Sarah Greene — The Cripple of Inishmaan
Celia Keenan-Bolger — The Glass Menagerie
Sophie Okonedo — A Raisin in the Sun
Mare Winningham — Casa Valentina
Anika Noni Rose — A Raisin in the Sun
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Danny Burstein — Cabaret
Nick Cordero — Bullets Over Broadway
Joshua Henry — Violet
James Monroe Iglehart — Aladdin
Jarrod Spector — Beautiful
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Linda Emond — Cabaret
Lena Hall — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Anika Larsen — Beautiful
Adriane Lenox — After Midnight
Lauren Worsham — A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Best Book of a Musical
Chad Beguelin — Aladdin
Douglas McGrath — Beautiful
Woody Allen — Bullets Over Broadway
Robert L Freedman — A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder
Best Score ("Music & Lyrics)
Jason Robert Brown — The Bridges of Madison County
Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey — If/Then
Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman — A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Alan Menken and Chad Beguelin — Aladdin
Best Director of a Musical
Warren Carlyle — After Midnight
Michael Mayer — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Leigh Silverman — Violet
Darko Tresnjak — A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder
Best Director of a Play
Tim Carroll — Twelfth Night
Michael Grandage — The Cripple of Inishmaan
Kenny Leon — A Raisin in the Sun
John Tiffany — The Glass Menagerie
Best Choreography
Warren Carlyle — After Midnight
Steven Hoggett and Kelly Devine — Rocky
Casey Nicholaw — Aladdin
Susan Stroman — Bullets Over Broadway
Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman — Bullets Over Broadway
Jason Robert Brown — The Bridges of Madison County
Steve Sidwell — Beautiful
Jonathan Tunick — A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Christopher Barreca — Rocky
Julian Crouch — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Alexander Dodge — A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Santo Loquasto — Bullets Over Broadway
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Beowulf Boritt — Act One
Bob Crowley — The Glass Menagerie
Es Devlin — Machinal
Christopher Oram — The Cripple of Inishmaan
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Linda Cho — A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
William Ivey Long — Bullets Over Broadway
Arianne Phillips — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Isabel Toledo — After Midnight
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Christopher Akerlind — Rocky
Howell Binkley — After Midnight
Donald Holder — The Bridges of Madison County
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable — The Cripple of Inishmaan
Jane Cox — Machinal
Natasha Katz — The Glass Menagerie
Japhy Weideman — Of Mice and Men
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski — After Midnight
Tim O’Heir — Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Mick Potter — Les Miserables
Brian Ronan — Beautiful
Best Sound Design of a Play
Alex Baranowski — The Cripple of Inishmaan
Steve Canyon Kennedy — Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill
Dan Moses Schreier — Act One
Matt Tierney — Machinal
