— A Prolific Producer’s Imperfect Day
ScottRudin brought a remarkable five plays to Broadway this season, and the nominators were not wowed by all of them. The shock was their decision to leave out “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a costly and heavily promoted production that has been selling strongly at the box office, for best new play. It did get nine nominations, including for three of its performers, but Aaron Sorkin, whose adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel prompted a brief legal battle, was snubbed.
Lucas Hnath’s “Hillary and Clinton” received only one nomination (for Laurie Metcalf as its star) and the revival of “King Lear” Rudin produced received only one, too — and not for 82-year-old Glenda Jackson in the title role.
Instead, the riskiest of Rudin’s productions — the bloody vaudeville “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus,” by downtown favorite Taylor Mac — did surprisingly well, scooping up seven nominations. And Kenneth Lonergan’s “The Waverly Gallery” earned nods for best revival of a play and for Elaine May as lead actress.
— Not Everyone’s a Media Critic
The stage adaptation of “Network” is, like “Mockingbird,” a commercial hit, but scored no nod for best play. The kinetic, video-heavy production has been celebrated mostly for its central (and Tony-nominated) performance by Bryan Cranston. The show’s polarizing director, Ivo van Hove, was nominated as well.
“Ink,” another play about the media that originated in London, fared better, however: This drama by James Graham about an early chapter in Rupert Murdoch’s career received five nominations, including best play and best director.
“The Lifespan of a Fact,” which starred Daniel Radcliffe as a magazine fact-checker, didn’t get any nominations.
— Going Viral Only Gets You So Far
“Be More Chill,” the sci-fi musical about a teenager’s effort to become more popular, has never been beloved by critics, but was powered to Broadway by online fandom. That fan base is largely adolescent, and there are no teenagers among the 42 Tony nominators, so the show’s hardworking composer, Joe Iconis, scored the show’s only nod.
— Limited Love for ‘Cher’
“The Cher Show,” a jukebox musical about you-know-who, scored notice for its leading lady, Stephanie J. Block, its glittery costumer, Bob Mackie, and its lighting designer, Kevin Adams, but not for the show itself or for other figures on its creative team. The musical, backed by “Hamilton” lead producer Jeffrey Seller, has been selling well but not amazingly, and this is a show that could benefit from a strong musical performance on the awards broadcast.
— A Split Verdict on Topicality
“What the Constitution Means to Me,” Heidi Schreck’s autobiographical reflection on gender and American law, has benefited from perfect timing, arriving on the scene amid the #MeToo movement and the contentious battle over President Donald Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
But “American Son,” a Kerry Washington-backed play about the fraught relationship between young black men and police, got no nominations.
— Zeroed Out
Nine shows were completely overlooked by the nominators. The immediate commercial implications are significant only for “Pretty Woman,” a stage adaptation of the film, with music by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, that has been doing reasonably well at the box office despite unfavorable reviews.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.