“To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Network,” two costly dramas that have been big hits at the box office, were not nominated in the best new play category.
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 June 9 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast on CBS. James Corden is the host.
‘Hadestown’ and ‘The Ferryman’ get Tonys love
“Hadestown,” a folk-and-blues-inflected musical reimagining the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, led the Tony nominations Tuesday, winning nods in 14 categories and becoming a front-runner in the hotly contested, and financially significant, race for the season’s best new musical.
An unconventional show nurtured by the downtown theater scene — sung-through, poetic, packed with emotion and politics — “Hadestown” will now face off against four others for the big prize: “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations,” an exuberantly sung and danced jukebox musical, garnered 12 nominations; “Tootsie,” a musical comedy adapted from the popular film but updated to reflect today’s gender politics, got 11. “Beetlejuice,” another movie adaptation, scared up eight nominations; and “The Prom,” about egotistic New York actors who insert themselves into a debate about sexuality at an Indiana high school, received seven.
“I can’t believe this is real — I never expected that this road was going to lead here,” said singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, who fell in love with the Greek myth as a child and then, a dozen years ago, adapted it for the stage in a do-it-yourself production that she packed into a silver school bus and toured around community theaters in Vermont.
Now she is a two-time Tony nominee, for the show’s book and score.
“I just got captivated by the idea that there’s this character who believed that if he could make a piece of art beautiful enough, he could change the world,” she said.
The nominations, which come at the end of a lucrative Broadway season notable for the plethora of nonmusical plays, were striking not only for those recognized, but also for those snubbed.
Neither “To Kill a Mockingbird” nor “Network,” two costly dramas that have been hits at the box office, was nominated in the best new play category. They did not come away empty-handed — “Mockingbird” was nominated for nine awards, and “Network” five — but it was clear that the nominators preferred fully original work in the best play category. (Aaron Sorkin based “Mockingbird” on the 1960 Harper Lee novel, while Lee Hall’s “Network” follows the plot of the 1976 film.)
The 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 “What the Constitution Means to Me,” an autobiographical piece by Heidi Schreck, inspired by her adolescent experience giving speeches about the Constitution to win scholarship money.
“Choir Boy,” “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” and “Ink” are the other contenders for best new play.
“I’m a little bit speechless,” said “Choir Boy” playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, a critically celebrated presence off-Broadway whose Broadway debut came thanks, in part, to his winning an Academy Award for the screenplay of “Moonlight.”
“Choir Boy,” about a gay teenager struggling with his status in the choir of an all-male high school, was inspired, he said, “by growing up and learning the history of Negro spirituals” and also by “really wanting to investigate being queer and black and also loving my community and my people.”
A panel of 42 theater experts, who saw the 21 plays and 13 musicals eligible for awards, determined the nominations. The nominators are not allowed to have any financial relationship with any of the eligible shows.
Now begins the campaigning. Many acting categories appear to be hotly contested — the featured performances were especially strong this season — so watch for a lot of politicking, 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 831 Tony voters — actors, producers, writers, directors, designers and others active in the theater community, some with financial interest in the nominated shows — have until noon June 7 to cast their electronic ballots.
The Tony Awards, formally called the Antoinette Perry Awards, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing.
Big names have a big day
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.
A few artists had especially big days Tuesday. The 26-year-old actor Jeremy Pope, who had never appeared on Broadway before, accomplished the rare feat of being nominated for work in two different shows this season — as a gifted student in the play “Choir Boy” and as a magnetic member of the Temptations in the musical “Ain’t Too Proud.”
And Schreck, who is 47 and also making her Broadway debut, was nominated both as the writer and the star of “What the Constitution Means to Me.”
Five musicals — “Hadestown,” “Tootsie,” “The Prom,” “Ain’t Too Proud” and a revival of “Oklahoma!” — dominated the performance categories, recognizing actors both veteran and new. For example, musical comedy mainstays Brooks Ashmanskas and Beth Leavel were nominated for “The Prom,” but so was 27-year-old Caitlin Kinnunen, a Broadway newbie.
Revivals are recognized
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.”
There were only two musical revivals this season. Both were well reviewed and both were nominated for the prize in that category: the revisionist “Oklahoma!”, which scored eight nominations, and the revised “Kiss Me, Kate,” which garnered four, including a seventh for Kelli O’Hara, who won in 2015.
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 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 New York City firehouse that lost 15 firefighters on Sept. 11.
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.
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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.