Stars abounded. Attendance rebounded. Performers raised the roof and so did ticket prices. This was a big season for Broadway, finally achieving a credible post-Covid rebuild — but as what? Think of the Tony Award nominations as tea leaves, hinting at where the commercial theater has been and predicting where it’s going. And also, with 29 of the 42 eligible productions receiving nods, offering plenty of opportunities to celebrate surprises and bemoan omissions (or vice versa).
A boys’ club, but women rule.
To look at this season’s plays you would think Broadway was still a boys’ club. Men dominated the dramatic leading roles; many nonmusicals had no leading actresses at all. That left just nine women eligible for the standard five nominations, unless you count separately each of the 26 characters played by Sarah Snook in “The Picture of Dorian Gray.” (She nabbed just one nod.) But on the musical side of the ledger, women totally ruled, with so many star performances that some of Broadway’s biggest names were inevitably going to be snubbed. After the Sondheim revue “Old Friends” shuffled Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga into the supporting category — which didn’t get them nominated anyway — that still left Adrienne Warren (“The Last Five Years”), Sutton Foster (“Once Upon a Mattress”) and Idina Menzel (“Redwood”) out in the cold. Especially Menzel, who in the course of that eco-musical sang a dozen songs while climbing a 200-foot tree and dancing upside-down in midair. As she proved in “Wicked,” it’s not easy being green.
‘Othello’ takes it in the back.
“My heart is turned to stone. I strike it, and it hurts my hand.” That’s Shakespeare’s Othello talking, but it could well be the cast and creative team of the Broadway revival, which received not a single Tony nomination. Most notably, both Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal were shut out in the category of lead actor in a play, which even made room for an unusual six nominees. “Romeo + Juliet” the season’s other Shakespeare production that drew mixed reviews, did squeak in for best revival of a play. Then again, the “Othello” producers didn’t take the blow lying down; within minutes of the nominations announcement, they issued a news release indicating that the show, which has been earning upward of $3 million a week during its limited run, had recouped its costs.
George Clooney gets lucky.
“Good Night, and Good Luck,” the other box office blockbuster of the spring, was always an iffy proposition for best new play, given that it closely resembles the screenplay of the 2005 film on which it is based. Still, Tony nominators paid tribute to its co-writer/star/man of conscience George Clooney with a nod as best lead actor in a play for his grave and bracing depiction of the 1950s-era watchdog journalist Edward R. Murrow. The show’s timing paid off — not to mention the star’s willingness to dye his hair oil-black for his Broadway debut.
It’s all in the family for ‘Purpose.’
Last year, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s “Appropriate” was nominated for eight Tony Awards. “Purpose,” his play about a prominent Black political family didn’t quite best that, but five of its six nominations were in the acting categories, an unusually high number for an ensemble-driven play in which the dining room pyrotechnics are apportioned so equally. (Sadly there was no place at the Tonys table for Alana Arenas, who gave a glamorous and explosive turn as the daughter-in-law, Morgan.) Sanaz Toossi’s “English” and Kimberly Belflower’s “John Proctor Is the Villain,” two other ensemble-powered dramas, netted three acting nominations each.
Stage rivals share the spotlight.
Does a woman have to break her neck to be nominated for a Tony these days? Yes. And being shot through the stomach doesn’t hurt either. In a nicely macabre surprise, both Jennifer Simard and Megan Hilty, who play fight-to-the-undeath frenemies in “Death Becomes Her,” were nominated in the leading actress in a musical category. They weren’t the only clashing characters to receive Tony nods. The actors playing the fractious father and sons of “Purpose” were also honored, as were Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue, who star as the more softly opposed father and son in “Yellow Face.” Cole Escola as Mary Todd Lincoln and Conrad Ricamora as her exasperated husband were sure things for “Oh, Mary!” but while Audra McDonald was always a lock for “Gypsy,” she’ll be joined on Tonys night by Joy Woods, who plays her disapproving daughter Louise.
Four? Five? Six?
OK, students, get out your pencils and calculators. Most Tonys categories have spots for five nominees, but various factors can alter that. According to the rules, if there are fewer than nine eligible contenders, only four nominees will be named. That’s what happened in the best revival categories, which had seven eligible contenders each. On the other hand, if the nominators’ vote produces a tie or a near tie among the nominees who receive the lowest number of votes, additional spots can open up. That’s what happened in both of the best leading actor categories, which have six nominees each. And if you think all that math suggests there’s something fundamentally arbitrary about the Tonys, well — come sit by us.
‘Smash’ wasn’t.
“Bombshell,” the musical within the beloved-and-mocked NBC TV series “Smash,” won best musical and best lead actress at the fictional Tony Awards ceremony that ended the show’s second (and final) season. No such luck for “Smash,” the actual Broadway musical spun off from the series after a painstaking development period. The show got only two nominations, and none in a major category. (Blame Ellis?) Over all, it wasn’t an especially good morning for brand extensions in a Broadway season that seems to be celebrating originality. “Boop! The Musical” scored three nominations, including one for its breakout star, Jasmine Amy Rogers, while “Stranger Things: The First Shadow” earned five, most of them in technical categories.
‘Buena Vista’ dances up a storm.
Then again, “Buena Vista Social Club” — a musical inspired by a documentary inspired by an album that brought a global audience to Cuban musicians — had a fantastic showing, with 10 Tony nominations. It shares the top spot with fellow best musical nominees “Death Becomes Her” (yes, a movie spinoff) and the very much original “Maybe Happy Ending.” Given that it didn’t have a new score, “Buena Vista” looked like a long-shot to reach double digits, but it gobbled up one nomination after another, for the director Saheem Ali, the book writer Marco Ramirez, as well as for its costumes, set, lighting, sound and — no surprise here — choreography. Natalie Venetia Belcon was singled out from the ensemble cast, and the Tony administrators were enthralled enough to create a special award to recognize the musical’s onstage band.
Directors get lost.
This year, the nominating committee left a cluster of prominent directors far from the spotlight. While several previous winners received nominations, Tina Landau, who directed “Redwood” and the much-nominated “Floyd Collins,” and Kenny Leon, who directed revivals of “Our Town” and “Othello,” were both left off the ballot. Another double-dipper, David Cromer, failed to gain a nomination for “Good Night, and Good Luck,” though he did receive one for “Dead Outlaw.” And if Jerry Mitchell was shunned for “Boop!,” he did pick up a nomination for that musical’s choreography. One significant exclusion: Phylicia Rashad, in her Broadway debut as a director. While five of the six “Purpose” cast members were nominated for awards, which suggests strong direction, Rashad was ignored.
Diverse but not yet enough.
Walking West 44th Street from Eighth Avenue to Sixth, you’ll come across the marquees for seven shows: “Gypsy,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Purpose,” “Boop!,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Last Five Years” and “Maybe Happy Ending.” All of them, even those written with white casts in mind, now star Black, Asian, Latino or multiracial performers. Today’s nominations acknowledge that bounty, with nods for Audra McDonald (her 11th — a record!), Nicole Scherzinger, Jasmine Amy Rogers, Darren Criss, Natalia Venetia Belcon, Justina Machado and pretty much the whole cast of “Purpose.” But in the backstage categories, the disparity is still glaring. Nine of the 10 nominated directors are white, and if it weren’t for “Buena Vista Social Club,” almost all of the nominated designers would be too. Broadway can do better — and, when it does, so will the Tonys.
Jesse Green is the chief theater critic for The Times. He writes reviews of Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway, regional and sometimes international productions.
Alexis Soloski has written for The Times since 2006. As a culture reporter, she covers television, theater, movies, podcasts and new media.
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