The Tony nominations was the biggest bloodbath in voting.
Apologies to everyone who covers presidential races. The Oscars. The Emmys. Heck, even Drag Race. (Oh wait, I do all of that. Sorry, Kevin. That’s OK, Kevin.)
So it is with a bit of expertise that I say this was one of the strongest seasons in modern Tony history with some of the harshest decisions to be made. The exclusions were brutal. And, as it happens, very famous…
Yes, some of that had to do with the theater community considering “how much do we want to embrace these movie stars charging $800 a ticket for their mediocre shows” while also realizing “hey, those movie stars are keeping Broadway alive.” (I certainly didn’t turn down my press ticket to see George Clooney…)
The biggest blood suffered: The A-listers. Poor Denzel Washington. Poor Jake Gyllenhaal. Despite making news as demanding the highest ticket prices in Broadway history, both were snubbed in the Best Performance in a Leading Actor in a Play race for their work in Othello.
Kieran Culkin, who had headline writers salivating over the possibility of winning the Emmy, Oscar, and Tony in a matter of months—the latter for his buzzy turn in Glengarry Glen Ross—wasn’t nominated; instead, his co-star Bob Odenkirk was.
Also on the chopping block: Jim Parsons for Our Town, Romeo + Juliet leads Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler, and Nick Jonas, who stars in the revival of The Last Five Years.
One could argue that Clooney escaped the celebrity culling unscathed—he did get nominated in the category that Washington and Gyllenhaal missed out in. He was nominated for Best Actor, but his splashy production of Good Night, and Good Luck wasn’t included in Best Play, despite it being one of the hardest-to-get tickets on Broadway.
It cements the theory that what’s made this season so invigorating is how original and how vibrant it was—to the extent that when the Tony nominations were announced Thursday morning, whether or not your favorite celebrity got in was an afterthought. It was the embarrassment of riches in categories like Best Actress in a Musical that was going to mean that several of at least eight or nine worthy contenders were going to be left out.
Thankfully, both leads of Death Becomes Her, one of the most genuinely hilarious and best-sung musicals in a long time were nominated. Congratulations Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard. I had already stocked up on tissues and taken Theraflu so I could scream if one got in and the other didn’t.
That category, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, is the one all eyes are going to be on. Whether Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd.) or Audra McDonald (Gypsy) should win has occupied more gay brunches and happy hours than I care to admit. (If there’s a queer person within one block of a gathering, it is brought up.) McDonald is now officially the most Tony-nominated performer in history, with her 11th nomination.
Jasmine Amy Rogers from BOOP! The Musical joins the quartet. (The capitalization and exclamation point in that title makes me jump every time I read it.) The ruthless category means that Helen J. Shen isn’t nominated for Maybe Happy Ending, nor are previous winners Idina Menzel, for singing upside down off a tree in Redwood, and Sutton Foster, for singing on a bed, in Once Upon a Mattress.
Given how competitive this category was, it’s confusing that Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical is the one that had the tie warranting six nominees. (More men? No thanks.) But congrats to the very deserving Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending), Andrew Durand (Dead Outlaw), Tom Francis (Sunset Blvd.), Jonathan Groff (Just in Time), James Monroe Inglehart (A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical), and Jeremy Jordan (Floyd Collins).
Cole Escola’s Oh Mary!
Emilio Madrid
The year of theater can’t be talked about with mentioning Cole Escola’s demented, absolutely stupid, and, as such, totally brilliant surprise hit Oh, Mary! Should this Pulitzer-worthy clown show ever make it to a regional theater near you, I won’t spoil the plot. But I take solace that Tony voters found it fitting to shower nominations on it: Best Play, Best Actor (Escola), Best Featured Actor (Conrad Ricamora), Best Direction, and Best Costume Design.
If you’re scanning the list for celebs, names like Jonathan Groff (Just in Time, Best Actor in a Musical), Sadie Sink (John Proctor Is the Villain, Best Actress in a Play), Daniel Dae Kim (Yellow Face, Best Actor in a Play), and the words Stranger Things appear. Yes, there is a Stranger Things play on Broadway, titled Stranger Things: The First Shadow. It’s a marvel of visual effects, earning a special Tony citation for those, and its lead Louis McCartney was also nominated.
Based on this morning, what should you see if you happen to be in New York before the Tony ceremony on June 8?
The musicals Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, and Maybe Happy Ending tied with 10 nominations apiece—and are all a blast. John Proctor Is a Villain and The Hills of California tied for the most nominations for a play; only the former is still open, and I guarantee you that you and whoever you go with will have *thoughts* when you emerge.
Sunset Blvd. and Gypsy are still open and are capital-E Events, thanks to their leading ladies’ performances. And if you’ve ever seen a play funnier than Oh, Mary!, I demand to know—and also have been stretching so I can dodge your Pinocchio nose when it grows from that lie.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Best Play
English
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain
Oh, Mary!
Purpose
Best Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Best Revival of a Play
Eureka Day
Romeo + Juliet
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town
Yellow Face
Best Revival of a Musical
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Blvd.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face
Harry Lennix, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Glenn Davis, Purpose
Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross
Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Tala Ashe, English
Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day
Marjan Neshat, English
Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain
Kara Young, Purpose
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, SMASH
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw
Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
Joy Woods, Gypsy
Best Book of a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Marco Ramirez
Dead Outlaw
Itamar Moses
Death Becomes Her
Marco Pennette
Maybe Happy Ending
Will Aronson and Hue Park
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Dead Outlaw
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
Death Becomes Her
Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
Maybe Happy Ending
Music: Will Aronson
Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Marsha Ginsberg, English
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending
Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her
Derek McLane, Just in Time
Best Costume Design of a Play
Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck
Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary!
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club
Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical
Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending
Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her
Catherine Zuber, Just in Time
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good Luck
Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor is the Villain
Nick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
Tyler Micoleau, Buena Vista Social Club
Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, Floyd Collins
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Death Becomes Her
Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Palmer Hefferan, John Proctor is the Villain
Daniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good Luck
Nick Powell, The Hills of California
Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club
Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.
Peter Hylenski, Just in Time
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins
Best Direction of a Play
Knud Adams, English
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain
Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Direction of a Musical
Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club
Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.
Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, SMASH
Camille A. Brown, Gypsy
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical
Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Orchestrations
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins
Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd.
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