If the Tony Awards are the theatre Super Bowl, then the Tony Awards nominations day can be considered the play-offs (pun very much intended). This morning, theatre fans gathered at their screens to see which of our favorite teams or players will get to make it to Broadway biggest night.
While there was a number of overlooked artists, there were also some illuminating surprises and trends鈥攁ll of which showcased one of the strongest (and highest-grossing) Broadway seasons in recent memory. Here's what we noticed about this year's Tony nominees.
Buena Vista Social Club Is the Frontrunner
In the competitive categories, three shows (all musicals) tied to become the most nominated productions of the season: Death Becomes Her, Maybe Happy Ending, and Buena Vista Social Club. But the latter got a fairly unique Special Tony Award, too, recognizing its full band (a first in Tony Awards history). That honor technically makes Buena Vista Social Club the most-recognized Broadway production of this year鈥檚 nominations, and that guaranteed 鈥渨in鈥� (non-competitive Tonys aren鈥檛 technically considered a win) has the potential to give the show a leg up when winners are announced for all categories June 8. Will it get the biggest prize of the night? We鈥檒l have to wait until then to find out!
Daniel Dae Kim and English Make History
This year included a large amount of first-time nominees (more on that later), but a notable one on the list was Daniel Dae Kim. Kim is now the first Asian actor to be nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play (B.D. Wong, the first Asian actor to win an acting Tony, was in the Featured category for M. Butterfly). But Kim wasn't alone in making Tonys history. Sanaz Toossi is the first Iranian-American playwright to be nominated for Best Play, for English; and that show's cast members Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat are the first Middle Eastern actors to be nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play.
You Never Forget Your First
And back to those first-time nominees. In a season that has seen a startling amount of A-list celebrities trodding the boards (and raking it in at the box office), it鈥檚 perhaps not surprising that the Tony nominees include lots of above-the-title notables, like Sarah Snook for The Picture of Dorian Gray, George Clooney for Good Night, And Good Luck, and Sadie Sink for John Proctor is the Villain. But two of those actors were also making their first-ever Broadway performance, along with Cole Escola, as both Leading Actor in a Play and as a playwright for Oh, Mary!; and Jasmine Amy Rogers, starring in the title role of BOOP! The Musical. Welcome to the club, y鈥檃ll!
Last Year's Tony Winners Are This Year's Nominees
A number of this year's Tony nominees won a Tony Award just last year. Jonathan Groff (nominated for his performance in Just in Time) won a Tony last year for Merrily We Roll Along. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (nominated for Purpose) won a Tony last year for Appropriate. Kara Young (nominated for Purpose) won a Tony last year for Purlie Victorious. Costume designer Dede Ayite (nominated for Buena Vista Social Club) won last year for Jaja's African Hair Braiding. And Danya Taymor (nominated for John Proctor Is the Villain) won a directing Tony last year for The Outsiders. Will lightning strike twice for these nominees? We'll have to wait until June 8 to find out.
Floyd Collins and Yellow Face Finally Getting Their Flowers
While the Best Revival categories contained well-known shows鈥攊ncluding Romeo & Juliet by that up-and-coming playwright known as William Shakespeare鈥攊t also contained shows that have been popular among a certain segment of theatre fans but had not yet achieved wider recognition. Floyd Collins first premiered Off-Broadway in 1996, and while many musical theatre experts may know the show from "How Glory Goes," the current Broadway production has exposed the Adam Guettel-Tina Landau musical to a new generation of theatre fans. That show was well-rewarded with six nominations, including Best Revival. Similarly, Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang first premiered in 2007. Though it's been produced regionally, it didn't get a Broadway run until 2024. That production got three Tony nominations, including Best Revival and two acting nods for Daniel Dae Kim and Francis Jue鈥攖he latter was in a 2007 production of the play. And Yellow Face will air on PBS May 16, just in time for its Tony campaign. It goes to show you, it's never too late to make a great first impression.
A Lot of Love for the Physical Design of Stranger Things
Apparently, the Tony Nominating Committee really dug the physical production of Broadway鈥檚 Stranger Things: The First Shadow. And if you鈥檝e seen the show, that鈥檚 not a huge surprise. In bringing the Stranger Things prequel to the stage, Netflix has spared little expense, giving fans an opulent, impressive, and effects-heavy experience at the Marquis Theatre, coming to Broadway after an Olivier-winning world premiere in London鈥檚 West End. While the work failed to get a Best Play nomination, it picked up nods in all the physical design categories: scenic design for Miriam Buether and 59 Productions, costume design for Brigitte Reiffenstuel, lighting design for Jon Clark, and sound design for Paul Arditti. But the committee went even further, making sure the production would go home with at least one Tony statuette no matter how voting goes down; they bestowed the production with a Special Tony Award for Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce鈥檚 illusions and technical effects. Considering the show made many of us at 半岛体育 physically jump, it's well deserved, if we may say so.
Some Tonys Love for Score-Writing Newcomers
It鈥檚 not unusual at all for many Tony Awards categories to be dominated by industry stalwarts. After all, there鈥檚 a reason they are towering figures of the artform to begin with! But this year鈥檚 Original Score category gave a lot of love to Broadway newbies. With the exception of Dead Outlaw score co-writer David Yazbek (already a Tony winner for The Band鈥檚 Visit), all of this year鈥檚 Score nominees are making their Broadway debuts, including Erik Della Penna for Dead Outlaw; Julia Mattison and Noel Carey for Death Becomes Her; Will Aronson and Hue Park for Maybe Happy Ending; David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zo毛 Roberts for Operation Mincemeat; and Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez for Real Women Have Curves. The future of musical theatre is on Broadway!
Friendly Competition
Sometimes, a Tony nominee's greatest competitor can be found in their neighboring dressing room! Several shows have multiple nominees in a single category, leading to an internal face-off, including Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard in Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Death Becomes Her, Jon Michael Hill and Harry Lennix in Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Purpose, and Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat in Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for English. That's not even counting the many people who are nominated in multiple categories (such as Cole Escola for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play and for Best Play). Who will reign supreme or will they cancel each other out? It's definitely making this year's awards ceremony more of a nail-biter.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Traditionally, shows that open in the spring have an edge when it comes to the Tony Awards due to recency bias making new productions fresh and lively in the mind of nominators and voters. This season, however, several autumn productions made so great of an impression as to overcome the competition. Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart鈥檚 pitch-perfect impersonation of Louis Armstrong in A Wonderful World brought him his second Tony nomination, David Henry Hwang鈥檚 Yellow Face had a strong showing with a Best Revival of a Play nomination, and Jez Butterworth鈥檚 The Hills of California was one of the most-nominated plays of the season, with 7 nominations, including Best Play. And let's not forget the surprising hit Oh, Mary!, which opened last summer. Sometimes, the early bird does get the worm!
The 78th Annual Tony Awards ceremony will broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall June 8, beginning at 8 PM ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S. Wicked film star and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo is set to host the evening.
The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers and showrunners for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.
The American Theatre Wing鈥檚 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At the Broadway League, Kristin Caskey is chair, and Jason Laks is president. At the American Theatre Wing, Emilio Sosa is chair, and Heather Hitchens is president and CEO.
Visit 半岛体育.com/Tonys.
