Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton. (Photo by Joan Marcus)
With this week’s Tony Award nominations, the Hamilton juggernaut continues. The Lin-Manuel Miranda musical about the first Secretary of the Treasury has been a scorching hot ticket since it arrived on Broadway last summer. Now, with this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama in its pocket and only half-kidding credit for keeping Alexander Hamilton’s mug on the $10 bill, the show received 16 Tony nominations – a new record total.
Its win for the season’s best musical is a foregone conclusion, but since the show got two nominations for best leading actor in a musical (Miranda as Hamilton and Leslie Odom, Jr. as his nemesis and dueling opponent Aaron Burr) and three nominations for best featured actor (Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff and Christopher Jackson), Hamilton’s win total – except in the case of ties – could “only” reach 13. If that were to happen, and it very well could, that would be a new win total, besting The Producers (2002), which won 12.
In addition to those nominations mentioned above, Hamilton will be vying for best direction (Thomas Kail), choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler), score (Miranda), book (Miranda, who else?), orchestrations (Alex Lacamoire), leading actress (Phillipa Soo), featured actress (Renée Elise Goldsberry), sets (David Korins), costumes (Paul Tazewell) and lighting (Howell Binkley). It is hard to see how a show could receive more nominations than Hamilton has, short of the Tonys bringing back the best sound design award.
Preparing to lick their wounds and lose the top Tony to Hamilton are: Bright Star (5 nominations), School of Rock (4), Shuffle Along (8) and Waitress (4). Four new shows that are still running failed to make the cut for Best Musical: American Psycho (2 nominations), Disaster! (1), On Your Feet! (1) and Tuck Everlasting (1). Disaster!, hoping for a better showing, is likely to fold first, possibly followed by Tuck. American Psycho will run as long as there are theatergoers willing to pay large amounts to view good looking performers in their underwear.
Going head-to-head for the Best Play production award are Eclipsed, a heavy-handed account of the brutality inflicted on Liberian women during civil war, and The Humans, a love-it-or-hate-it tale of a long-suffering dysfunctional family coming together at Thanksgiving. Each goes into the Tony race with six nominations. Also in the field are King Charles III, a look at the future reign of the current Prince Charles of England (5 nominations) and The Father (2), about a family struggling with the patriarch’s dementia. Look for The Humans to eke out a win, but the play is too bleak to appeal to general audiences.
Audra McDonald, the poster girl for the Tonys, already has a record six awards, but she failed to cop a nomination this season, despite favorable reviews for her performance in Shuffle Along. Most of the motion picture stars who trod the boards – Lupita Nyong’o (Eclipsed), Michelle Williams and Jeff Daniels (in Blackbird), Jessica Lange Gabriel Byrne and Michael Shannon (Long Day’s Journey into Night) and Frank Langella (The Father) – gained nominations, except for Jennifer Hudson in The Color Purple.
The 70th annual Tony Awards will be broadcast live from the Beacon Theater on CBS, in a June 12 ceremony emceed by The Late Late Show host (and Tony winner) James Corden.
Below is a complete list of this season’s nominees:
Best Play
Eclipsed
The Father
The Humans
King Charles III
Best Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton
School of Rock-The Musical
Waitress
Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Blackbird
Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Noises Off
Best Revival of a Musical
The Color Purple
Fiddler on the Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening
Best Book of a Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton
School of Rock-The Musical
Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
Bright Star
Hamilton
School of Rock-The Musical
Waitress
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Play
Gabriel Byrne, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Jeff Daniels, Blackbird
Frank Langella, The Father
Tim Pigott-Smith, King Charles III
Mark Strong, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Play
Jessica Lange, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Laurie Metcalf, Misery
Lupita Nyong’o, Eclipsed
Sophie Okonedo, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Michelle Williams, Blackbird
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, Musical
Alex Brightman, School of Rock-The Musical
Danny Burstein, Fiddler on the Roof
Zachary Levi, She Loves Me
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Leslie Odom, Jr., Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Musical
Laura Benanti, She Loves Me
Carmen Cusack, Bright Star
Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple
Jessie Mueller, Waitress
Phillipa Soo, Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role, Play
Reed Birney, The Humans
Bill Camp, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
David Furr, Noises Off
Richard Goulding, King Charles III
Michael Shannon, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role, Play
Pascale Armand, Eclipsed
Megan Hilty, Noises Off
Jayne Houdyshell, The Humans
Andrea Martin, Noises Off
Saycon Sengbloh, Eclipsed
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role, Musical
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Brandon Victor Dixon, Shuffle Along
Christopher Fitzgerald, Waitress
Jonathan Groff, Hamilton
Christopher Jackson, Hamilton
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role, Musical
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Hamilton
Jane Krakowski, She Loves Me
Jennifer Simard, Disaster!
Adrienne Warren, Shuffle Along
Best Scenic Design, Play
Beowulf Boritt, Thérèse Raquin
Christopher Oram, Hughie
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
David Zinn, The Humans
Best Scenic Design, Musical
Es Devlin & Finn Ross, American Psycho
David Korins, Hamilton
Santo Loquasto, Shuffle Along
David Rockwell, She Loves Me
Best Costume Design, Play
Jane Greenwood, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Michael Krass, Noises Off
Clint Ramos, Eclipsed
Tom Scutt, King Charles III
Best Costume Design, Musical
Gregg Barnes, Tuck Everlasting
Jeff Mahshie, She Loves Me
Ann Roth, Shuffle Along
Paul Tazewell, Hamilton
Best Lighting Design, Play
Natasha Katz, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Justin Townsend, The Humans
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible
Jan Versweyveld, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Lighting Design, Musical
Howell Binkley, Hamilton
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Shuffle Along
Ben Stanton, Spring Awakening
Justin Townsend, American Psycho
Best Direction, Play
Rupert Goold, King Charles III
Jonathan Kent, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello, The Humans
Liesl Tommy, Eclipsed
Ivo Van Hove, Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge
Best Direction, Musical
Michael Arden, Spring Awakening
John Doyle, The Color Purple
Scott Ellis, She Loves Me
Thomas Kail, Hamilton
George C. Wolfe, Shuffle Along
Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Hamilton
Savion Glover, Shuffle Along
Hofesh Shechter, Fiddler on the Roof
Randy Skinner, Dames at Sea
Sergio Trujillo, On Your Feet!
Best Orchestrations
August Eriksmoen, Bright Star
Larry Hochman, She Loves Me
Alex Lacamoire, Hamilton
Daryl Waters, Shuffle Along