The Broadway hit “Hamilton” scored a record 16 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, solidifying its front-runner status for the top prize of best musical.
Advertisement
In the best actor category, the duel will be between Hamilton (Miranda) and Aaron Burr, played by the wonderful Leslie Odom Jr. Leading man and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda picked up nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Best Original Score Written for the Theater.
Also among nominees were Undercover’s Sophie Okonedo for The Crucible; Lupita Nyong’o for Eclipsed; Michelle Williams for Blackbird; 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt’s Jane Krakowski for She Loves Me; Michael Shannon, Gabriel Byrne and Jessica Lange for Long Day’s Journey Into Night; and Roseanne’s Laurie Metcalf for Misery. Other best-play nominees are “The Father” by Florian Zeller, “The Humans” by Stephen Karam and “King Charles III” by Mike Bartlett. On Broadway and Off, thirty per cent of available roles went to actors of color during the 2014-15 season, a record high in the nine years the survey has been conducted.
I loved the revival of The Color Purple and think it will win the best musical revival category.
The Tony awards will be presented on June 12 at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre in a ceremony headlined by talk show host and past Tony victor James Corden.
The Tony Awards recognise achievement in live theatre on Broadway.
American actor, comedian, writer and banjo player Steve Martin has received five nominations for bluegrass musical Bright Star.
Eclipsed and Humans- both, like Hamilton, off-Broadway transfers – grabbed six nominations each.
The musical inspired by historian Ron Chernow’s book “AlexanderHamilton” also won nominations for set design, costume, lighting, direction – for Thomas Kail – choreography and orchestration. (Best Actor in a Musical), Phillipa Soo (Best Actress in a Musical), Best Musical, and much more. There was – shocker! – no Tony love for Audra McDonald’s bravura performance in “Shuffle Along“.
The Hamilton train is not stopping any time soon.
Advertisement
Female creatives have made their mark as well, with Waitress’s all-female creative team, Tuck Everlasting’s Claudia Shear co-writing that show’s book, and Edie Brickell co-writing the songs on Bright Star.
