The Tony Awards return to tradition. Here's what's eligible...
Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 4:39PM by Nathaniel R
Shery Lee Ralph, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Beanie Feldstein at least season's Tony Awards
The past two years have thrown awards shows (not to mention the whole entertainment industry) for quite a loop. Nowhere was that more true than the Tony Awards with Broadway entirely shut down and most of the presumed contenders never opening in 2020. The Tony Awards for 2019 and 2020 shows were finally held last September, just under a year after nominations were announced!!! With Broadway theaters reopened for some time now (proof of vaccination and masks still required) the American Theater Wing is resuming the Tony Awards as we know them, returning to their usual month (June!) and their usual venue (Radio City Music Hall) so we're getting the 75th Tony Awards just nine months after the 74th.
The Tony Awards will arrive on June 12th and the four hour show will air live, for the first hour on Paramount+ and the final three hours on CBS. from 7-11 PM EST. Productions have to open by April 28th to be eligible and the nomimations will be announced on May 3rd, 2022. A list of eligible productions is after the jump...
Note: Tony voters do not have a choice, as Oscar voters do, as to where to place the actors. These decisions are based on billing unless the Tony Awards committee determines otherwise. Generally if your name is above the title you're deemed a lead. They Tony awards committee will be making further rulings on new shows and one The Little Prince... we don't know if that will be considered a play or a special event or a musical...
THE MUSICALS
- Diana the Musical (Closed in December) Streaming on Netflix now
- Flying Over Sunset (Closed in January) A fictional account of Cary Grant, Clare Booth Luce, and Aldous Huxley doing LSD together
- Girl from the North Country (Open) Mare Winningham and Jay O Sanders have been deemed leads though it's an ensemble musical. The score is Bob Dylan songs so it's not eligible in Score.
- MJ The Musical (Open) Jukebox musical using Michael Jackson music so it's not eligible in Score
- Mr Saturday Night (Opens April 27th) Based on the non-musical Billy Crystal movie of the same name. Crystal is reprising the lead role.
- Mrs Doubtfire (Reopens April 27th) Based on the movie
- Paradise Square (Opens April 3rd) This musical takes place in 1863 NY (In the Five Points Slum familiar to moviegoers from Gangs of New York) during the Civil War
- Six (All six women have been deemed leads) Musical comedy about the wives of Henry VIII
- A Strange Loop (Opens April 26th) The pulitzer prize winning Off Broadway 2019 musical moves to Broadway after a long wait due to the pandemic
THE MUSICAL REVIVALS
- Caroline or Change (Closed in January)
- Company (Open) The gender bent revival of the Sondheim masterpiece has had mixed reviews but we think it will be big at the Tonys
- Funny Girl (Opens April 24th) Beanie Feldstein dares step into Streisand's very big shoes
- The Music Man (Open) Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster headline the pricey revival
Mare Winningham in "The Girl from the North Country"
Best Actress in a musical is going to be hyper competitive since so many of this year's musicals have female leads. Previous Tony winners Sutton Foster (Music Man) and Katrina Lenk (Company) are facing off against previous nominees Mare Winningham (Girl From North Country), Joaquina Kalukango (Paradise Square) and Carmen Cusack (Flying Over Sunset). Then there's Jeanna de Waal (Diana), rising star Beanie Feldstein (Funny Girl), and the acclaimed Sharon D Clarke (Caroline or Change). That's 8 women before you even get to the 6 that are eligible here from one show, Six, most of whom are first timers on Broadway. That's 14 women vying for 5 slots. That's quite a contrast from last year's Best Actor in a Musical competition which had 1 nominee Aaron Tviet. He won *gasp*.
THE PLAYS
- Birthday Candles (Opens April 10th) Debra Messing stars
- Chicken and Biscuits (Closed in November) Cleo King and Ebony Marshall-Oliver are both in the lead actress category
- Clydes (Closed in January)
- Dana H (Closed in November)
- Hangmen (Opens April 21st)
- Is This a Room (Closed in November) Emily Davis is in lead actress
- The Lehman Trilogy (Closed in January) Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley, and Adrian Lester are all in the lead actor category.
- The Minutes (Opens April 17th)
- Pass Over (Closed in October) Jon Michael Hill and Namir Smallwood are both in the lead actor category.
- Skeleton Crew (Closed in February)
- Thoughts of a Colored Man (also eligible for Best Original Score)
THE PLAY REVIVALS
- American Buffalo (Opens April 14th) The David Mamet play is back starring Laurence Fishburne, Sam Rockwell, and Darren Criss. We haven't yet heard if they'll all be considered leads or not.
- for colored girls... (Opens April 20th)
- How I Learned to Drive (Opens April 19th)
- Lackawanna Blues (Closed in November) Despite being a revival it's eligible for Best Original Score
- Macbeth (Opens April 26th) Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga are the murderous Lord and Lady this time. Take that Denzel and Frances
- Plaza Suite (Opens March 28th) Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker star in the Neil Simon revival
- The Skin of Our Teeth (Opens April 25th) The Thornton Wilder classic returns
- Take Me Out (Opens April 4th) Jesse Williams and Jesse Tyler Ferguson star in this revival of the hit play about a baseball player who comes out of the closet.
- Trouble In Mind (Closed in January)
Reader Comments (6)
I loved Sharon D Clarke's performance. She was really internal, and then fully delivered in her big moment. It might not be showy enough to win or get a nom in the tough field when compared to what Feldstein and others get to do, but she knocked it out of the park with a character that's complicated, though seemingly one note. I also enjoyed Cassie Levy in that production.
Very odd that Mare Winningham is lead. Her show is a pure ensemble, so I don't see the justification for that. I think she'd be a great supporting nomination, but not necessarily for lead, though her she lands her big moments brilliantly.
Very excited to see Plaza Suite and for colored girls... Two great plays. Would love to see MacBeth, but I suspect a superstar production like that will be very difficult to get tickets to. However, here's hoping Ruth Negga gets her awards show justice and a Tony nom (if deserved). The age difference between her and Craig should be quite interesting.
Six sounds scary and/or SNL-level ridiculous. Any word on this?
MJ The Musical: and here I was, thinking this was an evening with MJ Rodriguez...
I love Ruth Negga, but can you imagine Craig & Rachel Weisz together in Macbeth?
Six has been positively reviewed, but it's also the type of show where it'll be a massive hit, tour very well, perform very well regionally and basically set up it's creators for life. The score is very, very very catchy. It's less a musical comedy and more a pop show, though. Check out the Olivier Awards performance (also, check out Sharon D. Clarke's rendition of "Lot's Wife.")
Look at all the money that I'm not spending.
SIX has a great soundtrack (listen to the original workshop version) and a fun premise, but the actual show (saw it at the A.R.T. before it moved to Broadway) is slight. It's wildly popular with musical theater-loving teens and will do well in tours.
Loved seeing that photo of Sheryl Lee Ralph. She is SUBLIME in Abbott Elementary.
I have tickets for PARADISE SQUARE in April, but now, after hearing all this bad shit about the producer, I feel conflicted.