Tony Award Nominations! "Some Like It Hot" leads
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 11:42PM
NATHANIEL R in Annaleigh Ashford, Broadway and Stage, Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer, NYC, New York New York, Some Like It Hot, Sweeney Todd, Tony Awards, Victoria Clark, musicals

by Nathaniel R

Christian Borle and J Harrison Ghee are 2 of "Some Like It Hot"'s 13 nominations

 

Lea Michele, still treading the boards in Funny Girl, and Myles Frost who won Best Actor in a Musical last season for the Michael Jackson musical "MJ" announced the Tony Award nominations this morning honoring the current season on Broadway. The nomination leader, far out front, was the musical adaptation of movie classic Some Like It Hot (review coming soon!) with 13 nominations. Jessica Chastain scored her first Tony nominations (with her second Broadway show) though other screen stars weren't as lucky this year. Though the Tony Awards are gendered for acting, two non-binary performers became the first to score nods for acting with their work in popular musicals: Alex Newell (Shucked) and J Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot). 

Nominations are after the jump...

THE NOMINATIONS (MUSICALS)

* = the show has already closed

BEST MUSICAL

Four other shows were eligible with Almost Famous and KPOP receiving a few nominations between them. But Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bad Cinderella and the Neil Diamond jukebox musical Beautiful Noise were shut out.

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL

It's a double dose of Sondheim versus a Lerner & Lowe classic and Parade which is much beloved by musical theater geeks but far less famous than the other three nominees. Only two other musical revivals opened this season, the poorly received 1776 and the revue show Bob Fosse's Dancin'

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL

Same nominees exactly as Best Musical.

 

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE 
Technically plays are also eligible here though rarely nominated since they dont tend to have much scoring

Congrats to Almost Famous and KPOP for slipping in here since not all of the Best Musical nominees were eligible (since they were working with some pre-existing songs).

 

*for the rest of the musical categories both originals and revivals are eligible

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

Tony winner Victoria Clark in "Kimberly Akimbo". Can she win again?

Tough break for Adrianna Hicks, who plays "Sugar" in Some Like It Hot but there can be only five. Annaleigh Ashford has the most iconic role (Mrs Lovett) in a new show so she might have the edge. But you never know. Victoria Clark has one before and Kimberly Akimbo is wildly acclaimed. 

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL 

Some Like It Hot dominates but will Borle & Ghee cancel each other out? Perhaps some Tony voters might think it's about damn time they gave Brian D'Arcy James the Tony? We shall see.

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL

"Sweet Sue" in Some Like It Hot

Ruthie Ann Miles, the only previous winner here, plays 'Beggar Woman" which is a pretty small role in Sweeney Todd so kudos on that nomination. The nomination for NaTasha Yvette Williams is not a surprise at all as she's great fun as the bandleader "Sweet Sue" in Some Like It Hot. Finally, we're very happy for Bonnie Milligan who has been a "rising" star in musical theater for a long time now and finally gets some attention. 

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL


Alex Newell for "Shucked"

An entire lineup of newbies including a 19 year old (Justin Cooley) who was not so long ago a finalist at the "Jimmy" awards (the big prize for High School musicals around the country). It remains baffling that this is Alex Newell's first nomination given their show-stopper performance of "Mama Will Provide" in Once on This Island a handful of years ago. As for the shows you know: Jordan Donica plays Lancelot Du Lac in Camelot while Kevin Del Aguila plays Osgood, the rich older man who falls for Josephine in Some Like It Hot.

BEST DIRECTION, MUSICAL

 

BEST SCENIC DESIGN, MUSICAL

BEST COSTUME DESIGN, MUSICAL 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN, MUSICAL

BEST SOUND DESIGN, MUSICAL

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Technically plays are also eligible in this category though rarely nominated  

 

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Technically plays are also eligible in this category though rarely nominated 

 

 

THE NOMINATIONS (PLAYS)

* = the show has already closed 

BEST PLAY

17 plays opened this season so the ones that weren't lucky enough to land the nods were: A Christmas Carol, The Collaboration, Good Night Oscar, The Kite Runner, Life of Pi, Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Pictures from Home, Summer 1976, The Thanksgiving Play, and Walking with Ghosts. Some of those productions scored acting nods or tech honors though.

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY

Two other Play Revivals were eligible this season, Death of a Salesman and Ohio State Murders but they had to make due with nominations for their actors. 

BEST ACTRESS, PLAY


Chastain and Comer are the newbies and probably in a fight for the win. The Meryl Streep of Broadway, Audra McDonald is nominated yet again. In addition to having the most wins for an actor she's also won in every acting category (Featured Play, Featured Musical, Lead Play, Lead Musical)

 

BEST ACTOR, PLAY

Yahya & Corey in "Topdog/Underdog"

An exciting race since none of them have won before. It's also a majority black men shortlist (with the exception being Sean Hayes obviously)

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS, PLAY

Miriam Silverman managed a nomination for The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window but her very famous co-stars (Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan) did not.

BEST FEATURED ACTOR, PLAY

Brandon Uranowitz has become a mainstay of the featured categories, split evenly between plays and musicals. This is his fourth nomination in the past eight years. He has yet to win. 

The fun trivia of this category is that Samuel L Jackson made his Broadway debut in The Piano Lesson as an understudy in the original run back in 1990. Now he's starring in it. 

 

BEST DIRECTION, PLAY 

It's a fresh blood year for directors. None of them have won and half of them are making their Broadway debuts. Patrick Marber is the most famous of them having written the classic play Closer which was adapted to the screen in 2004.

BEST SCENIC DESIGN, PLAY 

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN, PLAY 

 

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN, PLAY

 

BEST SOUND DESIGN, PLAY

 

 

The Tony Awards will once again be hosted by Ariana DeBose and will be held at United Palace on June 11th. 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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