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Nominations for the 69th annual Tony Awards, honoring the best of Broadway productions, were announced Tuesday, April 28. The awards show will air Sunday, June 7, at 8 pm Eastern on CBS.
You can read more information on all of the nominated plays and musicals at the Tony Award website.
Who received the most nominations?
As always, the nomination totals were dominated by musicals. With generally larger casts, flashier technical elements, and the opportunity to receive nominations for score and book (essentially the "script" of a musical), musicals have always had this advantage.
This year's nomination leaders were An American in Paris and Fun Home with 12 nominations apiece. American is a big, glitzy adaptation of the famous George Gershwin score that also gave rise to the 1951 Best Picture–winning film of the same name. Fun Home is a musical adaptation of Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir about coming of age and coming to terms with her sexuality, all while struggling with her relationship with her father, a closeted gay man.
The only other nominee to score in the double digits was musical Something Rotten, which is set in the 1590s and involves Elizabethan playwrights trying to come up with the world's first musical, to get a leg up on their contemporary, William Shakespeare.
The most-nominated play was Wolf Hall Parts One & Two, an adaptation of Hilary Mantel's best-selling novels about the life of Thomas Cromwell.
Were any people I've heard of nominated?
Yes! The Tonys often shy away from famous faces who come to star in Broadway shows — even if they receive good reviews — but this year proved an exception to that general rule. Bradley Cooper and Patricia Clarkson received nominations for their performances in The Elephant Man, while Elisabeth Moss and Carey Mulligan received nominations for starring in revivals of the plays The Heidi Chronicles and Skylight, respectively.
Perhaps the most unexpected famous person nominated was Sting — yes, the Sting who was in the Police — who managed a nomination for Best Original Score for the musical The Last Ship. The show closed in January, after a short run and tepid reviews, but most of those reviews singled out Sting's work as noteworthy, so here he is.
Wait — shows can be nominated after they close?
They can. So long as a production opened after April 24, 2014 and before April 23, 2015, it is eligible for a Tony Award nomination. Shows that close are nominated all the time, though hit shows that run for many years are only eligible in the year they opened.
What does "featured role" mean?
It's a supporting role. The word "featured" is meant to suggest the difference between the stars who have their names "above the title" on a Broadway poster and those who are stuck below the title, but this really just means "lead versus supporting performance." Don't worry about it too much.
Can I just see a list of the nominees?
You can.
Best Musical
An American in Paris
Fun Home
Something Rotten!
The Visit
Best Play
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Disgraced
Hand to God
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Best Revival, Musical
The King and I
On the Town
On the Twentieth Century
Best Revival, Play
The Elephant Man
Skylight
This Is Our Youth
You Can’t Take It With You
Best Lead Actor, Musical
Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
Brian d’Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Ken Watanabe, The King and I
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town
Best Lead Actress, Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Beth Malone, Fun Home
Kelli O’Hara, The King and I
Chita Rivera, The Visit
Best Lead Actor, Play
Steven Boyer, Hand to God
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Bill Nighy, Skylight
Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Best Lead Actress, Play
Geneva Carr, Hand to God
Helen Mirren, The Audience
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Matthew Beard, Skylight
K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Richard McCabe, The Audience
Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man
Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Micah Stock, It's Only a Play
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It With You
Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Sarah Stiles, Hand to God
Julie White, Airline Highway
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!
Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris
Max von Essen, An American in Paris
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Victoria Clark, Gigi
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Emily Skeggs, Fun Home
Best Direction of a Play
Stephen Daldry, Skylight
Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Scott Ellis, You Can't Take It With You
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Hand to God
Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Gold, Fun Home
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Bartlett Sher, The King and I
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Book of a Musical
An American in Paris, Craig Lucas
Fun Home, Lisa Kron
Something Rotten!, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell
The Visit, Terrence McNally
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron
The Last Ship, Music and Lyrics: Sting
Something Rotten!, Music and Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
The Visit, Music: John Kander, Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, On the Town
Christopher Gattelli, The King and I
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris
Best Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
John Clancy, Fun Home
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Bob Crowley, Skylight
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Rockwell, You Can't Take It With You
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
David Rockwell, On the Twentieth Century
Michael Yeargan, The King and I
David Zinn, Fun Home
Best Costume Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, The Audience
Jane Greenwood, You Can't Take It With You
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Zinn, Airline Highway
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Something Rotten!
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
William Ivey Long, On the Twentieth Century
Catherine Zuber, The King and I
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Paule Constable and David Plater, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Natasha Katz, Skylight
Japhy Weideman, Airline Highway
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, The King and I
Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Ben Stanton, Fun Home
Japhy Weideman, The Visit
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Regional Theatre Tony Award
Cleveland Play House, Cleveland, Ohio
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Special Tony Award
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Arnold Abramson
Adrian Bryan-Brown
Gene O’Donovan
Correction: This post originally said Wolf Hall was about Oliver Cromwell. It is about Thomas Cromwell instead.