Tony Award nominations are always a theater queen's wet dream

When the Oscar and Emmy and Grammy nominations come out, many of those who follow the awards have already seen (or heard) the contenders, or plan to soon, and have an opinion about who was robbed and who was justly feted. Not so the Tony Award nominations, which came out this morning. Some of the nominated shows opened as recently as last weekend, so that only a handful of New Yorkers have even had a chance to take them in; some closed after brief runs months ago.
But theater queens being who they are, they still can’t wait to hear who made the shortlist … which, more so than any other major award, is flush with GLBT folks.
Take for instance The Visit, with book by gay author Terrence McNally and co-starring out actor Roger Rees. Here’s all you need to know: 82-year-old Chita Rivera, who stars in it, is nominated for best actress in a musical. Who doesn’t get goosebumps hearing that? Then again, she has to face off against a few other icons of the theatuh, including Kristin Chenoweth (On the Twentieth Century) and Kelli O’Hara (The King and I). (Rees, a former Tony winner, is not among the male acting nominees.)
A lot of shows with big buzz are also in the running for awards, which will be handed out Sunday, June 7. Lesbian cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s acclaimed musical Fun Home is hotly fancied for best musical and best score. And Broadway has a way of wooing movie and TV stars into prime jobs — Helen Mirren (The Audience), Elizabeth Moss (The Heidi Chronicles), Bradley Cooper (The Elephant Man), and and Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan (Skylight) are all up for acting awards, as is North Texas native (and former Tony winner) Julie White.
Perhaps some of the pleasantest awards, though, already have winners. John Cameron Mitchell, who wrote, directed and starred in the original off-Broadway production (and film) of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, is being honored with a special Tony; Texas native Tommy Tune is being honored with a special Tony for lifetime in the theater; and after 40 years in the business but no Tony statuette to show for it (he does have a few Oscars, as consolation), legendary B’way composer Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, etc.) is the winner of the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
Here is a full list of the nominees:
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 1 and 2.
Best Revival of a Musical: The King and I; On the Town; On the Twentieth Century.
Best Revival of a Play: The Elephant Man; Skylight; This Is Our Youth; You Cant Take It With You.
Best Leading Actor in a Play: Steven Boyer, Hand to God; Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man; Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2; Bill Nighy, Skylight; Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Best Leading Actress in a Play: Geneva Carr, Hand to God; Helen Mirren, The Audience; Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles; Carey Mulligan, Skylight; Ruth Wilson, Constellations.
Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Michael Cerveris, Fun Home; Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris; Brian dArcy James, Something Rotten!; Ken Watanabe, The King and I; Tony Yazbeck, On the Town.
Best Leading Actress in a 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 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): 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 Featured Actor 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 1 and 2; Micah Stock, It’s Only a Play.
Best Featured Actress in a Play: Annaleigh Ashford, You Can’t Take It with You; Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man; Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2; Sarah Stiles, Hand to God; Julie White, Airline Highway.
Best Featured Actor 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 Featured Actress 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 1 and 2; 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 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 Scenic Design of a Play: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Skylight; Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2; You Can’t Take It with You.
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: An American in Paris; On the Twentieth Century; The King and I; Fun Home.
Best Costume Design of a Play: The Audience; You Can’t Take It with You; Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2; Airline Highway.
Best Costume Design of a Musical: Something Rotten!; An American in Paris; On the Twentieth Century; The King and I.
Best Lighting Design of a Play: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time; Wolf Hall Parts 1 and 2; Skylight; Airline Highway.
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: The King and I; An American in Paris; Fun Home; The Visit.
Best Orchestrations: An American in Paris; Fun Home; Something Rotten!; The Last Ship.
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater: Tommy Tune.
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Stephen Schwartz.
Regional Theatre Tony Award: Cleveland Play House.
Special Tony Award: John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater: Arnold Abramson; Adrian Bryan-Brown; Gene O’Donovan.