Awards Ceremony Will Take Place June 7th at Radio City Music Hall

On June 7, 2015, the greatest stars and talents of the Broadway theatre community will gather at Radio City Music Hall for the 69^th Annual Tony Awards ceremony. After great anticipation, the nominations have been announced by the Tony Nominating Committee. As the nominators are famously few, even in comparison to the privileged bunch who get to call themselves Tony voters, there is always a degree of subjectivity involved in these nominations. Sometimes very deserving candidates do not even get a chance to compete for awards that some might say they should have won, merely due to the choices of 50 theatre professionals. In comparison, there are approximately 868 individuals who are eligible to place a vote among these nominees. This year, it was a very competitive nomination process, as very few categories had obvious contenders. Arguably the most prestigious category is the award for Best Musical, as this can validate a show to be a long running hit, or even turn a hidden gem into a global brand name. For the 2015 Tony Awards, the nominees for Best Musical are An American in Paris, Fun Home, Something Rotten!, and The Visit. As for Best Play, the nominees are The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, Disgraced, Hand to God, and Wolf Hall Parts One and Two.

Revivals, Book Writers, Composers, Actors, and Actresses

The nominees for Best Revival of a Play are The Elephant Man, Skylight, This is Our Youth, and You Can’t Take it With You. The contenders for the category of Best Revival of a Musical are The King and I, On the Town, and On the Twentieth Century. As for Best Book of a Musical, the nominees are An American in Paris by Craig Lucas, Fun Home by Lisa Kron, Something Rotten! by Karey Kirkpatrick and John O’Farrell, and The Visit by Terrence McNally. Hand in hand is the award for Best Original Score, the nominees for which are Fun Home with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by Lisa Kron, The Last Ship with music and lyrics by Sting, Something Rotten! with music and lyrics by Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick, and The Visit with music by John Kander and lyrics by Fred Ebb. As for the acting categories, the nominees for Best Lead Actor in a Play are Steven Boyer in Hand to God, Bradley Cooper in The Elephant Man, Ben Miles in Wolf Hall Parts One and Two, Bill Nighy in Skylight, and Alex Sharp in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. The nominees for Best Lead Actress in a Play are Geneva Carr in Hand to God, Helen Mirren in The Audience, Elisabeth Moss in The Heidi Chronicles, Carey Mulligan in Skylight, and Ruth Wilson in Constellations. The nominees for Best Lead Actor in a Musical are Michael Cerveris in Fun Home, Robert Fairchild in An American in Paris, Brian d’Arcy James in Something Rotten!, Ken Watanabe in The King and I, and Tony Yazbeck in On the Town. The nominees for Best Lead Actress in a Musical are Kristin Chenoweth in Something Rotten!, Leanne Cope in An American in Paris, Beth Malone in Fun Home, Kelli O’Hara in The King and I, and Chita Rivera in The Visit.

Snubs and Surprises

This year, there were quite a few shows that did not receive any nominations at all, some of which come as a major shock. One of the most obvious snubs was Harvey Weinstein’s first venture in Broadway producing, Finding Neverland, which received no nominations at all. Another show that can be considered a snub is Larry David’s Fish in the Dark, which has been selling marvelously at the box office but was a critical bust. Other shows that did not receive any nominations are The River, The Country House, Living on Love, The Real Thing, Doctor Zhivago, Side Show, Love Letters, A Delicate Balance, It Shoulda Been You, and Holler if Ya Hear Me. Some of these such as The River and A Delicate Balance sold very well, but received no nods by the Tony committee. For Living on Love, the lack of recognition was enough to persuade the producers to announce the closing date of the show as quickly as possible. As for positive surprises, the fact that An American in Paris received 12 nominations, tying only with Fun Home for the most of any show, was not expected by most. Though the reviews were generally positive, this dance heavy adaptation was a surprise sweep of the nominations. As for It’s Only a Play, which was a major box office hit, the show only received one nomination: for its newcomer Micah Stock. The other actors are major stars, and the play was received very warmly, but none of these individuals were recognized except the Supporting Actor.

2015 TONY AWARD NOMINEES	# Of Awards
An American In Paris	12
Fun Home	12
Something Rotten!	10
The King and I	9
Wolf Hall	8
Skylight	7
The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Night-Time	6
Hand to God	5
On The Twentieth Century	5
The Visit	5
You Can't Take It With You	5
Airline Highway	4
On The Town	4
The Elephant Man	4
The Audience	3
The Last Ship	2
Constellations	1
Disgraced	1
Gigi	1
Its Only A Play	1
The Heidi Chronicles	1
This is Our Youth	1