The overlap between hip-hop fans and people who got up super early this morning to check the Tony nominations is, presumably, minimal. Let us now point out, then, that if Fela! wins Best Musical — one of the production’s eleven nominations — Jay-Z will indeed get a Tony. Remember, Jay hopped on as a producer, along with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, a week before the show’s Broadway opening. Some (like us) might have assumed the late entry meant Jay and his celebrity cohorts weren’t actually “producer†producers, but just big fans who knew they could sell tickets if they came up with an excuse to slap their names on the posters. The folks over at the Tony Awards, however, confirmed this afternoon that if Fela! comes out victorious in Best Musical, the Jigga man will add a Tony to his collection of Grammys and platinum plaques. (Alicia Keys, though, who has been reported as a producer, will not. Sorry, Alicia!) Big congrats to Jay: We’re sure he’s been dreaming of his first Tony nomination ever since he was a youngster pushing yay at Marcy.
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Fela!, La Cage aux Folles Lead Tony Nominations