The Tony Awards are going way down, under the ground, and they’ve fallen hard for Hadestown. The folk-music retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth led the nominations this morning with 14 total and scored nominations in all the major acting categories except Best Actor (sorry, Reeve Carney). There were also strong showings from both Tootsie, which got acting nominations for everything except Best Actress, where it didn’t enter anyone, and The Prom, which has two Best Actress nominees in Beth Leavel and Caitlin Kinnunen.
There were also two big surprises: To Kill a Mockingbird, a splashy adaptation of Harper Lee’s novel by Aaron Sorkin, didn’t get a nomination for Best Play, and Glenda Jackson’s performance in King Lear, which looked like a centerpiece of the season up until it actually got reviewed, didn’t even get a nomination for Best Actress. Lear’s only recognition came for Ruth Wilson’s double role as Cordelia and the Fool, while Mockingbird got nine nominations, including recognition for Jeff Daniels’s Atticus Finch, Celia Keenan-Bolger’s Scout, Gideon Glick’s Dill, Bartlett Sher’s directing, and amusingly, Adam Guettel’s music (they didn’t love the play, but hey, the music was nice!).
Network, another big adaptation, led by Bryan Cranston (who did get a nomination and still feels like the guy to beat), also missed out in the cutthroat Best Play category, where the nominators instead favored Jez Butterworth’s well-reviewed Irish drama The Ferryman, Taylor Mac’s bloody Gary, James Graham’s Ink, Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy, and Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me (she stars in the play herself and also got a nomination for Best Actress). This year was an especially play-heavy season, but the conventional wisdom had Mockingbird and The Ferryman as the front-runners in the category. With Mockingbird out, Ferryman looks like a likely winner, but considering the Tonys’ love for What the Constitution Means to Me and Choir Boy (its lead Jeremy Pope netted two nominations, since he’s doing a featured role in Ain’t Too Proud), the race could still be exciting.
This season only included two musical revivals, Scott Ellis’s straightforward-but-modified production of Kiss Me, Kate! and Daniel Fish’s almost wholly revised Oklahoma!, so both got nominations. Oklahoma!, the buzzier, edgier, and more divisive of the two, has more of a chance to win the category, and picked up a slew of other nominations, including two for Featured Actress in a Musical — a stacked category where two noms for Oklahoma! and two noms for Tootsie may well split their constituencies and lead to a win for Hadestown’s Amber Gray. Fish and Ellis both received nominations for directing a musical, though Ellis’s was for his work on his other musical this season, Tootsie, and they’ll go up against Hadestown’s Rachel Chavkin, Ain’t Too Proud’s Des McAnuff, and The Prom’s Casey Nicholaw. That category could be a strong indicator of whichever musical might sweep this year, whether the Tony voters favor work from old hands like Ellis, Nicholaw, and McAnuff, or less conventional material from the likes of Chavkin and Fish.
As for the play revivals, Ryan Murphy’s The Boys in the Band made it into the category despite opening before last year’s Tonys ceremony, as did the long-closed productions of Torch Song and The Waverly Gallery. All have their advantages and disadvantages in terms of Tony favorability, with Waverly Gallery boosted by Elaine May’s first Tony nomination (voters may feel obligated to give her a lifetime achievement-esque recognition, even among a busy category), and The Boys in the Band having the promise of being made into a movie, even while the Adam Driver–fueled Burn This and Annette Bening–fortified All My Sons have the advantage of still being in performances.
The American Theatre Wing’s 73rd Annual Tony Awards will air on Sunday, June 9, 2019, from Radio City Music Hall in New York City at 8 p.m. ET on CBS. James Corden is returning to host the 2019 awards ceremony. He won an Emmy for his work last time, so no pressure.
Best Play
Choir Boy
The Ferryman
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Ink
What the Constitution Means to Me
Best Musical
Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Beetlejuice
Hadestown
The Prom
Tootsie
Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s All My Sons
The Boys in the Band
Burn This
Torch Song
The Waverly Gallery
Best Revival of a Musical
Kiss Me, Kate
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Best Book of a Musical
Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations, Dominique Morisseau
Beetlejuice, Scott Brown & Anthony King
Hadestown, Anaïs Mitchell
The Prom, Bob Martin & Chad Beguelin
Tootsie, Robert Horn
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Be More Chill, Music & Lyrics: Joe Iconis
Beetlejuice, Music & Lyrics: Eddie Perfect
Hadestown, Music & Lyrics: Anaïs Mitchell
The Prom, Music: Matthew Sklar Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
To Kill a Mockingbird, Music: Adam Guettel
Tootsie, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Paddy Considine, The Ferryman
Bryan Cranston, Network
Jeff Daniels, To Kill a Mockingbird
Adam Driver, Burn This
Jeremy Pope, Choir Boy
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Annette Bening, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons
Laura Donnelly, The Ferryman
Elaine May, The Waverly Gallery
Janet McTeer, Bernhardt/Hamlet
Laurie Metcalf, Hillary and Clinton
Heidi Schreck, What the Constitution Means to Me
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, The Prom
Derrick Baskin, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Alex Brightman, Beetlejuice
Damon Daunno, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Santino Fontana, Tootsie
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Cher Show
Caitlin Kinnunen, The Prom
Beth Leavel, The Prom
Eva Noblezada, Hadestown
Kelli O’Hara, Kiss Me, Kate
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Bertie Carvel, Ink
Robin de Jesús, The Boys in the Band
Gideon Glick, To Kill a Mockingbird
Brandon Uranowitz, Burn This
Benjamin Walker, Arthur Miller’s All My Sons
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Fionnula Flanagan, The Ferryman
Celia Keenan-Bolger, To Kill a Mockingbird
Kristine Nielsen, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Julie White, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Ruth Wilson, King Lear
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
André De Shields, Hadestown
Andy Grotelueschen, Tootsie
Patrick Page, Hadestown
Jeremy Pope, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Ephraim Sykes, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Lilli Cooper, Tootsie
Amber Gray, Hadestown
Sarah Stiles, Tootsie
Ali Stroker, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Mary Testa, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, To Kill a Mockingbird
Bunny Christie, Ink
Rob Howell, The Ferryman
Santo Loquasto, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Jan Versweyveld, Network
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Robert Brill & Peter Nigrini, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Peter England, King Kong
Rachel Hauck, Hadestown
Laura Jellinek, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
David Korins, Beetlejuice
Best Costume Design of a Play
Rob Howell, The Ferryman
Toni-Leslie James, Bernhardt/Hamlet
Clint Ramos, Torch Song
Ann Roth, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Ann Roth, To Kill a Mockingbird
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Michael Krass, Hadestown
William Ivey Long, Beetlejuice
William Ivey Long, Tootsie
Bob Mackie, The Cher Show
Paul Tazewell, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Ink
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Peter Mumford, The Ferryman
Jennifer Tipton, To Kill a Mockingbird
Jan Versweyveld & Tal Yarden, Network
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, The Cher Show
Howell Binkley, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Bradley King, Hadestown
Peter Mumford, King Kong
Kenneth Posner & Peter Nigrini, Beetlejuice
Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Ink
Scott Lehrer, To Kill a Mockingbird
Fitz Patton, Choir Boy
Nick Powell, The Ferryman
Eric Sleichim, Network
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Peter Hylenski, Beetlejuice
Peter Hylenski, King Kong
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Drew Levy, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Nevin Steinberg & Jessica Paz, Hadestown
Best Direction of a Play
Rupert Goold, Ink
Sam Mendes, The Ferryman
Bartlett Sher, To Kill a Mockingbird
Ivo van Hove, Network
George C. Wolfe, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
Best Direction of a Musical
Rachel Chavkin, Hadestown
Scott Ellis, Tootsie
Daniel Fish, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Des McAnuff, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Casey Nicholaw, The Prom
Best Choreography
Camille A. Brown, Choir Boy
Warren Carlyle, Kiss Me, Kate
Denis Jones, Tootsie
David Neumann, Hadestown
Sergio Trujillo, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations
Best Orchestrations
Michael Chorney & Todd Sickafoose, Hadestown
Simon Hale, Tootsie
Larry Hochman, Kiss Me, Kate
Daniel Kluger, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!
Harold Wheeler, Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations