Jim Parsons and Kristin Chenoweth announce Tony Award nominationsKristin Chenoweth and Jim Parsons teamed up this morning to announce this year’s Tony Award nominees and seeing as how this is akin to the NFL draft for me, I’ve definitely got a few things to say about it.
This year, three of the four nominees for Best Musical are based on films: two are based on movies that came out almost 20 years ago (Leap of Faith and Newsies) while the other is based on a critically acclaimed indie flick (Once). Normally, I would accuse the producers of betting on sure things by bringing well-known properties to the stage, but I have to tip my hat to them this time. All of those films, in my opinion, are great and no one can say that any of them made any money, but someone saw their potential and, obviously, it paid off. The fourth nominee (Nice Work If You Can Get It) is a new show that feels like a revival . As a matter of fact, I actually thought it was a revival until a few days ago. Words and music by George and Ira Gershwin, Matthew Broderick and Kelli O’Hara as the leads…what else was I supposed to think? Considering that the Gershwin brothers have been dead for a collective 104 years, being nominated in the new musical category is pretty impressive. The nominations for Best Revival of a Musical are Follies, The Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess, and two Andrew Lloyd Webber shows: Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar (what, no Starlight Express?). Once leads the pack with a total of 11 nominations, with 10 each going to Porgy & Bess and Nice Work If You Can Get It, and eight for both Follies and Newsies.
Best Play nominees include Other Desert Cities, Peter and the Starcatcher, Venus in Fur and Clybourne Park (make sure you catch Tennessee Rep’s upcoming production!). The nominations for Best Revival of a Play are Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, Master Class and Wit. Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the children’s book of the same name, snagged the most nominees for a play this year with a total of nine nominations followed by Death of a Salesman and One Man, Two Guv’nors with seven a piece.
For a complete list of this year’s Tony Award nominees and more information about these and other shows currently on Broadway, visit tonywards.com.
-Akil