NEW YORK: “Hadestown,” singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s Broadway debut, earned a leading 14 Tony Award nominations followed by the jukebox musical “Ain’t Too Proud,” built around songs by the Temptations, which received a dozen nominations.
The musical Hadestown, which intertwines the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone, bested more familiar names, including stage adaptations of the hit movies “Tootsie” and “Beetlejuice,” which both also got best musical nods. The giddy, heartwarming “The Prom” rounds out the best new musical category.
Hadestown also was the only new musical on Broadway directed by a woman, Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin, who earned another one.
“I’m trying not to swear, but I am so proud of the 14 nominations. There is just not a weak spot on the team. There is no place where we haven’t all been working our asses off to make this show feel as ancient and as ‘now’ as possible, simultaneously,” she said.
The best-play nominees are the Northern Irish drama “The Ferryman,” from Jez Butterworth; James Graham’s “Ink,” about Rupert Murdoch; Taylor Mac’s Broadway debut, “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus”; Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Choir Boy”; and Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me,” a personal tour of the landmark document at the heart of so many American divisions.
Des McAnuff, who directed “Ain’t Too Proud,” pointed to the timeliness of his musical, which charts the rise, sacrifices and challenges facing the 1950s group that sang “Baby Love” and “My Girl.”
“I think when people come to the Imperial Theatre, they’ll find that the story is as pertinent now as it was when they lived it,” he said. “It applies to Black Lives Matter and what’s going on in this country in terms of the tensions today.”
Laurie Metcalf got an acting nod for Hillary and Clinton and if she wins the Tony this year, she will be the first person to win acting Tonys three years consecutively. (She won in 2018’s “Three Tall Women” and “A Doll’s House, Part 2” in 2017).
A sweet “Kiss Me, Kate” and a dark “Oklahoma!” make up the best musical revival category; they were the only eligible nominees. The best play revival nominees are “Arthur Miller’s All My Sons,” ‘’The Boys in the Band,” ‘’Burn This,” ‘’Torch Song” and “The Waverly Gallery.”
Ali Stroker, the first actress who needs a wheelchair for mobility known to have appeared on a Broadway stage, earned a Tony nomination for “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!”
André De Shields earned his third Tony nomination for playing Hermes in “Hadestown” and is gunning for his first win in a career spanning 50 years. He said he felt relief and gratitude for all the support.
“Living the dream is one thing, but if you don’t stick around long enough to enjoy the dream when it becomes a reality, then what good is the dream? So here I am. I’m living the dream for a horde of people,” he said.
Nominees for best actor in a play include Paddy Considine from “The Ferryman,” Bryan Cranston in “Network,” Jeff Daniels in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Adam Driver from “Burn This” and Jeremy Pope in “Choir Boy.” Pope is also up for a featured role in “Ain’t Too Proud.”
The category of best actress in a play includes Annette Bening in “Arthur Miller’s All My Sons,” Laura Donnelly in “The Ferryman,” Elaine May in “The Waverly Gallery,” Janet McTeer in “Bernhardt/Hamlet,” Metcalf in “Hillary and Clinton” and Schreck from “What the Constitution Means to Me.”
Nominated for best actor in a musical are Brooks Ashmanskas from “The Prom,” Derrick Baskin in “Ain’t Too Proud,” Alex Brightman from “Beetlejuice,” Damon Daunno in “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!” and Santino Fontana in “Tootsie.”
Patrick Page, who has appeared in over a dozen Broadway shows including “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,” ‘’The Lion King” and “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” earned his first Tony nomination for playing Hades in “Hadestown.”
Nominees for best leading actress in a musical are Stephanie J. Block in “The Cher Show,” Caitlin Kinnunen and Beth Leavel both in “The Prom,” Eva Noblezada in “Hadestown” and Kelli O’Hara in “Kiss Me, Kate.”
Block, a veteran of Broadway shows such as “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” and “Falsettos,” got her third nomination for playing one of three actresses who portray the title character in “The Cher Show.”
Hollywood A-listers Cranston, Driver, May and Daniels made the cut but some of their starry colleagues did not, including Kerry Washington, Daniel Radcliffe, Armie Hammer, Ethan Hawke, Joan Allen, Michael Cera, Lucas Hedges and Keri Russell.
For a few theater veterans behind the scenes, the nominations were doubly good: Ann Roth was nominated for creating the costumes for both “Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus” and “To Kill a Mockingbird,” while William Ivey Long earned nods for both “Beetlejuice” and “Tootsie.”
The awards will be presented June 9 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. James Corden, the host of CBS’ “The Late Late Show” and a Tony winner himself, will host. AP
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