FEATURE: 2018 Tony Nominations

The 2018 Tony Award Nominations were announced this morning by Leslie Odom, Jr. (“Hamilton”) and Katharine McPhee (“Waitress”).  “Mean Girls” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” lead the pack with 12 nominations each, followed by “The Band’s Visit”, “Carousel”, and “Angels in America” with 11 each, and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two” and “My Fair Lady” with 10 each. “Angels in America” makes history as the most Tony-nominated play ever. 

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will be held on June 10th at Radio City Musical Hall - telecast on CBS starting at 8pm ET. 

Some unexpected surprises include:

• Amy Schumer nominated for “Meteor Shower” (but not Laura Benanti)
• Ariana DeBose nominated for “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”
• “Latino History for Morons” nominated for Best Play
• Only 4 nominees for Best Leading Actor in a Musical but 6 nominees for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
• Special Tony Awards for Bruce Springsteen and John Leguizamo for their one-man shows

Some snubs include:

• Disney’s juggernaut “Frozen” receiving only 3 nominations
• No nomination for James McArdle, “Angels in America”
• No nomination for Kenita Miller, “Once On This Island”
• No nomination for Alex Newell, “Once On This Island”
• No nomination for Kate Rockwell, “Mean Girls”
• No nominations at all for “Escape to Margaritaville”, “John Lithgow: Stories By Heart”, “M. Butterfly”, “Marvin’s Room”, “The Parisian Woman”, “Prince of Broadway” (Tony Yazbeck deserved one), “Time and the Conways”

Some quirks:

• “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two” nominated for Best Choreography 
• "Angels in America” nominated for Best Score
• After initially being advised it was not eligible for nominations (a decision recently reversed) “1984” received one, for Best Sound Design of a Play
• The set design nomination for “Mean Girls” includes the video projection team (Finn Ross and Adam Young) essential to that design

Overall, the nominations came largely as expected, and reflect the great performances and productions of the season.  Take a look!

The Nominations:

Best Play
"The Children"
"Farinelli and the King"
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
"Junk"
"Latin History for Morons"

Best Musical
"The Band's Visit"
"Frozen"
"Mean Girls"
"SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"

Best Revival of a Play
"Angels in America"
"Three Tall Women"
"The Iceman Cometh"
"Lobby Hero"
"Travesties"

Best Revival of a Musical
"Carousel"
"My Fair Lady"
"Once On This Island" 

Best Director of a Play
Marianne Elliott, "Angels in America"
Joe Mantello, "Three Tall Women"
Patrick Marber, "Travesties"
John Tiffany, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
George C. Wolfe, "The Iceman Cometh"

Best Director of a Musical
Michael Arden, "Once On This Island"
David Cromer, "The Band's Visit"
Tina Landau, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Casey Nicholaw, "Mean Girls"
Bartlett Sher, "My Fair Lady"

Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, "My Fair Lady"
Christopher Gattelli, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Steven Hoggett, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Casey Nicholaw, "Mean Girls"
Justin Peck, "Carousel"

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Andrew Garfield, "Angels in America"
Tom Hollander, "Travesties"
Jamie Parker, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Mark Rylance, "Farinelli and The King"
Denzel Washington, "The Iceman Cometh"

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Glenda Jackson, "Three Tall Women"
Condola Rashad, "Saint Joan"
Lauren Ridloff, "Children of a Lesser God"
Amy Schumer, "Meteor Shower"

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Boyle, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Michael Cera, "Lobby Hero"
Brian Tyree Henry, "Lobby Hero"
Nathan Lane, "Angels in America"
David Morse, "The Iceman Cometh"

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Susan Brown, "Angels in America"
Noma Dumezweni, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Deborah Findlay, "The Children"
Denise Gough, "Angels in America"
Laurie Metcalf, "Three Tall Women"

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, "My Fair Lady"
Hailey Kilgore, "Once On This Island"
LaChanze, "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical"
Katrina Lenk, "The Band's Visit"
Taylor Louderman, "Mean Girls"
Jessie Mueller, "Carousel"

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, "My Fair Lady"
Joshua Henry, "Carousel"
Tony Shalhoub, "The Band's Visit"
Ethan Slater, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, "My Fair Lady"
Alexander Gemignani, "Carousel"
Grey Henson, "Mean Girls"
Gavin Lee, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Ari'el Stachel, "The Band's Visit"

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Ariana DeBose, "Summer: The Donna Summer Musical"
Renée Fleming, "Carousel"
Lindsay Mendez, "Carousel"
Ashley Park, "Mean Girls"
Diana Rigg, "My Fair Lady"

Best Book of a Musical
"The Band's Visit", Itamar Moses
"Frozen", Jennifer Lee
"Mean Girls", Tina Fey
"SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical", Kyle Jarrow

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
"Angels in America", Adrian Sutton
"The Band's Visit", Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek
"Frozen", Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
"Mean Girls", Music: Jeff Richmond, Lyrics: Nell Benjamin
"SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical", Music & Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., and Domani & Lil'C

Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, "Mean Girls"
Tom Kitt, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Annmarie Milazzo & Michael Starobin, "Once On This Island"
Jamshied Sharifi, "The Band's Visit"
Jonathan Tunick, "Carousel"

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, "Three Tall Women"
Jonathan Fensom, "Farinelli and The King"
Christine Jones, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Santo Loquasto, "The Iceman Cometh"
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, "Angels in America"

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, "Once On This Island"
Scott Pask, "The Band's Visit"
Scott Pask, Finn Ross & Adam Young, "Mean Girls"
Michael Yeargan,"My Fair Lady"
David Zinn, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"

Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, "Farinelli and The King"
Nicky Gillibrand, "Angels in America"
Katrina Lindsay, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Ann Roth, "Three Tall Women"
Ann Roth, "The Iceman Cometh"

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, "Mean Girls"
Clint Ramos, "Once On This Island"
Ann Roth, "Carousel"
David Zinn, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Catherine Zuber, "My Fair Lady"

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Paule Constable, "Angels in America"
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, "The Iceman Cometh"
Paul Russell, "Farinelli and The King"
Ben Stanton, "Junk"

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, "Once On This Island"
Donald Holder, "My Fair Lady"
Brian MacDevitt, "Carousel"
Tyler Micoleau, "The Band's Visit"

Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, "Travesties"
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, "Angels in America"
Gareth Fry, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two"
Tom Gibbons, "1984"
Dan Moses Schreier, "The Iceman Cometh"

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, "The Band's Visit"
Peter Hylenski, "Once On This Island"
Scott Lehrer, "Carousel"
Brian Ronan, "Mean Girls"
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, "SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical"

Total Nominations per production:
“Mean Girls” - 12
“SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” - 12
“Angels in America” - 11
“The Band’s Visit” - 11
“Carousel” - 11
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two” - 10
“My Fair Lady” - 10
“The Iceman Cometh” - 8
“Once On This Island” - 8
“Three Tall Women” - 6
“Farinelli and the King” - 5
“Travesties” - 4
“Frozen”- 3
“Lobby Hero” - 3
“The Children” - 2
“Junk” - 2
“Summer: The Donna Summer Musical” - 2
“1984” - 1
“Children of a Lesser God” - 1
“Latin History for Morons” - 1
“Meteor Shower” - 1
“Saint Joan” - 1