The 2024 Tony Award nominations are out and while there are some dazzling star names leading the nominations, there were also several notable snubs on the Great White Way. So let’s take a look into who’s shining this year and who has been left out in the cold.
Let’s get the big-hitters out of the way first! The Alicia Keys jukebox musical Hell’s Kitchen leads the pack with 13 nominations, alongside new play Stereophonic, which set a Tony Award record for the most nominations for a play. Meanwhile Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Merrily We Roll Along continues to prove that even a first-time flop can become a smash-hit revival with seven nominations at this year’s awards. Three of those go to its leading actors and here is where we start to see the influx of big names leading the pack. Harry Potter and Frozen are both represented with nominations for Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff, alongside their co-star, Lindsay Mendez.
There were several other big screen names who received nominations this morning, including Sarah Paulson for Appropriate, Rachel McAdams for Mary Jane, Jessica Lange and Jim Parsons for Mother Play, Amy Ryan and Liev Schreiber for Doubt: A Parable, and Eddie Redmayne for Cabaret. However, the London transfer of Rebecca Frecknall’s Cabaret revival received a decidedly mixed “Willkommen” when it arrived on Broadway, despite being one of the hottest (and most expensive) tickets in town. And the response from the Tony Awards committee seems to take the same tack. While its stars Redmayne, Gayle Rankin, Bebe Neuwirth, and Steven Skybell have been nominated in all four acting categories, Frecknall’s name is notably absent from the Best Director nominees.
And Frecknall is not the only notable snub on the list of nominees. The original 1975 production of The Wiz may have earned seven Tony awards when it arrived on Broadway, but the much-anticipated revival didn’t get a single nod this time around. Meanwhile, Broadway veterans Brian d’Arcy James and Kelli O’Hara picked up nominations for their performances in Days of Wine and Roses, as did Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood for The Notebook, but neither show managed to wriggle its way into the Best Musical category. Steve Carrell also failed to make the grade with his performance in Uncle Vanya, while Barry Mannilow is a notable absence from the Best Original Score category for Harmony.
But there’s one other trend running through the awards this year that we simply can’t ignore. Seven out of ten director nominees are female, with Anne Kauffman, Lila Neugebauer and Whitney White nominated for best direction of a play, and Maria Friedman, Leigh Silverman, Jessica Stone and Danya Taymor in contention for best direction of a musical. When we think that only 10 women, beginning in 1998, have ever won Tony Awards for directing, this is a bit of trivia we’re happy to end on!
Fun fact! Danya Taymor is the niece of Julie Taymor, the first woman to win Best Director of a Musical for her work on The Lion King.
Ariana DeBose will host the ceremony for the third time on June 16 at the Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater and you can tune in on CBS.
The full list of nominees:
Best Musical
Hell’s Kitchen
Illinoise
The Outsiders
Suffs
Water for Elephants
Best Play
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Mary Jane
Mother Play
Prayer for the French Republic
Stereophonic
Best Revival of a Play
Appropriate
An Enemy of the People
Purlie Victorious
Best Revival of a Musical
Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Gutenberg! The Musical!
Merrily We Roll Along
The Who’s Tommy
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Brody Grant, The Outsiders
Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along
Dorian Harewood, The Notebook
Brian d’Arcy James, Days of Wine and Roses
Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Eden Espinosa, Lempicka
Maleah Joi Moon, Hell’s Kitchen
Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses
Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook
Gayle Rankin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
William Jackson Harper, Uncle Vanya
Leslie Odom Jr, Purlie Victorious
Liev Schreiber, Doubt
Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People
Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Betsy Aidem, Prayer for the French Republic
Jessica Lange, Mother Play
Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane
Sarah Paulson, Appropriate
Amy Ryan, Doubt
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Roger Bart, Back to the Future: The Musical
Joshua Boone, The Outsiders
Brandon Victor Dixon, Hell’s Kitchen
Sky Lakota-Lynch, The Outsiders
Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along
Steven Skybell, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen
Amber Iman, Lempicka
Nikki M James, Suffs
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Monty Python’s Spamalot
Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen
Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along
Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Will Brill, Stereophonic
Eli Gelb, Stereophonic
Jim Parsons, Mother Play
Tom Pecinka, Stereophonic
Corey Stoll, Appropriate
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Doubt: A Parable
Juliana Canfield, Stereophonic
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Mother Play
Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic
Kara Young, Purlie Victorious
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian, The Outsiders
Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini, Hell’s Kitchen
Takeshi Kata, Water for Elephants
David Korins, Here Lies Love
Riccardo Hernández and Peter Nigrini, Lempicka
Tim Hatley and Finn Ross, Back To The Future: The Musical
Tom Scutt, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Dede Ayite, Hell’s Kitchen
Linda Cho, The Great Gatsby
David Israel Reynoso, Water for Elephants
Tom Scutt, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Paul Tazewell, Suffs
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Brandon Stirling Baker, Illinoise
Isabella Byrd, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Natasha Katz, Hell’s Kitchen
Bradley King and David Bengali, Water for Elephants
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S Kim, The Outsiders
Best Sound Design of a Musical
M L Dogg and Cody Spencer, Here Lies Love
Kai Harada, Merrily We Roll Along
Nick Lidster for Autograph, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Gareth Owen, Hell’s Kitchen
Cody Spencer, The Outsiders
Best Scenic Design of a Play
dots, Appropriate
dots, An Enemy of the People
Derek McLane, Purlie Victorious
David Zinn, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
David Zinn, Stereophonic
Best Costume Design of a Play
Dede Ayite, Appropriate
Dede Ayite, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Enver Chakartash, Stereophonic
Emilio Sosa, Purlie Victorious
David Zinn, An Enemy of the People
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Isabella Byrd, An Enemy of the People
Amith Chandrashaker, Prayer for the French Republic
Jiyoun Chang, Stereophonic
Jane Cox, Appropriate
Natasha Katz, Grey House
Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington and Stefania Bulbarella, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Leah Gelpe, Mary Jane
Tom Gibbons, Grey House
Bray Poor and Will Pickens, Appropriate
Ryan Rumery, Stereophonic
Best Direction of a Musical
Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along
Michael Greif, Hell’s Kitchen
Leigh Silverman, Suffs
Jessica Stone, Water for Elephants
Danya Taymor, The Outsiders
Best Direction of a Play
Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic
Anne Kauffman, Mary Jane
Kenny Leon, Purlie Victorious
Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate
Whitney White, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Best Book of a Musical
Kristoffer Diaz, Hell’s Kitchen
Bekah Brunstetter, The Notebook
Adam Rapp and Justin Levine, The Outsiders
Shaina Taub, Suffs
Rick Elice, Water for Elephants
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Adam Guettel, Days of Wine and Roses
David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love
Will Butler, Stereophonic
Shaina Taub, Suffs
Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine, The Outsiders
Best Orchestrations
Timo Andres, Illinoise
Will Butler and Justin Craig, Stereophonic
Justin Levine, Matt Hinkley and Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance), The Outsiders
Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone, Hell’s Kitchen
Jonathan Tunick, Merrily We Roll Along
Best Choreography
Annie-B Parson, Here Lies Love
Camille A Brown, Hell’s Kitchen
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders
Justin Peck, Illinoise
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants
