2018 Tony Award Nominations – round up

Nominations for the American Theatre Wing’s 72nd Annual Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards® were announced in New York today by Tony and Grammy Award-winner, Leslie Odom, Jr. and Katharine McPhee.

UK exports Angels in America and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are in the running for prizes at the ceremony, to be hosted in New York by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban on 10 June 2018.

In the best actor category Denzel Washington (The Iceman Cometh), will compete with Jamie Parker (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), Mark Rylance (Farinelli and the King), Tom Hollander (Travesties) and Andrew Garfield (Angels in America).

Glenda Jackson has been nominated for best actress in Three Tall Women, marking the former UK politician’s return to Broadway after a three decade absence. Also nominated is, Amy Schumer (in Steve Martin’s comedy Meteor Shower), Condola Rashād (Saint Joan) and Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God).

Glenda Jackson said, “the opportunity to work with actresses is very rare, and to work with two of this caliber (Laurie Metcalf and Alison Pill) is a dream come true. It truly is icing on the cake.”

SpongeBob Square Pants: The Musical and Mean Girls tied for the show with most nominations with each nominated for 12 Tony Awards.

Earning 11 Tony nominations, the 25th anniversary production of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America, is now the most Tony-nominated play in history. Nominations include, Best Revival of a Play, Best Original Score, and Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Andrew Garfield.

Both John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen will receive a Special Tony Award this year. Leguizamo will be recognized for his body of work and for his commitment to the theatre. Springsteen for his ongoing engagement “Springsteen on Broadway,” a once-in-a-lifetime theater going experience for the Broadway stage. As previously announced the Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre will also be presented to Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera.

In addition, all four nominees for Best Book of a Musical this year are making Broadway debuts: Itamar Moses for The Band’s Visit, Jennifer Lee for Frozen, Tina Fey for Mean Girls, and Kyle Jarrow for SpongeBob SquarePants. Curiously, 59 individuals out of 130 nominated for an award this year are first-timers. This is partly because SpongeBob SquarePants score has 17 composers in total.

Best director category sees nominations for Joe Mantello (Three Tall Women), Patrick Marber (Travesties) and George C Wolfe (The Iceman Cometh). Nominated for best play in her post-apocalyptic drama The Children is Lucy Kirkwood.

Many nominees voiced their excitement yesterday:

“I was so nervous! I was biting my nails and refreshing the Facebook page over and over. I’m blown away, truly honored to be in such amazing company.” Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2, Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.

“I am thrilled for all of this year’s nominees, and am deeply humbled and grateful to have been acknowledged in this way.” Condola Rashad, Saint Joan, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play.

“I’m so proud of our production and I’m so proud to be a part of this show.” Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady, Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

“In this journey of mine, I have been so lucky to have a village of people to teach me the importance of hard work, perseverance, asking questions, and most importantly to love. Humbled. Honored. Grateful.” Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island, Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

“I remember watching the Tony Awards as a young girl thinking I would never get that far,” Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls, Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

“I’m so thrilled for the show. I couldn’t be surrounded by better people and better artists; my heart is so happy right now.” Jessie Mueller, Carousel, Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Theatrical productions opening on any of the 41 eligible Broadway theatres during the season (April 28, 2017 to April 26, 2018) have been considered for Tony nominations, with 842 designated Tony voters within the theatre community voting in 26 competitive categories.

The Tony Awards will be hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, and broadcast live on 10 June 2018 from the Radio City Music Hall, New York.

The Tony Awards 2018 nominations

Best play

The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
Farinelli and The King by Claire van Kampen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two by Jack Thorne
Junk by Ayad Akhtar
Latin History for Morons by John Leguizamo

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

My Fair Lady
Once On This Island
Carousel

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, David Yazbek
Frozen, Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Mean Girls, Jeff Richmond, Nell Benjamin
SpongeBob SquarePants, Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani and Lil’C

Best performance by an actor in a leading role 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 an actress in a leading role 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 an actor in a leading role 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 an actress in a leading role 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 an actor in a featured role 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, vAngels in America
David Morse, The Iceman Cometh

Best performance by an actress in a featured role 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 an actor in a featured role 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 an actress in a featured role in a musical

Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renee Fleming, Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady

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, Eugene O’Neill’s 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 and 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 and 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 and Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Carousel
Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit

Best direction 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 direction 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 orchestrations

John Clancy, Mean Girls
Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Annmarie Milazzo and Michael Starobin, Once On This Island
Jamshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit
Jonathan Tunick, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel

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