Last week, the nominations for the 74th Tony Awards were announced, celebrating the best of Broadway’s theatre community.
“Jagged Little Pill” – the musical based on the hit album from 1995 by Alanis Morissette – leads the nominations with fifteen in total. “Moulin Rouge” follows closely with fourteen and “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical” and “Slave Play” both have twelve.
The ceremony (which was due to take place in June 2020) has not yet set a date for when the awards will be held, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic – so it seems odd they have announced the nominees already.
I’m not going to talk about any of the Plays that have been nominated because I’ve not seen any of them (you can see the full list of nominations below though) but I can give you the tea on what’s happening with the Musicals!
The window of time when shows are eligible to be nominated for a Tony Award was cut from April 2020 to February 2020, meaning shows which had already opened on Broadway like the revival of West Side Story and Girl From The North Country (featuring the songs of Bob Dylan) were not eligible to be nominated this year. This left just four musicals eligible to be nominated in 2020, “Jagged Little Pill“, “Moulin Rouge: The Musical“, “Tina – The Tina Turner Musical” and The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical. However, “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” was snubbed by the Tony Awards, receiving zero nominations. I know it received mixed reviews when it opened but to snub it completely from the ceremony (when there were only four musicals to choose from) seems cruel.
Aaron Tveit was the only person nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for “Moulin Rouge!” The only other eligible actor for this category would have been Chris McCarrell (as Percy Jackson in “The Lightning Thief“) but that show was snubbed entirely, meaning Aaron Tveit is in a category all on his own! So he’s a sure fire winner right? Not necessarily. The winner of each award needs to receive 60% of votes from the judging panel and so if people choose not to vote for him and just not vote in that category, then there could possibly be no winner at all!
I believe, the last time there was only one nominee in a category for the Tony Awards was in 1995 when “Sunset Boulevard” was the only musical nominated (and won) for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre.
It all begs the question as to whether or not it is really worth having a Tony Awards this year as so little is actually eligible for nomination. Why did they decide to cut two months off of the eligibility dates and exclude West Side Story and Girl From The North Country from this year when there was so little to choose from?
Full list of nominees for the 2020 Tony Awards
Musicals
Best Musical
“Jagged Little Pill”
“Moulin Rouge: The Musical”
“Tina: The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Book of a Musical
“Jagged Little Pill” – Diablo Cody
“Moulin Rouge! The Musical” – John Logan
“Tina — The Tina Turner Musical” – Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Aaron Tveit, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Karen Olivo, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Elizabeth Stanley, “Jagged Little Pill”
Adrienne Warren, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Derek Klena, “Jagged Little Pill”
Sean Allan Krill, “Jagged Little Pill”
Sahr Ngaujah, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Daniel J. Watts, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Kathryn Gallagher, “Jagged Little Pill”
Celia Rose Gooding, “Jagged Little Pill”
Robyn Hurder, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Lauren Patten, “Jagged Little Pill”
Myra Lucretia Taylor, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon, “Jagged Little Pill”
Derek McLane, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Emily Rebholz, “Jagged Little Pill”
Mark Thompson, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Catherine Zuber, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Bruno Poet, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Justin Townsend, “Jagged Little Pill”
Justin Townsend, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, “Jagged Little Pill”
Peter Hylenski, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Nevin Steinberg, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Direction of a Musical
Phyllida Lloyd, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Diane Paulus, “Jagged Little Pill”
Alex Timbers, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Best Choreography
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, “Jagged Little Pill”
Sonya Tayeh, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Anthony Van Laast, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Best Orchestrations
Tom Kitt, “Jagged Little Pill”
Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine, “Moulin Rouge! The Musical”
Ethan Popp, “Tina — The Tina Turner Musical”
Plays
Best Play
“Grand Horizons”
“The Inheritance”
“Sea Wall: A Life”
“Slave Play”
Best Revival of a Play
“Betrayal”
“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”
“A Soldier’s Play”
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
“A Christmas Carol” Music: Christopher Nightingale
“The Inheritance” Music: Paul Englishby
“The Rose Tattoo” Music: Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb
“Slave Play” Music: Lindsay Jones
“The Sound Inside” Music: Daniel Kluger
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Ian Barford, “Linda Vista”
Andrew Burnap, “The Inheritance”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Sea Wall/A Life”
Tom Hiddleston, “Betrayal”
Tom Sturridge, “Sea Wall/A Life”
Blair Underwood, “A Soldier’s Play”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Joaquina Kalukango, “Slave Play”
Laura Linney, “My Name is Lucy Barton”
Audra McDonald, “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”
Mary-Louise Parker, “The Sound Inside”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Ato Blankson-Wood, “Slave Play”
James Cusati-Moyer, “Slave Play”
David Alan Grier, “A Soldier’s Play”
John Benjamin Hickey, “The Inheritance”
Paul Hilton, “The Inheritance”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Jane Alexander, “Grand Horizons”
Chalia La Tour, “Slave Play”
Annie McNamara, “Slave Play”
Lois Smith, “The Inheritance”
Cora Vander Broek, “Linda Vista”
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, “The Inheritance”
Soutra Gilmour, “Betrayal”
Rob Howell, “A Christmas Carol”
Derek McLane, “A Soldier’s Play”
Clint Ramos, “Slave Play”
Best Costume Design of a Play
Dede Ayite, “Slave Play”
Dede Ayite, “A Soldier’s Play”
Bob Crowley, “The Inheritance”
Rob Howell, “A Christmas Carol”
Clint Ramos, “The Rose Tattoo”
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jiyoun Chang, “Slave Play”
Jon Clark, “The Inheritance”
Heather Gilbert, “The Sound Inside”
Allen Lee Hughes, “A Soldier’s Play”
Hugh Vanstone, “A Christmas Carol”
Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti & Christopher Reid, “The Inheritance”
Simon Baker, “A Christmas Carol”
Lindsay Jones, “Slave Play”
Daniel Kluger, “Sea Wall/A Life”
Daniel Kluger, “The Sound Inside”
Best Direction of a Play
David Cromer, “The Sound Inside”
Stephen Daldry, “The Inheritance”
Kenny Leon, “A Soldier’s Play”
Jamie Lloyd, “Betrayal”
Robert O’Hara, “Slave Play”