The nominations for the 77th TONY Awards were just announced by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry and I watched them do this live via NY1. The station has a very big Broadway vibe and a regular correspondent in Frank Dilella who I always enjoy seeing reports from. Down below you’ll find the full rundown of the nominations so do please take a few minutes and check it all out. Make a cup of coffee first because I know that is what I will be doing as I review it.

BEST PLAY
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Mary Jane
Mother Play
Prayer for the French Republic
Stereophonic

BEST MUSICAL
Hell’s Kitchen
Illinoise
The Outsiders
Suffs
Water for Elephants

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Appropriate
An Enemy of the People
Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch

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 PLAY
William Jackson Harper – Uncle Vanya as Astrov
Leslie Odom Jr. – Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch as Purlie Victorious Judson
Liev Schreiber – Doubt: A Parable as Father Brendan Flynn
Jeremy Strong – An Enemy of the People as Doctor Thomas Stockmann
Michael Stuhlbarg – Patriots as Boris Berezovsky

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Betsy Aidem – Prayer for the French Republic as Marcelle Salomon Benhamou
Jessica Lange – Mother Play as Phyllis
Rachel McAdams – Mary Jane as Mary Jane
Sarah Paulson – Appropriate as Antoinette “Toni” Lafayette
Amy Ryan – Doubt: A Parable as Sister Aloysius Beauvier

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Brody Grant – The Outsiders as Ponyboy Curtis
Jonathan Groff – Merrily We Roll Along as Franklin Shephard
Dorian Harewood – The Notebook as Noah Calhoun (older)
Brian d’Arcy James – Days of Wine and Roses as Joseph “Joe” Clay
Eddie Redmayne – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as the Emcee

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Maleah Joi Moon – Hell’s Kitchen as Ali
Eden Espinosa – Lempicka as Tamara de Lempicka
Kelli O’Hara – Days of Wine and Roses as Kirsten Arnesen-Clay
Maryann Plunkett – The Notebook as Allison “Allie” Calhoun (older)
Gayle Rankin – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as Sally Bowles

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Will Brill – Stereophonic as Reg
Eli Gelb – Stereophonic as Grover
Jim Parsons – Mother Play as Carl
Tom Pecinka – Stereophonic as Peter
Corey Stoll – Appropriate as Beauregard “Bo” Lafayette

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Kara Young – Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Quincy Tyler Bernstine – Doubt: A Parable as Mrs. Muller
Juliana Canfield – Stereophonic as Holly
Celia Keenan-Bolger – Mother Play as Martha
Sarah Pidgeon – Stereophonic as Diana

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Daniel Radcliffe – Merrily We Roll Along as Charley Kringas
Roger Bart – Back to the Future: The Musical as Doc Brown
Joshua Boone – The Outsiders as Dallas “Dally” Winston
Brandon Victor Dixon – Hell’s Kitchen as Davis
Sky Lakota-Lynch – The Outsiders as Johnny Cade
Steven Skybell – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as Herr Schultz

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Kecia Lewis – Hell’s Kitchen as Miss Liza Jane
Shoshana Bean – Hell’s Kitchen as Jersey
Amber Iman – Lempicka as Rafaela
Nikki M. James – Suffs as Ida B. Wells
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer – Monty Python’s Spamalot as the Lady of the Lake
Lindsay Mendez – Merrily We Roll Along as Mary Flynn
Bebe Neuwirth – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club as Fraulein Schneider

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Daniel Aukin – Stereophonic
Anne Kauffman – Mary Jane
Kenny Leon – Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch
Lila Neugebauer – Appropriate
Whitney White – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Danya Taymor – The Outsiders
Maria Friedman – Merrily We Roll Along
Michael Greif – Hell’s Kitchen
Leigh Silverman – Suffs
Jessica Stone – Water for Elephants

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Shaina Taub – Suffs
Kristoffer Diaz – Hell’s Kitchen
Bekah Brunstetter – The Notebook
Justin Levine and Adam Rapp – The Outsiders
Rick Elice – Water for Elephants

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
Suffs – Shaina Taub (music and lyrics)
Days of Wine and Roses – Adam Guettel (music and lyrics)
Here Lies Love – David Byrne and Fatboy Slim (music and lyrics)
Stereophonic – Will Butler (original songs by)
The Outsiders – Jamestown Revival (Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay) and Justin Levine (music and lyrics)

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
David Zinn – Stereophonic
dots – Appropriate
dots – An Enemy of the People
Derek McLane – Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch
David Zinn – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Tom Scutt – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian – The Outsiders
Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini – Hell’s Kitchen
Takeshi Kata – Water for Elephants
David Korins – Here Lies Love
Tim Hatley and Finn Ross – Back to the Future: The Musical
Riccardo Hernández and Peter Nigrini – Lempicka

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Dede Ayite – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Dede Ayite – Appropriate
Enver Chakartash – Stereophonic
Emilio Sosa – Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp through the Cotton Patch
David Zinn – An Enemy of the People

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Linda Cho – The Great Gatsby
Dede Ayite – Hell’s Kitchen
David Israel Reynoso – Water for Elephants
Tom Scutt – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Paul Tazewell – Suffs

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Jane Cox – Appropriate
Isabella Byrd – An Enemy of the People
Amith Chandrashaker – Prayer for the French Republic
Jiyoun Chang – Stereophonic
Natasha Katz – Grey House

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Hana S. Kim and Brian MacDevitt – The Outsiders
Brandon Stirling Baker – Illinoise
David Bengali and Bradley King – Water for Elephants
Isabella Byrd – Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
Natasha Katz – Hell’s Kitchen

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Ryan Rumery – Stereophonic
Stefania Bulbarella and Justin Ellington – Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Leah Gelpe – Mary Jane
Tom Gibbons – Grey House
Will Pickens and Bray Poor – Appropriate

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Cody Spencer – The Outsiders
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

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Justin Peck – Illinoise
Camille A. Brown – Hell’s Kitchen
Shana Carroll and Jesse Robb – Water for Elephants
Jeff Kuperman and Rick Kuperman – The Outsiders
Annie-B Parson – Here Lies Love

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Jonathan Tunick – Merrily We Roll Along
Adam Blackstone and Tom Kitt – Hell’s Kitchen
Will Butler and Justin Craig – Stereophonic
Matt Hinkley, Justin Levine, and Jamestown Revival (Zach Chance and Jonathan Clay) – The Outsiders
Timo Andres – Illinoise

*** end of rundown ***

Piercing Ken Thoughts: So my being up to date on the hottest shows on Broadway has sadly lapsed quite a bit since I was able to do some work in the area during the COVID Pandemic. One of the upsides of said work was the chance to see any shows that I was working on and well, its without question that it was pretty cool to experience them all like that. I’ve been interested in a number of the shows that have both premiered and some that have already closed up but its not easy to handle these events economically but I digress. This is a really interesting list and after watching a number of interviews and preview clips about some of them think that the upcoming TONY’s will be rather interesting. What do you folks out there in the readership think about it all? Chime in down below in the comments section and especially if you’ve seen any of the nominated performances. I’d love to know what you all think about the chances that some of these productions have. That’s all I have for now, see you next time.

Official: https://www.tonyawards.com/