The Tony Awards, celebrating the best of Broadway, can bring together curious bedfellows, and so it is that competing for Best Actress in a Play this year will be the famously lewd Amy Schumer and the coolly majestic Glenda Jackson.
Two musicals lead the Tony Award nominations, announced Tuesday morning: Mean Girls and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical, both with 12 nominations. Tina Fey scored her first Tony nomination for writing the book of Mean Girls.
Of the plays in contention, Marianne Elliott's brilliant revival of Angels in America scored 11 nominations, and John Tiffany's stunning and moving Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, Parts One and Two, 10. (The full list of nominations is below.)
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Jackson, Tony-nominated for a fifth time for her performance in Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, is a favorite to win that category.
Speaking exclusively to The Daily Beast on Tuesday morning, the famously straight-shooting, twice Oscar-winning Jackson expressed surprise, and first asked a reporter which category she had been nominated in.
“Oh well, there you go,” she said in a fairly disinterested tone when told it was a Best Actress Tony. “I knew what the categories were. I wasn't aware what the definitions.”
Of Schumer, Jackson said, “I’ve seen her on the telly. She’s very funny.”
Told it was her fifth Tony nomination, Jackson said, “Is it really? My God. I didn’t know that. I always jib at the idea of winning. It sounds as if we overtly compete in some way. We don't, so the winners are those who vote for those who win the award in the end.”
When asked if she was going to celebrate, Jackson said brusquely: “I beg your pardon. I’ve got a performance tonight.”
She said she would attend the Tonys. "I think you’re expected to. As I’ve had occasion to say before, I’m a pretty anti-sociable Socialist.”
Jackson's full interview with the Daily Beast, in which she talks about the lack of women's character roles on stage, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party anti-Semitism, her own mortality, and many other things is here.
Also scoring highly at this morning’s Tony nominations was a mixture of popular and critically hailed musicals and plays: The Band’s Visit (11), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel (11), My Fair Lady (10), Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh (8), Once On This Island (8), and Three Tall Women (6).
As well as Jackson, other stars nominated include Denzel Washington (The Iceman Cometh), Lauren Ambrose (My Fair Lady), Nathan Lane (Angels in America), Diana Rigg (My Fair Lady), Renée Fleming (Carousel), Jessie Mueller (Carousel), Andrew Garfield (Angels in America), Tom Hollander (Travesties), Michael Cera (Lobby Hero), Mark Rylance (Farinelli and The King).
The best musical category pits strong and known entertainment brands like the so-so, and occasionally sparkling Mean Girls and (the far superior, rollicking) SpongeBob against The Band’s Visit, a charming and beautiful original musical starring nominees Katrina Lenk and Tony Shalhoub about an Egyptian band ending up by mistake in a desolate Israeli town.
David Yazbek’s musical should be in strong contention for every acting and production category it is nominated in.
Bruce Springsteen will collect a special Tony award for his phenomenally successful residency on Broadway; so will John Leguizamo, most recently seen in his one-man show Latin History For Morons, for his body of work more generally.
Completely missing out on nominations: the flaccid Jimmy Buffett musical Escape To Margaritaville, which the critics mostly loathed. Rocktopia also scored no nominations. Hollywood star Chris Evans missed out on a lead actor nod for his role in Lobby Hero, while his co-stars Cera and Bryan Tyree Henry both scored featured actor nominations.
Joshua Jackson also went un-nominated for his performance in Children of a Lesser God (while co-star Lauren Ridloff won a Best Actress, Play, nod), and the excellent James McArdle and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett also were un-nominated for Angels in America. Alison Pill was also shut out, while her co-stars Jackson and Laurie Metcalf were nominated for Three Tall Women.
The much-hyped, but not much critically-loved, Disney musical Frozen, missed out on acting nods for its two leading ladies Caissie Levy and Patti Murin, though it did score three significant nominations: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Jennifer Lee) and Best Original Score (Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez).
Despite the drubbing it received from reviewers, Donna Summer: The Musical scored well-deserved nods for its performers LaChanze and Ariana DeBose.
There were no nominations for Uma Thurman or the play she led, The Parisian Woman, and Michael Moore’s rousing call-to-activism The Terms of My Surrender. Prince of Broadway, a lackluster celebration of the career of Harold Prince, scored no nominations. John Lithgow received no nominations for his mellow autobiographical show, Stories By Heart. The revival of M. Butterfly scored zero nominations.
In some creative categories, certain nominees scored twice, like Christopher Gattelli (for choreography in My Fair Lady and SpongeBob Squarepants), Ann Roth (costume design in a play for Three Tall Women and The Iceman Cometh; she’s also nominated for costume design, musical, for Carousel), and Scott Pask (for scenic design in a musical in The Band’s Visit and Mean Girls, with Finn Ross & Adam Young).
The Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will be held on Sunday June 10th, and broadcast live on CBS from 8 to 11pm.
Tony nominations 2018 – the full list
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 – Music: 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., Domani & 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, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Edward Albee's 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, Rodgers & Hammerstein's 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, Rodgers & Hammerstein's 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, Angels in America
David Morse, Eugene O'Neill's 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, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Rodgers & Hammerstein's 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
Renée Fleming, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Edward Albee's 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 & 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, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein's 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, Eugene O'Neill's 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, Rodgers & Hammerstein's 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, Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band's Visit
Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
George C. Wolfe, Eugene O'Neill's 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, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
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, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Best Play
The Children
Author: Lucy Kirkwood Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove, The Royal Court Theatre, Vicky Featherstone, Lucy Davies
Farinelli and The King
Author: Claire van Kampen Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Shakespeare's Globe, Paula Marie Black, Tom Smedes, Peter Stern, Jane Bergère, Jane Dubin/Rachel Weinstein, 1001 Nights Productions, Elizabeth Cuthrell & Steven Tuttleman, Rupert Gavin, Robyn L. Paley, SGC USA, Tulchin Bartner Productions, Cindy & Jay Gutterman/Marc David Levine, Marguerite Hoffman/Van Kaplan, Shakespeare Road
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Author: Jack Thorne Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender, Harry Potter Theatrical Productions
Junk
Author: Ayad Akhtar Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Adam Siegel, Hattie K. Jutagir, The Araca Group
Latin History for Morons
Author: John Leguizamo Producers: Nelle Nugent, Kenneth Teaton, Denoff Salmira Amigos - Jeremy Handelman/Ben DeJesus, Audible, Peter Fine, Jon B. Platt, Jamie deRoy, Melissa and Dan Berger, Jose Mendez/Katie Graziano, Morwin Schmookler, Avex International Inc., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Tony Taccone, Michael Leibert, Susan Medak, The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Patrick Willingham, Mandy Hackett
Best Musical
The Band's Visit
Producers: Orin Wolf, StylesFour Productions, Evamere Entertainment, Atlantic Theater Company, David F. Schwartz, Barbara Broccoli, Frederick Zollo, Grove∙REG, Lassen Blume Baldwin, Thomas Steven Perakos, Marc Platt, The Shubert Organization, The Baruch/Routh/Frankel/Viertel Group, Robert Cole, deRoy-Carr-Klausner, Federman-Moellenberg, FilmNation Entertainment, Roy Furman, FVSL Theatricals, Hendel-Karmazin, HoriPro Inc., IPN, Jam Theatricals, The John Gore Organization, Koenigsberg-Krauss, David Mirvish, James L. Nederlander, Al Nocciolino, Once Upon a Time Productions, Susan Rose, Paul Shiverick, Allan Williams
Frozen
Producers: Disney Theatrical Productions, Thomas Schumacher
Mean Girls
Producers: Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, Paramount Pictures, Marisa Sechrest, Ars Nova Entertainment, Berlind Productions, Steve Burke, Scott M. Delman, Roy Furman, Robert Greenblatt, Ruth Hendel, Jam Theatricals, The John Gore Organization, The Lowy Salpeter Company, James L. Nederlander, Christine Schwarzman, Universal Theatrical Group, David Turner
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Producers: Nickelodeon, The Araca Group, Sony Music Masterworks, Kelp on the Road
Best Revival of a Play
Angels in America
Producers: Tim Levy for NT America, Jordan Roth, Rufus Norris & Lisa Burger for the National Theatre, Elliott & Harper Productions, Kash Bennett for NT Productions, Aged in Wood, The Baruch-Viertel-Routh-Frankel Group, Jane Bergère, Adam Blanshay Productions, Catwenjam Productions, Jean Doumanian, Gilad-Rogowsky, Gold-Ross Productions, The John Gore Organization, Grove Entertainment, Harris Rubin Productions, Hornos-Moellenberg, Brian & Dayna Lee, Benjamin Lowy, Stephanie P. McClelland, David Mirvish, Mark Pigott, Jon B. Platt, E. Price-LD Ent., Daryl Roth, Catherine Schreiber, Barbara Whitman, Jujamcyn Theaters, The Nederlander Organization, The Shubert Organization
Edward Albee's Three Tall Women
Producers: Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Eli Bush, The John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander, Candy Spelling, Len Blavatnik, Rosalind Productions, Inc., Eric Falkenstein, Peter May, Patty Baker, Diana DiMenna, Wendy Federman & Heni Koenigsberg, Benjamin Lowy & Adrian Salpeter, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh
Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Universal Theatrical Group, Eric Falkenstein, Dan Frishwasser, John Gore Organization, James L. Nederlander, Peter May, Stephanie P. McClelland, Candy Spelling, Stephen C. Byrd & Alia Jones-Harvey, Patty Baker, Diana DiMenna, David Mirvish, Wendy Federman & Heni Koenigsberg, Benjamin Lowy & Adrian Salpeter, Jason Blum, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
Lobby Hero
Producers: 2ndStage, Carole Rothman, Casey Reitz, Christopher Burney
Travesties
Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Julia C. Levy, Sydney Beers, Steve Dow, Chocolate Factory Productions, Sonia Friedman Productions, David Babani
Best Revival of a Musical
My Fair Lady
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Adam Siegel, Hattie K. Jutagir, Nederlander Presentations, Inc.
Once On This Island
Producers: Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Carl Daikeler, Roy Putrino, Broadway Strategic Return Fund, Sandi Moran, Caiola Productions, H. Richard Hopper, Diego Kolankowsky, Brian Cromwell Smith, Ron Kastner, Rob Kolson, Judith Manocherian/Kevin Lyle, Jay Alix/Una
Jackman/Jeff Wise, Witzend Productions/Jeff Grove/Wishnie-Strasberg, Mark Ferris/Michelle Riley/Marie Stevenson, Silva Theatrical Group/Jesse McKendry/Dr. Mojgan Fajiram, Conor Bagley/Brendan C. Tetro/Invisible Wall Productions, Silverwalport Productions/Tyler Mount/Ushkowitzlatimer Productions, The Harbert Family/Reilly Hickey, Keith Cromwell/Red Mountain Theatre Company, 42nd.Club/The Yonnone Family/Island Productions
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel
Producers: Roy Furman, Scott Rudin, Barry Diller, Edward Walson, Universal Theatrical Group, Benjamin Lowy, Eli Bush, James L. Nederlander, Candy Spelling, John Gore Organization, Peter May, Ronnie Lee, Sid & Ruth Lapidus, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sandy Robertson, Caiola Productions, Len Blavatnik, Dominion Ventures, SHN Theatres, The Araca Group, Patty Baker, Al Nocciolino, Darlene Marcos Shiley, Julie Boardman & Marc David Levine, Jennifer Fischer & Olympus Theatricals, Candia Fisher & Allen L. Stevens, Jon Jashni & Matthew Baer, Thomas S. Perakos & Jim Fantaci, Wendy Federman & Heni Koenigsberg, Bruce Robert Harris & Jack W. Batman, John Thomas, Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, John Johnson
Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre
Chita Rivera
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Special Tony Awards
John Leguizamo
Bruce Springsteen
Regional Theatre Tony Award
La MaMa E.T.C., New York City
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Nick Scandalios
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Sara Krulwich
Bessie Nelson
Ernest Winzer Cleaners
