NEW YORK —
To nobody’s surprise, “The Book of Mormon,” the irreverent musical by
the creators of “South Park,” has swept 14 nominations for the 2011
Tony Awards. This is just one fewer than the record 15 lavished on “The
Producers” in 2001.
What is shocking is the almost complete shut out of
the big-name stars that producers believe they need to succeed these
days on Broadway. Those left out of Tuesday’s announcements include Daniel Radcliffe, Robin Williams, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Kiefer Sutherland and Kathleen Turner. Edie Falco (“The House of Blue Leaves”) and Ellen Barkin (“The Normal Heart”) are nominated.
In the musical category, the biggest surprise is the
12 nominations for “The Scottsboro Boys,” a serious musical about the
framing of black men in the South, which closed this past December
after failing to find an audience. Nominations include best musical,
the score by John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, and both direction and choreography by Susan Stroman.
“Scottsboro Boys” aced out “Priscilla Queen
of the Desert” (two nominations) in the best musical category, which
also includes “Mormon,” “Catch Me If You Can” (four nominations) and
“Sister Act (five, including lead Patina Miller but not director Jerry Zaks).
Nominees for best play, an especially competitive category this year, are “The Mother(expletive) With the Hat” by Stephen Adley Guirgis, “Jerusalem” by Jez Butterworth, “Good People” by David Lindsay Abaire and Nick Stafford’s “War Horse,” which also will receive a special Tony for the astonishing Handspring Puppet Company. Not nominated is “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo,” starring Robin Williams.
Best lead actor nominees are Al Pacino for “The Merchant of Venice,” (which has seven nominations, including best revival, actress Lily Rabe and director Daniel Sullivan), Mark Rylance for “Jerusalem,” (which has six nominations, but not for director Ian Rickson), Bobby Cannavale for “The Mother(expletive) with the Hat” (six nominations, including director Anna D. Shapiro).
Also nominated are Joe Mantello for “The Normal Heart” (five nominations, including play revival, Barkin, directors Joel Grey and George C. Wolfe) and Brian Bedford for “The Importance of Being Earnest” (three nominations, including revival).
In addition to Rabe in “Merchant,” best actresses in
a play — a far less competitive category this year than the one for
actors — include Frances McDormand for “Good People” (two nominations), Vanessa Redgrave for “Driving Miss Daisy” (though nothing for co-star James Earl Jones), Nina Arianda for “Born Yesterday” (two nominations, but not for co-stars Jim Belushi and Robert Sean Leonard) and Hannah Yelland for “Brief Encounter.”
Plays nominated for best revival are “Merchant of Venice,”
“The Normal Heart,” “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Arcadia”
(which received only two nominations, including featured actor Billy Crudup).
The only two musical-revival nominations are the only two musical
revivals of the season, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying” (eight nominations, including Radcliffe’s co-star John Larroquette and director Rob Ashford) and “Anything Goes” (nine, including star Sutton Foster and director Kathleen Marshall).
“Book of Mormon” marks the Broadway debut of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of “South Park.” With co-collaborator Robert Lopez, they were nominated for the musical’s score, book and direction (along with choreographer Casey Nicholaw).
Also remembered from short runs last fall are
“Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” (two nominations, including best book)
and “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” (three nominations,
including David Yazbek’s score and featured actresses Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti).
The Tony Awards will be telecast June 12 on CBS.
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