As fully expected and well-deserved, Hamilton has broken the record for the most Tony nominations. Billy Elliot (2009) and The Producers (2001) were the previous Tony nomination record holders. Now, Hamilton has trumped both of them with 16 Tony nominations!
Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hamilton have dominated every discussion of the 2016 Tony Awards for over a year now. The Hamilton phenomenon is unstoppable. Leading the way, it was nominated for Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography of a Musical, and Best Orchestration of a Musical. Basically, they were nominated in every category possible.
Both Lin-Manuel Miranda and Leslie Odom, Jr. were nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical. Meanwhile, Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, and Jonathan Groff were nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical. Philippa Soo was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Renée Elise Goldsberry was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. That is seven nominations for the acting alone!
Shuffle Along, Waitress, Bright Star, and School of Rock also received Best Musical nominations while Spring Awakening, She Loves Me, Fiddler on The Roof, and The Color Purple were all nominated for Best Revival of a Musical.
The Best Play nominations included Eclipsed, The Father, The Humans, and King Charles III. The Best Revival of a Play nominations were Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Arthur Miller’s A Room from the Bridge, Blackbird, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Noises Off. The late Arthur Miller is having a good year with two Tony nominations.
And then, there are the shows that were waiting for the nominations to give them a boost with their ticket sales. Disaster! A Musical closed on May 8th, and American Psycho and Tuck Everlasting are expected to announce closing dates in the next few weeks.
One of the biggest snubs of the year is that Audra McDonald was not nominated for Best Actress in a Musical for Shuffle Along. Shuffle Along itself was the second most-nominated show with 10 nods. With six Tony Awards, Audra has won more Tonys than any other Broadway actress. What happened?
Ana Villafañe, Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet, did not get any love this year either. It’s the Gloria show, and the energy that Ana brings to the part and the entire production went unnoticed.
Jennifer Hudson also did not get the nod for The Color Purple. It is a tough year when Oscar-winner Jennifer Hudson is not recognized as one of the Best Actresses of the season.
Another big snub is that the choreography for Spring Awakening did not get nominated. Sign language was integrated into the dancing in a beautiful and fluid manner, and yet it wasn’t enough for a nomination.
Let’s table the genius that is Lin-Manuel Miranda and Hamilton for a few moments. Miranda is just so nice. On Friday, May 6th, he sent good luck to all of the kids taking the AP US History test and said he has done all he can to help them. Miranda has also been a tremendous force to integrate the arts in New York City schools, including bringing thousands of NYC school children to see his hit show. Finally, Miranda is currently trying to raise awareness of Puerto Rico’s devastating financial crisis. He gave his support to a bill that would allow Puerto Rico to declare bankruptcy and ease its $70 billion debt.
Miranda seems like the nicest guy, and I want him to win and win everything. So, let’s go Hamilton! We are dying to see if you can beat The Producers for the most Tony wins on Sunday, June 12th!