2015 Tony Nominations and Reactions

It's been a busy day here in New York. Bruce Willis and Mary Louise Parker announced the Tony nominations this morning and I'm here to give you the run down of all my observations

Shut Outs:
Harvey and the Finding Neverland team will have to console themselves with their huge box office, because they have not a single nomination to call their own. Strangely, the Tonys did not spread the wealth this year. Only five of this years new musicals were cited with nominations. In addition to the JM Barrie musical, Honeymoon in Vegas didn't pick up nods for Rob McClure or Jason Robert Brown, and It Shoulda Been You actresses Lisa Howard and Tyne Daly failed to make the cut. I'm still shocked Honeymoon didn't show up anywhere (c'mon guys, even Spider-Man got in for Costume Design).

One Nominee Wonders:
Best Play and Best Revival of a Play have one contender each that scored in these top categories...but nowhere else. Disgraced beat out multiple nominees The Audience and Airline Highway. This is Our Youth surprised by taking down It's Only a Play (also with a single nod for featured player Micah Stock) and A Delicate Balance (zero nominations, despite a powerhouse cast). The best chances for additional nominations from the two productions were probably Kieran Culkin and Hari Dhillon. But both men were left out of the crowded Lead Actor field.

Scott Pask:
I don't know if the nominating committee got bad information, but Scott Pask designed five incredible sets this season. And failing to feature ANY of them is just plain wrong. So his masterful work on Airline Highway, Finding Neverland, It's Only a Play, Something Rotten!, and The Visit will sit out the scenic design race. You're a winner in my book Mr. Pask.

Tie Rule Used Once:
None of the Best Production categories took advantage of the rule allowing five nominees (four in Musical Revival) in the case of a tie or coming within three votes of fourth place. A similar rule for the acting categories was put into place this year, and Best Featured Actor in a Play was the only category to use it. Best guess is that Micah Stock (only nod from his play) or Matthew Beard (a fairly small part) was number six. Either way I'm angry that past nominee Bryce Pinkham still missed in an expanded category for his touching performance in The Heidi Chronicles.

Is On the Town a Threat?
The King and I has been the assumed Musical Revival frontrunner, with On the Town sitting in third place. But this morning, John Rando scored a surprise nomination for Director (kicking On the Twentieth Century's Scott Ellis out of contention) and Curious Incident took a Choreography slot from Warren Carlyle. This leaves On the Town dance master Joshua Bergasse with only Christopher Wheeldon as his main competitor. Add in Tony Yazbeck's Best Actor nomination (in one of the most competitive categories) and it's time we take this musical seriously during Tony season.

Musical Frontrunners Double (and Triple) Up on Actors:
The leading contenders for the top award managed to net nominations for multiple performers in the same category. Something Rotten! is represented in Featured Actor by Christian Borle and Brad Oscar. The same category has two players from An American in Paris: Max Von Essen and Brandon Uranowitz. Meanwhile, Fun Home pulled off a rare triple: Judy Kuhn, Sydney Lucas, and Emily Skeggs will all compete in Featured Actress.

A complete list of Tony nominees below:

Best Play
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Author: Simon Stephens
Disgraced, Author: Ayad Akhtar
Hand to God, Author: Robert Askins
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two, Co-Authors: Hilary Mantel and Mike Poulton

Best Musical
An American in Paris
Fun Home
Something Rotten
The Visit

Best Revival of a Play
The Elephant Man
Skylight
This Is Our Youth
You Can't Take it With You

Best Revival of a Musical
The King and I
On the Town
On the 20th Century

Best Book of a Musical
An American in Paris, Craig Lucas
Fun Home, Lisa Kron
Something Rotten! Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell
The Visit, Terrence McNally

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Fun Home, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: Lisa Kron
The Last Ship, Music & Lyrics: Sting
Something Rotten! Music & Lyrics: Wayne Kirkpatrick and Karey Kirkpatrick
The Visit, Music: John Kander, Lyrics: Fred Ebb

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Steven Boyer, Hand to God
Bradley Cooper, The Elephant Man
Ben Miles, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Bill Nighy, Skylight
Alex Sharp, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Geneva Carr, Hand to God
Helen Mirren, The Audience
Elisabeth Moss, The Heidi Chronicles
Carey Mulligan, Skylight
Ruth Wilson, Constellations

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, Fun Home
Robert Fairchild, An American in Paris
Brian d'Arcy James, Something Rotten!
Ken Watanabe, The King and I
Tony Yazbeck, On the Town

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, On the Twentieth Century
Leanne Cope, An American in Paris
Beth Malone, Fun Home
Kelli O'Hara, The King and I
Chita Rivera, The Visit

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Matthew Beard, Skylight
K. Todd Freeman, Airline Highway
Richard McCabe, The Audience
Alessandro Nivola, The Elephant Man
Nathaniel Parker, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Micah Stock, It's Only a Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Annaleigh Ashford, You Can't Take It with You
Patricia Clarkson, The Elephant Man
Lydia Leonard, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Sarah Stiles, Hand to God
Julie White, Airline Highway

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Christian Borle, Something Rotten!
Andy Karl, On the Twentieth Century
Brad Oscar, Something Rotten!
Brandon Uranowitz, An American in Paris
Max von Essen, An American in Paris

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Victoria Clark, Gigi
Judy Kuhn, Fun Home
Sydney Lucas, Fun Home
Ruthie Ann Miles, The King and I
Emily Skeggs, Fun Home

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bunny Christie and Finn Ross, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Bob Crowley, Skylight
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Rockwell, You Can't Take It with You

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley and 59 Productions, An American in Paris
David Rockwell, On the Twentieth Century
Michael Yeargan, The King and I
David Zinn, Fun Home

Best Costume Design of a Play
Bob Crowley, The Audience
Jane Greenwood, You Can't Take It with You
Christopher Oram, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
David Zinn, Airline Highway

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Something Rotten!
Bob Crowley, An American in Paris
William Ivey Long, On the Twentieth Century
Catherine Zuber, The King and I

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paule Constable, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Paule Constable and David Plater, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Natasha Katz, Skylight
Japhy Weideman, Airline Highway

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Donald Holder, The King and I
Natasha Katz, An American in Paris
Ben Stanton, Fun Home
Japhy Weideman, The Visit

Best Direction of a Play
Stephen Daldry, Skylight
Marianne Elliott, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Scott Ellis, You Can't Take It with You
Jeremy Herrin, Wolf Hall Parts One & Two
Moritz von Stuelpnagel, Hand to God

Best Direction of a Musical
Sam Gold, Fun Home
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
John Rando, On the Town
Bartlett Sher, The King and I
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, On the Town
Christopher Gattelli, The King and I
Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Casey Nicholaw, Something Rotten!
Christopher Wheeldon, An American in Paris

Best Orchestrations
Christopher Austin, Don Sebesky, Bill Elliott, An American in Paris
John Clancy, Fun Home
Larry Hochman, Something Rotten!
Rob Mathes, The Last Ship

By Show
An American in Paris - 12
Fun Home - 12
Something Rotten! - 10
The King and I - 9
Wolf Hall Parts One & Two - 8
Skylight - 7
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - 6
Hand to God - 5
On the Twentieth Century - 5
The Visit - 5
You Can't Take It with You - 5
Airline Highway - 4
The Elephant Man - 4
On the Town - 4
The Audience - 3
The Last Ship - 2
Constellations - 1
Disgraced - 1
Gigi - 1
The Heidi Chronicles - 1
It's Only a Play - 1
This Is Our Youth - 1