BY BETH WOJCIECHOWSKI
Associate Arts and Culture Editor
Almost two years after Broadway’s reopening, the Tony Awards have reverted back to their pre-pandemic glory. In the past few years, there have been limited audiences and nominees. During the 2021 Tony Awards, Aaron Tviet won Best Actor in a Musical for his role in “Moulin Rouge” by default due to being the only actor eligible. This year, the Tony Awards are back and feature categories that showcase the industry’s theatrical season.
On the morning of May 2, star of “Funny Girl” Lea Michele and last year’s Best Actor Tony Award-winner Myles Frost, who won his award for starring as Michael Jackson in the biographical musical “MJ,” announced the nominees for this year’s awards.
The musical “Some Like It Hot,” based on the 1959 film of the same name, led with 13 nominations across various categories. The leading actor of the show, J. Harrison Ghee, is also making history as one of the first non-binary actors to be nominated for a Tony Award.
Other new musicals nominated include “New York, New York,” “& Juliet” and “Kimberly Akimbo,” all having multiple nominations. The new musical “Shucked” has also been nominated and features former “Glee” star Alex Newell, who is another one of the first non-binary actors to be nominated in an acting category.
While five new musicals have been nominated this year, the nominees who have starred in musical revivals have dominated the acting categories. The revivals of Stephen Sondheim’s “Into The Woods” and “Sweeney Todd” have multiple acting nominations and are both nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. Jason Robert Brown’s “Parade” revival also garnered multiple nominations, with the show’s stars, first-time nominee Micaela Diamond and 2017 Tony-winner Ben Platt, both nominated for their respective lead acting categories.
This year, the nominees for Broadway plays are also unique as three of the nominees for Best Play have already won Pulitzer Prizes. Another notable trend in this year’s play nominees is that many screen stars have been nominated, such as Oscar-winner Jessica Chastain for her leading role in “A Doll’s House,” “Killing Eve” star Jodie Comer for her leading role in “Prima Facie” and Oscar-winner Samuel L. Jackson for his featured role in “The Piano Lesson.”
After the previous years’ limited nominations and awards due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s ceremony is the first in some time to feature a full roster of nominees in many categories and also boasts a diverse lineup of nominees.
Despite the Writers Guild of America strike, the 2023 Tony Awards will be broadcast on June 11 at 8pm EST on CBS. The awards committee has submitted multiple waivers to allow the awards to continue as originally planned despite the strike, and after much deliberation, the waivers have been approved.
