'Hell's Kitchen' And 'Stereophonic' Lead 2024 Tony Award Nominations

NEW YORK (AP) Two Broadway shows celebrating the origins of sonic creativity  the musical Hells Kitchen  fueled by Alicia Keys songs, and the play Stereophonic about a 70s rock band at the edge of stardom each earned a leading 13 Tony Award  nominations Tuesday, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director.

A total of 28 shows earned a Tony nod or more, with the musical The Outsiders, an adaptation of the beloved S. E. Hinton novel and the Francis Ford Coppola film, earning 12 nominations; a starry revival of Cabaret starring Eddie Redmayne, nabbing nine; and Appropriate, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins searing play about a family reunion in Arkansas where everyone has competing motivations and grievances, grabbing eight.

The nominations marked a smashing of the Tony record for most women named in a single season. The 2022 Tony Awards had held the record for most female directing nominees, with four total across the two races musical and play. Only 10 women have gone on to win a directing crown.

This year, three women were nominated for best play direction Lila Neugebauer (Appropriate), Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane) and Whitney White (Jajas African Hair Braiding) while four were nominated in the musical category Maria Friedman (Merrily We Roll Along), Leigh Silverman (Suffs) Jessica Stone (Water for Elephants) and Danya Taymor (The Outsiders).

The one thing I feel is its starting to feel less remarkable, which is great news, Stone said after her nomination. We are directors and not women directors. Im noticing it more and more and thats a wonderful thing to think about. Its a wonderful place to be.

Rachel McAdams, making her Broadway debut in Mary Jane, earned a best actress in a play nomination, while Succession star Jeremy Strong, got his first ever nomination, for a revival of An Enemy of the People and Liev Schreiber of Ray Donovan fame nabbd one for leading Doubt. Jessica Lange in Mother Play, Sarah Paulson in Appropriate and Amy Ryan, who stepped in at the last minute for a revival of Doubt,  also earned nominations in the best actress in a play category.

The Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons earned a supporting nod for Mother Play, and Daniel Radcliffe on his fifth Broadway show, a revival of Stephen Sondheims Merrily We Roll Along, won his first nomination.

Redmayne in his second show on Broadway got a nod as best lead actor in a musical, as did Brian dArcy James for Days of Wine and Roses, Brody Grant in The Outsiders, Jonathan Groff in Merrily We Roll Along and 73-year-old Dorian Harewood in The Notebook, the adaptation of Nicholas Sparks  romantic tearjerker. Harewood, in his first Broadway show in 46 years, landed his first Tony nomination.

It was one of three nominations for The Notebook, but the musicals composer, Ingrid Michaelson, didnt earn a nomination, nor did Barry Manilow for his show Harmony. Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire, was expected to earn a nod for his music for Stereophonic and it came through.

Redmaynes Cabaret co-star Gayle Rankin earned a nomination for best actress in a musical, as did Eden Espinosa in Lempicka, Maleah Joi Moon in Hells Kitchen, Kelli OHara in Days of Wine and Roses and 71-year-old Maryann Plunkett, who plays the elderly wife at the heart of The Notebook.

Steve Carell in his Broadway debut in a poorly received revival of the classic play Uncle Vanya failed to secure a nod, but starry producers who earned Tony nods include Keys, Angelina Jolie (for The Outsiders) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (for Suffs).

The best new musical crown will be a battle between Hells Kitchen, The Outsiders, the dance-heavy, dialogue-less stage adaptation of Sufjan Stevenss 2005 album Illinois, Suffs,  based on the American suffragists of the early 20th century, and Water for Elephants, which combines Sara Greens 2006 bestseller with circus elements.

The best new play Tony will pit Stereophonic against Mother Play, Paula Vogels play about a mother and her kids spanning 1964 to the 21st century; Mary Jane, Amy Herzogs humanistic portrait of a divorced mother of a young boy with health issues; Prayer for the French Republic, Joshua Harmons sprawling family comedy-drama that deals with Zionism, religious fervency and antisemitism; and Jajas African Hair Braiding, Jocelyn Biohs comedy about the lives of West African women working at a salon.

Lamar Richardson, an actor-turned-producer, had many reasons to smile Tuesday. He helped produce the new revivals of The Wiz, Merrily We Roll Along and Appropriate.

I really think this is Broadway at its best, he said. Theres really something for everyone. Theres the quintessential big jukebox musical. Theres the niche moving three-hander plays. I think that this really is a smorgasbord of what Broadway can offer up, and showing it still, of course, is a major player on the art scene. And its here to stay.

A spring barrage of new shows 14 shows opened in an 11-day span this year is not unusual these days as producers hope their work will be fresh in the mind of voters ahead of the Tony Awards ceremony on June 16.

There were some firsts this season, including Here Lies Love  with Broadways first all-Filipino cast, which earned four nominations, including best original score for David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim. And seven openly autistic actors starred in How to Dance in Ohio,  a first for Broadway but which got no Tony love.

Academy Award winner and Tony Award-nominee Ariana DeBose,  who hosted both the 2023 and 2022 ceremonies, will be back this year and will produce and choreograph the opening number.

This years location the David H. Koch Theater is the home of New York City Ballet and in the same sprawling building complex as Lincoln Square Theater, which houses the Broadway venue Beaumont Theater.

Like last year, the three-hour main telecast will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+ from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. EDT/5 p.m.-8 p.m. PDT with a pre-show on Pluto TV, and some Tony Awards handed out there.

This seasons Broadway numbers about $1.4 billion in grosses and 11.1 million tickets is running slightly less than the 2022-23 season, off about 4% in grosses and down 1% in tickets.