'Once' leads Broadway’s Tony Award nominations

The nominees of the 66th annual Tony Awards for outstanding Broadway theatrical productions are led by Once, the musical based on the 2006 film of the same name about a street busker and an immigrant, with 11 nominations, it was announced May 1 at the New York Public Library.

The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess and the musical Nice Work If You Can Get It each received ten nominations.

Surprising snubs include Alan Rickman, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew Broderick, Candice Bergen, John Larroquette, Angela Bassett and veteran Angela Lansbury.

On the drama side, Best Play nods included Disney's Peter and the Starcatcher, which received nine nominations, and the revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, which received seven. Also nominated for Best Play is Bruce Norris's 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park.

Film-to-stage productions dominated the Best Musical category including Once, Newsies, Leap of Faith and Nice Work If You Can Get It. The problematic, accident-prone Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark and the UK production Ghost: The Musical didn't receive nods.

Best Actor nominations include James Earl Jones (Gore Vidal's The Best Man), Frank Langella (Man and Boy), John Lithgow (The Columnist), Philip Seymour Hoffman, and James Corden (One Man, Two Guvnors).

Best Actress nominees include Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur), Tracie Bennett (End of the Rainbow), Stockard Channing (Other Desert Cities), Linda Lavin (The Lyons) and Cynthia Nixon (Wit).

In the Featured Actor category was Andrew Garfield for his Broadway debut in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, and a Special Tony Award will go to Hugh Jackman for his Back on Broadway concert.

The Tony Awards will be telecast live from New York's Beacon Theatre on June 10, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (The Smurfs) for the third time.

http://www.tonyawards.com

RC