Tony Tony Tony

Another year, another set of Tony nominations.  And another appraisal from someone thousands of miles away who hasn't seen any of the shows.

The Book Of Mormon tops the list with 14 nominations.  Looks like the South Park boys have conquered another medium.  I'm not planning any visits to New York soon, so I'll have to wait for the show to travel out to L.A.

I suppose no huge surprises for Best Play.  For musicals, I see they now have nominations for Best Book--is that a new category?  Anyway, Mormon, along with Sister Act and The Scottsboro Boys, got all three big nominations--Musical, Book and Score.  But Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson got a book nomination, Catch Me If You Can a musical nomination and Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown a score nomination.  Which is easier to read as a triple snub than a triple honor.  (I'm surprised Andrew Jackson didn't get a musical nod, though, along with Women, I suppose the Tonys are prejudiced against shows that have closed--you can't help them any more, after all.)

The revival categories are often more interesting than those for new work, and this year's best revival of a play is hotly contested.  The nominees are Arcadia, The Importance Of Being Earnest, The Merchant Of Venice and The Normal Heart.  That's two big snubs for recent arrivals Born Yesterday and The House Of Blue Leaves.

For musical revival, only two choices--Anything Goes and How To Succeed In Business.  Both sound like a lot of fun, though the former, with no movie or TV stars, probably needs more help.

For best male lead in a play, mostly big names.  Maybe Al Pacino's Shylock deserves it (though Shylock is not the lead), but you have to wonder if his movie star status didn't figure in. Interesting to see Brian Bedford for his Lady Bracknell.  The part can easily steal the play, but it's a supporting role.  Meanwhile, no Ben Stiller for Blue Leaves, no Robin Williams for Bengal Tiger, no James Earl Jones for Driving Miss Daisy.

For best actress in a play, Nina Arianda got the only nomination that Born Yesterday could manage.

Featured actress in a play has a lot of well known names--Ellen Barkin, Edie Falco, Judith Light and Joanna Lumley.  Should be interesting.  Looks like Falco is the only nomination for Blue Leaves.

For lead actress in a musical, only four nominees.  Guess there wasn't enough to go around.  Maybe it's Sutton Foster's turn again for her Reno Sweeney.  For best actor in a musical, they didn't go for big names, so Daniel Radcliffe in How To Succeed was out.

There are five cast members of The Motherf**cker With The Hat.  Three of them, Bobby Cannavale, Yul Vazquez and Elizabeth Rodriguez, got nominated, while the two names people recognize, Chris Rock and Annabella Sciorra, were left out in the cold.

Billy Crudup got nominated for best featured actor in a play as Bernard Nightingale in Arcadia, a part that is arguably the lead. Does the actor, the production or the voters decide what categories to place people in?

Lotta big Broadway names for featured actress in a musical, including Patti LuPone and Laura Benanti, who a couple years back won best actress and best featured actress for Gypsy.  If one wins, will the other truly be glad?

I'd guess it's rare for duos to direct shows, but of the eight works nominated for best director, three of them have two people at the helm.

Brian Ronan will be competing against himself for best sound design, and Larry  Hochman will be doing the same for orchestration.  Guess there aren't enough people to go around.