The 72nd annual Tony Award nominations were announced on Tuesday morning (May 1) by Katharine McPhee (Waitress) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton). Among the leading contenders for this year’s awards are the Tina Fey-penned Mean Girls musical and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical, with 12 nominations each, including Best Musical and The Band’s Visit, with 11 nods and Frozen with 3.
In the drama category the Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America earned 11 nominations, as did the Carousel revival, while the highly anticipated Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two and My Fair Lady each earned 10.
Only 30 shows were eligible for prizes this year, the smallest number in more than a decade, according to the New York Times. Despite the narrower range of choices, it’s been a blockbuster year on Broadway thanks to the rush of shows based on easily recognized entertainment properties, from Frozen to Potter, SpongeBob SquarePants, Mean Girls and singer Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, not to mention the well-reviewed one-man show by Bruce Springsteen. The Boss will receive a Special Tony Award for his blockbuster limited engagement show Springsteen on Broadway, which is the top-grossing new production of the 2017-2018 season.
Broadway veteran John Leguizamo will also receive a Special Tony for his irreverent run through 3,000 years of Latin history in Latin History for Morons.
See the full list of nominees below.
Best Musical
The Band’s Visit
Mean Girls
Frozen
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical
Best Play
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Farinelli and the King
The Children
Junk
Latin History for Morons
Best Revival of a Musical
Rogers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
My Fair Lady
Once On This Island
Best Revival of a Play
Angels in America
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Lobby Hero
Travesties
Best Actress in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk: The Band’s Visit
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Rogers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Actor in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Rogers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Tony Shaloub, The Band’s Visit
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Best Actress in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower
Best Actor in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King
Denzel Washington, The Iceman Cometh
Best Book of a Musical
Jennifer Lee, Frozen
Tina Fey, Mean Girls
Kyle Jarrow, SpongBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical
Itamar Moses, The Band’s Visit
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
?Adrian Sutton, Angels in America
David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Frozen
Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, Mean Girls
Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebelllum, Cyndi Lauper and Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T’s, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani and Lil’C, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
David Morse, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renée Fleming, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
Santo Loquasto, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Miriam Buether, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and the King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Scott Pask, The Band’s Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young, Mean Girls
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
Dana Laffrey, Once on This Island
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical
Best Costume Design of a Play
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Ann Roth, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and the King
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and The King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Ann Roth, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Ann Roth, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Jules Fisher + Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
George C. Wolfe, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Once On This Island
David Cromer, The Band’s Visit
Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady
Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady
Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway Musical
Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Justin Peck, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Carousel
Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, Mean Girls
AnnMarie Milazzo and Michael Starobin, Once on This Island
Jonathan Tunick, Rogers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants, the Musical
Jemshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit
Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two
Tom Gibbons, 1984
Dan Moses Schreier, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band’s Visit
Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
Scott Lehrer, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical
* * *
Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories
Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Chita Rivera, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Special Tony Award: Bruce Springsteen, Springsteen on Broadway; John Leguizamo, Latin History for Morons
Regional Theatre Tony Award: La MaMa
Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Nick Scandalios (Neaderland Organization)
Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Sarea Krulwich (New York Times photographer), Bessie Nelson, Ernest Winzer Cleaners
The 72nd annual Tony Awards, hosted by Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban, will take place on Sunday, June 10 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show will air live on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.