The nominees for the 2020 Tony Awards

The Tony Award nominees have just been announced, although 2020 has not been a lenient year for the theater. Broadway theaters have been closed since March 12 and will not reopen until May 2021. This is the first time that theaters have been closed for this long.

The Tony Awards, supposed to take place at Radio City Hall on June 7, have been postponed to a later date… which has still not been announced!
The Tony Awards Committee confirmed on his site that the ceremony would take place this fall, however, it will take place online!
It is James Monroe Iglehart, best known for his performance as the Genie in Aladdin, who announced the Tony Awards nominees on Youtube !
But before discovering the nominees, let's take a look at some oddities of this season's nominations.
Or if you prefer, you can find a short summary of the appointments at the end of the article.

The 2020 Tony Awards nominees have just been announced!


Funny appointments

As you can see below, these appointments are unusual.
As the shows closed on March 12, many didn't have time to officially open before the Tony Awards eligibility deadline. This date was last February 17th.
So only 18 shows could be eligible, and of those 18, only 4 are musicals.
Another example are shows that opened before February 17 but could not be eligible. This is because too few nominators (around 50 people) and voters (around 800 people) had seen them before the theaters closed. This is the case with musicals Girl from the north country as well as the resumption of West Side Story. There is therefore no nominee in the Best Cover of a Musical category!
Finally, another quirk: actor Aaron Tveit is the only one named in his category! But the reward is not guaranteed to him… He must obtain a minimum of 60% of the votes to obtain the price.


Without further ado, here are all the Tony Awards nominees!


Best Theater Play
  • Great Horizons
  • The Inheritance
  • Sea Wall / A Life
  • Slaveplay
  • The Sound Inside

Best Musical
Aaron Tveit and Karen Olivo in Red Mill! The Musical.


Best Cover of a Play
  • Betrayal
  • Frankie and Johnny in the Moonlight
  • A Soldier's Play

Best Actor in a Play
  • Ian Barford - Nice view
  • Andrew Burnap - The Inheritance
  • Jake Gyllenhaal - Sea Wall / A Life
  • Tom Hiddleston - Betrayal
  • Tom Sturridge - Sea Wall / A Life
  • Blair Underwood - A Soldier's Play
Actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge in Sea Wall / A Life.


Best Actress in a Play
  • Joaquina Kalukango - Slaveplay
  • Laura Linney - My Name is Lucy Barton
  • Audra McDonald - Frankie and Johnny in the Moonlight
  • Mary-Louise Parker - The Sound Inside

Best Actor in a Musical
  • Aaron Tveit - Red Mill! The Musical 

Best Actress in a Musical
  • Karen Olivo - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Elizabeth Stanley - Jagged little pill
  • Adrienne Warren - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
Adrienne Warren in the lead role of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical.


Best Supporting Actor in a Play
  • Ato Blankson-Wood - Slaveplay
  • James Cusati-Moyer - Slaveplay
  • David Alan Grier - A Soldier's Play
  • John Benjamin Hickey - The Inheritance
  • Paul Hilton - The Inheritance

Best Supporting Actress in a Play
  • Jane Alexander - Great Horizons
  • Chalia La Tour - Slaveplay
  • Annie McNamara - Slaveplay
  • Lois Smith - The Inheritance
  • Cora Vander Broek - Nice view
Teyonah Parris and Paul Alexander Nolan in Slaveplay.


Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
  • Danny Burstein - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Derek Klena - Jagged little pill
  • Sean Allan Krill - Jagged little pill
  • Sahr Ngaujah - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Daniel J. Watts - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
  • Kathryn Gallagher - Jagged little pill
  • Celia Rose Gooding - Jagged little pill
  • Robyn Hurder - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Lauren Patten - Jagged little pill
  • Myra Lucretia Taylor - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
Celia Rose Gooding and Lauren Patten in Jagged little pill.


Best Staging for a Play
  • David Cromer - The Sound Inside
  • Stephen Daldry - The Inheritance
  • Kenny Leon - A Soldier's Play
  • Jamie Lloyd - Betrayal
  • Robert O'Hara - Slaveplay

Best Direction for a Musical
  • Phyllida Lloyd, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
  • Diane Paulus - Jagged little pill
  • Alex Timbers - Red Mill! The Musical

Better Orchestrations
  • Tom Kitt - Jagged little pill
  • Katie Kresek, Charlie Rosen, Matt Stine and Justin Levine - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Ethan Popp, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Libretto in a Musical
  • Diablo Cody - Jagged little pill
  • John Logan - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Katori Hall, Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
One of the musical numbers of Tina - The Tina Turner Musical.


Best Choreography
  • Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui - Jagged little pill
  • Sonya Tayeh - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Anthony Van Laast - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical

Best Original Score
  • Christopher Nightingale - A Christmas Carol
  • Paul Englishby - The Inheritance
  • Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb - The Rose Tattoo
  • Lindsay Jones - Slaveplay
  • Daniel Kluger - The Sound Inside

Best Decors for a Room
  • Bob Crowley - The Inheritance
  • Gilmour Sutra - Betrayal
  • Rob Howell - A Christmas Carol
  • Derek McLane - A Soldier's Play
  • Clint Ramos - Slaveplay

Best Sets for a Musical
  • Riccardo Hernández and Lucy Mackinnon - Jagged little pill
  • Derek McLane - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Mark Thompson and Jeff Sugg - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
The hall of the Al Hirschfeld Theater in New York, totally transformed to host the musical Moulin Rouge!
The hall of the Al Hirschfeld Theater in New York, totally transformed to host the musical Red Mill! The Musical.


Best Suits for a Room
  • Dede Ayite - Slaveplay
  • Dede Ayite - A Soldier's Play
  • Bob Crowley - The Inheritance
  • Rob Howell - A Christmas Carol
  • Clint Ramos - The Rose Tattoo

Best Costumes for a Musical
  • Emily Rebholz - Jagged little pill
  • Mark Thompson, Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
  • Catherine Zuber - Red Mill! The Musical

Best Lights for a Room
  • Jiyoun Chang - Slaveplay
  • Jon Clark - The Inheritance
  • Heather Gilbert - The Sound Inside
  • Allen Lee Hughes - A Soldier's Play
  • Hugh Vanstone - A Christmas Carol
La French Touch The Inheritance.


Best Lights for a Musical
  • Bruno Poet - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical
  • Justin Townsend - Jagged little pill
  • Justin Townsend - Red Mill! The Musical

Best Sound for a Room
  • Paul Arditti and Christopher Reid - The Inheritance
  • Simon Baker - A Christmas Carol
  • Lindsay Jones - Slaveplay
  • Daniel Kluger - Sea Wall / A Life
  • Daniel Kluger - The Sound Inside

Best Sound for a Musical
  • Jonathan Deans - Jagged little pill
  • Peter Hylenski - Red Mill! The Musical
  • Nevin Steinberg - Tina - The Tina Turner Musical


Small recap nominees for the 2020 Tony Awards

Slaveplay beats the record for the number of Tony nominations. Indeed, the piece has been named 12 times. The Inheritance follows very closely with 11.
As for musicals, Red Mill ! received 14 nominations, Jagged little pill 12 and Tina, 11.
Follow A Soldier's Play with 7, The Sound Inside with 6 and Christmas Carol with 5.

We also note that the superb musical Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief Musical was not named although eligible… what a pity.
This means that the three Tony Award nominated musicals are musical jukeboxes.
A musical jukebox is a musical that uses already existing songs (often from well-known artists) to serve its plot. 

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