Broadway’s buzzing about Tony Award nominations
Broadway’s buzzing about Tony Award nominations
As announcement day for the 2014 Tony Award nominations approaches (April 29, live via TonyAwards.com with actors Jonathan Groff and Lucy Liu), Broadway is abuzz with predictions. The Tony Awards website released a full list of nomination-eligible shows earlier this month, and many of them are still running in New York. If you’re headed to the Big Apple for a spring or summer vacation, be sure to catch one or more of these buzzworthy productions! Then tune in to CBS on June 8 for the ceremony, hosted by theatre superstar Hugh Jackman.
BEST PLAY:
The Golden Globe and three-time Emmy Award-winning star of _Breaking Bad_, Bryan Cranston, makes his Broadway debut in an electrifying portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson. A new play by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, All the Way depicts the life of the controversial president and has been drawing fans from all over the country — even Capitol Hill.
Written by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally, Mothers and Sons portrays a woman who pays an unexpected visit to the New York apartment of her late son's partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son. Starring Tony and six-time Emmy Award-winner Tyne Daly (Gypsy, Master Class), audience members have connected with this poignant story about how our understanding of family has changed over the years.
BEST MUSICAL:
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder
Time Out New York called it “the new, undisputed king of musical comedy” (Time Out New York), so don’t miss out on A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder on Broadway! This hilarious new musical centers on Monty Navarro (played by Bryce Pinkham), who has just found out he could become the next Earl of Highhurst. He only has to eliminate eight minor roadblocks — the relatives who precede him in line for the title.
Written by the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning creators of Next to Normal, If/Then is a new musical starring Tony Award-winner Idina Menzel (Wicked) that follows two distinct storylines in the life of Elizabeth, a city planner who moves back to New York to restart her life in this city of infinite possibilities. When her carefully designed plans collide with the whims of fate, Elizabeth's life splits into two parallel paths.
Go inside the recording studio with the cast in the complete photo coverage of their recording session below!
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY:
Starring two-time Academy Award-winner Denzel Washington, Lorraine Hansberry’s beloved play A Raisin in the Sun has returned to Broadway for a run critics are already calling “the must-see event of this Broadway season” (New York Post).
This revival of John Steinbeck’s adaptation of his own classic novel stars Golden Globe-winner and Academy Award-nominee James Franco and Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, “Girls”). It’s the story of George (Franco) and Lennie (O'Dowd), an unlikely pair of friends drifting from job to job across the farms and fields of California, holding fast to their dream of one day having an acre of land they can call their own.
Watch an interview with the stars here!
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL:
Alan Cumming (The Good Wife) reprises his Tony-winning performance as the Emcee in Cabaret, a musical that takes place in pre-WWII Germany, when people come to the infamous Kit Kat Klub to leave their troubles behind. Three-time Academy Award-nominee Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn, Brokeback Mountain) also stars, making her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles in a production that is sure to leave you breathless.
Everyone is buzzing about the new cast of the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. With a cast led by critically acclaimed actor and Olivier Award-nominee Ramin Karimloo (The Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies), Drama Desk and Tony Award-nominee Will Swenson (Hair, Priscilla: Queen of the Desert), and Tony Award-winner Nikki M. James (Book of Mormon), this spectacular reimagined production will blow you away.
Read an interview with Nikki. M. James on her journey from Book of Mormon to playing Éponine in Les Miz!
CATEGORY TO BE DETERMINED:
Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill
Five-time Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald stars as Billie Holiday in an intimate, heart-stopping show about the end of the jazz singer’s life. Set in Emerson’s Bar & Grill in North Philadelphia, where Billie Holiday played one of her last club dates in 1959, this bio-musical has enthralled audiences in regional theatres all over the country, but has never starred powerhouse lead McDonald until now.