The American Theater Wing announced the 2006 Tony award nominees, and there are a lot of notables:
- The Drowsy Chaperone stormed the gate with 13 nominations, including Best Musical, four acting nominations and a ton of others...
- The Color Purple followed with the most nominations (11), including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score, Best Leading Actress and three Best Featured acting awards. However, in spite of the Oprah factor, we give the advantage to...
- Jersey Boys, the pretty much universally praised, musical about the Four Seasons, which got 8 nominations, including Best Musical, Best Book, Best Leading Actor and Best Featured Actor
- The Best Play nominees include one American play, Rabbit Hole, amongst ones from the UK and Ireland - The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Shining City and the History Boys
- The Pajama Game is the splashiest revival musical, with 9 nominations, including Best Revival Musical, Best Actor (Harry Connick Jr.), Best Actress and Best Direction, while Awake and Sing!, with its starry cast of Lauren Ambrose, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Wanamaker and Ben Gaazara, is racked up 8 nominations, including Best Revival Play
- But Sweeney Todd might be the dark horse for Best Musical revival, with its gory, pared down cast, 6 nominations - and the ATW loves Sondheim
- And The Wedding Singer got five nominations. Five!
- Expensive show pretty much shut out: Tarzan (one nod for Lighting)
- And at least Julia had a nice stage: Three Days of Rain got two nods for Lighting and Scenic Design
Have you been following this year's Broadway season? What do you think of the nominations? And will this get you to theater to see something?
Photographs, clockwise from top left, of Sweeney Todd, The Rabbit Hole, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and Jersey Boys
