2019 Tony Awards: Reacting to the Nominations

Get ready, theater-goers: the 2019 Tony season has officially begun! The American Theatre Wing announced its nominations for the Tony Awards today. As always, it’s a mixed bag. Some nominations were on the nose, while other deserving work was inevitably overlooked.

Here are some of our reactions:

Musicals
Hadestown leads the pack with an astounding 14 nominations. Though it’s not a perfect production – especially in terms of the shallow characterization of the leads – it’s certainly the most inspired, original musical of the year, and should win plenty of awards on Tonys night. The Temptations jukebox musical Ain’t Too Proud similarly had a super strong showing, earning 12 nominations.

Some of the most interesting nominations came in supporting categories. It was great to see Amber Gray receive a Supporting Actress nomination for Hadestown, since she commands every scene she’s in. In a surprising move, the voters bestowed two double-nominations for both supporting actor categories. Oklahoma! (Ali Stroker and Mary Testa) and Tootsie (Lilli Cooper and Sarah Stiles) saw two actresses nominated for Supporting Actress. Unfortunately, other deserving performances – like Leslie Kritzer’s hilarious, scene-stealing turn in Beetlejuice or Bonnie Milligan in Head Over Heels – got shut out. In the Supporting Actor category, Hadestown (André De Shields and Patrick Page) and Ain’t Too Proud (Jeremy Pope and Ephraim Sykes) similarly boasted two nominations each. It was a shame that Oklahoma!‘s Patrick Vaill didn’t get nominated for his gut-wrenching performance as Jud Fry.

Plays
It was a particularly strong year for plays on Broadway, so Tony voters understandably had to make some tough decisions. While we’re thrilled that Janet McTeer got a nomination for Best Actress in Bernhardt/Hamlet, some of the other nominations – and snubs – left us scratching our heads. The biggest outrage was the fact that Glenda Jackson didn’t get a nomination for her fierce performance in King Lear. Though critics unfairly piled onto the production, everyone – including us – agreed that she was one of the strongest parts of the show. Her co-star Ruth Wilson was similarly fantastic, so it was great to see that she, at least, got the recognition she deserved. To Kill a Mockingbird is, hands down, one of the best new plays of the year. Though it managed nominations in acting, directing, and technical categories, it was wrong of the voters to deny it a Best Play nod as well. Last but not least, The Lifespan of a Fact was a surprise gem in a crowded season – it’s disappointing that no one from the cast or the all-female design team got a nomination.

Who will take home a Tony this year? Tune in on June 9, 2019, at 8:00 p.m. EDT to find out!

Photo Credit: Heather Wines/CBS