At Tony Award nominations, there's no clear juggernaut but opportunity for female directors
The final list of almost 40 new plays and musicals vying for Tony Award nominations this year are ready and hoping for their closeups
NEW YORK (AP) — After a final, frantic push to open the last raft of Broadway shows before the eligibility window closed, the final list of almost 40 plays and musicals vying for Tony Award nominations this year are ready and hoping for their closeups.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry will announce nominees for the 26 competitive Tony Awards on Tuesday morning, the result of voting by the 60 members of the nominating committee.
The spring barrage — 14 shows opened in an 11-day span this year — is not unusual these days as producers hope their work will be fresh in the mind of voters ahead of the Tony Awards ceremony on June 16. But no clear single musical juggernaut has emerged, like the megahit “Hamilton” in 2016 or a critical darling like last year's “Kimberly Akino.”
One possible change this year indicates women may be poised to outnumber the men for the first time in directing nominations. Nearly half of the 21 musicals — new and revivals — that opened this season were helmed by a woman or featured a team of co-directors where at least one was a woman. Five out of the season’s 16 new plays and play revivals were also staged by women.
