2013 Tony Award Nominations - the Overlooked and the undeserved.

       Well folks, it's happened again (as it does every year). The nominations have been announced and some big omissions have been made. In addition to the omissions, there are some nominations that are real head scratchers. Let's take an in depth look at a few of the major categories. Scroll all the way down to the bottom to see the complete list of nominations.

Best Featured Actor in a play:
 Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

I'm not unhappy with this list. While The Big Knife was incredibly boring Richard Kind was a bright spot. I had a tough time choosing between Danny Burstein and Tony Shalhoub for Golden Boy. Obviously so did the Tony Nominating committee because in the end they just nominated both. Courtney B. Vance was the best part of Lucky Guy, though I think that Michael Shannon's turn in Grace was more worthy of a nomination.

Featured Actress in a play:
Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

I'm the most happy with this list. The only trade I would have made is Elizabeth Marvel who gave an understated but still heart rending performance in Picnic. 

Featured Actor in a Musical. 
Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

This list doesn't drive me crazy, Motown had to get nominations in SOME category. There were a lot of featured performances that were great this year, and this is a good sampling.

Featured Actress in a musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

I'm the second most happy with this list, to a point. It was a very controversial performance, but I really do think that Jessie Mueller gave one of the best of the year in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Though I am happy to see Keala Settle get a well deserved nomination for Hands on a hard body.

Lead Actor in a play
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

While I'm not surprised, I am disappointed in this list. To leave out Alan Cumming for his mesmerizing work doing the Macbeth by himself was a true crime. Less murderous though just as shameful was the omission of Douglas Hodge as Cyrano de Bergerac. I would have left Tom Hanks off of this list. He's Tom Hanks, and he's a great actor, and he's "America's favorite actor" so there was no way he wasn't going to get a nomination. He may actually even win, but he doesn't deserve either one - not for this play. 

Lead Actress in a play
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

This list is fine. Though it is surprising to see Fiona Shaw left off for her riveting performance in The Testament of Mary. I also feel a little bad for Sigourney Weaver being the only title character not nominated in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. 

Lead Actor in a Musical
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

The only surprise in this category was that the committee chose to honor Santino Fontana in Cinderella over Anthony Warlow in Annie. In fact, Annie was egregiously over looked in the following category (even more so, IMO).

Leading Actress in a musical
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

It is truly shocking and a bit disappointing that Lilla Crawford did not get a nomination for playing Annie. Make no bones, the revival of Annie is not good - but her performance was pure theater magic and the stuff that stars are made of. 

Revival of a play
Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

This list is fine - though Orphans is terrible. 

Revival of a Musical
Annie
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella

Annie did not deserve a nomination - but neither did Jekyll and Hyde so, it is what it is. 

New Play

The Assembled Parties

Lucky Guy

The Testament of Mary

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike 

 This category contains the most head scratchers, but then again - not really. Lucky Guy was not a great play - but it was written by a great writer who died before her work was produced. Not only was Nora Ephron a great writer, but she was beloved by all. What is strange about The Testament of Mary getting a nomination for best play is that it's a one woman show and it's lead and ONLY actress did not get a nomination. I would have much rather seen both The Other Place by Sharr White and Douglas Carter Beane's The Nance get nominated. 

New Musical

Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical

This Category has the most delightful surprises. While I loved BOTH Bring it on and Hands on a hard body. It was difficult to choose between them, and it really came down to a matter of taste. Obviously the Tony Committee chose Bring it on. I personally would have gone the other way. I name those two shows because Amanda Green was involved with both and they both closes and they were both awesome. I'm also glad to see that A Christmas Story was not discriminated against for being a limited run holiday offering.

One of the biggest surprises was the fact that Motown did not get nominated for Best Musical. Not because it's good, mind you, but because it's making a lot of people a lot of money, it's going to play for years, and it's going to tour. The Tony Awards committee seems to have finally taken a stand against this type of shoddy production and said "nope, not this time". 

Shows that received not a single nomination are: Harvey, An Enemy of the People, Grace, Dead Accounts, The Anarchist, Glengarry Glen Ross, Picnic, Cat on a hot tin roof, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Jekyll and Hyde, Macbeth, and I'll Eat you Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers. 

Well there it is kids. Now all we can do is sit back and wait for the awards to be dolled out on Sunday June 9th LIVE on CBS! I will post my opinions about who I think SHOULD WIN and who I think WILL WIN the day before the ceremony - so don't forget to check back!

Here is the full list of nominations. 

Best Play

The Assembled Parties

Author:  Richard Greenberg

Producers:  Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Lucky Guy

Author:  Nora Ephron

Producers:  Colin Callender, Roy Furman, Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger & William Berlind, Stacey Mindich, Robert Cole & Frederick Zollo, David Mirvish, Daryl Roth, James D. Stern/Douglas L. Meyer, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, Sonia Friedman Productions, The Shubert Organization

The Testament of Mary

Author:  Colm Toíbín

Producers:  Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Jon B. Platt, Roger Berlind, Broadway Across America, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Stephanie P. McClelland, Sonia Friedman Productions/Tulchin Bartner Productions, The Araca Group, Heni Koenigsberg, Daryl Roth, Eli Bush

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Author:  Christopher Durang

Producers:  Joey Parnes, Larry Hirschhorn, Joan Raffe & Jhett Tolentino, Martin Platt & David Elliott, Pat Flicker Addiss, Catherine Adler, John O’Boyle, Joshua Goodman, Jamie deRoy/Richard Winkler, Cricket Hooper Jiranek/Michael Palitz, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Radio Mouse Entertainment, ShadowCatcher Entertainment, Mary Cossette/Barbara Manocherian, Megan Savage/Meredith Lynsey Schade, Hugh Hysell/Richard Jordan, Cheryl Wiesenfeld/Ron Simons, S.D. Wagner, John Johnson, MacCarter Theatre Center, Lincoln Center Theater

Best Musical

Bring It On: The Musical

Producers:  Universal Pictures Stage Productions/Glenn Ross, Beacon Communications/Armyan Bernstein & Charlie Lyons, Kristin Caskey & Mike Isaacson

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Producers:  Gerald Goehring, Roy Miller, Michael F. Mitri, Pat Flicker Addiss, Peter Billingsley, Timothy Laczynski, Mariano Tolentino, Jr., Louise H. Beard, Michael Filerman, Scott Hart, Alison Eckert, Bob Bartner, Michael Jenkins, Angela Milonas, Bradford W. Smith

Kinky Boots

Producers:  Daryl Roth, Hal Luftig, James L. Nederlander, Terry Allen Kramer, Independent Presenters Network, CJ E&M, Jayne Baron Sherman, Just for Laughs Theatricals/Judith Ann Abrams, Yasuhiro Kawana, Jane Bergère, Allan S. Gordon & Adam S. Gordon, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Lucy & Phil Suarez, Bryan Bantry, Ron Fierstein & Dorsey Regal, Jim Kierstead/Gregory Rae, BB Group/Christina Papagjika, Michael DeSantis/Patrick Baugh, Brian Smith/Tom & Connie Walsh, Warren Trepp, Jujamcyn Theaters

Matilda The Musical

Producers:  The Royal Shakespeare Company and The Dodgers

Best Revival of a Play

Golden Boy

Producers:  Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten

Orphans

Producers:  Frederick Zollo, Robert Cole, The Shubert Organization, Orin Wolf, Lucky VIII, Scott M. Delman, James P. MacGilvray, StylesFour Productions

The Trip to Bountiful

Producers:  Nelle Nugent, Kevin Liles, Paula Marie Black, David R. Weinreb, Stephen C. Byrd, Alia M. Jones, Kenneth Teaton, Carole L. Haber/Philip Geier, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg/Ricardo Hornos, Fifty Church Street Productions/Hallie Foote/Tyson and Kimberly Chandler, Joseph Sirola, Howard and Janet Kagan/Charles Salameno, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Raymond Gaspard/Andréa M. Price, Willette Murphy Klausner/Reginald M. Browne

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Producers:  Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Susan Quint Gallin, Mary Lu Roffe, Kit Seidel, Amy Danis & Mark Johannes, Patty Baker, Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub, Richard Gross, Jam Theatricals, Cheryl Lachowicz, Michael Palitz, Dramatic Forces/Angelina Fiordellisi, Luigi & Rose Caiola, Ken Greiner, Kathleen K. Johnson, Kirmser Ponturo Fund, Will Trice, GFour Productions, Steppenwolf Theatre Company

Best Revival of a Musical

Annie

Producers:  Arielle Tepper Madover, Roger Horchow, Sally Horchow, Roger Berlind, Roy Furman, Debbie Bisno, Stacey Mindich, James M. Nederlander, Jane Bergère/Daryl Roth, Eva Price/Christina Papagjika

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Producers:  Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

Pippin

Producers:  Barry and Fran Weissler, Howard and Janet Kagan, Lisa Matlin, Kyodo Tokyo, A&A Gordon/Brunish Trinchero, Tom Smedes/Peter Stern, Broadway Across America, Independent Presenters Network, Norton Herrick, Allen Spivak, Rebecca Gold, Joshua Goodman, Stephen E. McManus, David Robbins/Bryan S. Weingarten, Philip Hagemann/Murray Rosenthal, Jim Kierstead/Carlos Arana/Myla Lerner, Hugh Hayes/Jamie Cesa/Jonathan Reinis, Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Ben Feldman, Square 1 Theatrics, Wendy Federman/Carl Moellenberg, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Infinity Theatre Company/Michael Rubenstein, Michael A. Alden/Dale Badway/Ken Mahoney, American Repertory Theater

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Producers:  Robyn Goodman, Jill Furman, Stephen Kocis, Edward Walson, Venetian Glass Productions, The Araca Group, Luigi Caiola & Rose Caiola, Roy Furman, Walt Grossman, Peter May/Sanford Robertson, Glass Slipper Productions LLC/Eric Schmidt, Ted Liebowitz/James Spry, Blanket Fort Productions, Center Theatre Group

Best Book of a Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Joseph Robinette

Kinky Boots

Harvey Fierstein

Matilda The Musical

Dennis Kelly

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

A Christmas Story, The Musical

Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Hands on a Hardbody

Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green

Kinky Boots

Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper

Matilda The Musical

Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

John Lee Beatty, The Nance
Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties
David Rockwell, Lucky Guy
Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Scott Pask, Pippin
David Rockwell, Kinky Boots

Best Costume Design of a Play

Soutra Gilmour, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ann Roth, The Nance
Albert Wolsky, The Heiress
Catherine Zuber, Golden Boy

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, Kinky Boots
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Dominique Lemieux, Pippin
William Ivey Long, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Lucky Guy
Donald Holder, Golden Boy
Jennifer Tipton, The Testament of Mary
Japhy Weideman, The Nance

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kenneth Posner, Kinky Boots
Kenneth Posner, Pippin
Kenneth Posner, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Hugh Vanstone, Matilda The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

John Gromada, The Trip to Bountiful
Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Leon Rothenberg, The Nance
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, Golden Boy

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans & Garth Helm, Pippin
Peter Hylenski, Motown The Musical
John Shivers, Kinky Boots
Nevin Steinberg, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Direction of a Play

Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy

Best Direction of a Musical

Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical

Best Choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin

Best Orchestrations

Chris Nightingale, Matilda The Musical
Stephen Oremus, Kinky Boots
Ethan Popp & Bryan Crook, Motown The Musical

Danny Troob, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

* * *

Recipients of Awards and Honors in Non-competitive Categories

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Bernard Gersten

Paul Libin

Ming Cho Lee

Regional Theatre Award

Huntington Theatre Company, Boston, MA

Isabelle Stevenson Award

Larry Kramer

Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre

Career Transition For Dancers

William Craver

Peter Lawrence

The Lost Colony

The four  actresses who created the title role of Matilda The Musical on Broadway - Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro

* * *

Tony Nominations by Production

Kinky Boots - 13

Matilda The Musical - 12

Pippin - 10

Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella - 9

Golden Boy - 8

Lucky Guy - 6

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - 6

The Mystery of Edwin Drood - 5

The Nance - 5

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - 5

Motown The Musical - 4

The Trip to Bountiful - 4

The Assembled Parties - 3

A Christmas Story, The Musical - 3

Hands on a Hardbody - 3

The Testament of Mary - 3

Bring It On: The Musical - 2

The Heiress - 2

Orphans - 2

Ann - 1

Annie - 1

The Big Knife - 1

Chaplin - 1

Cyrano de Bergerac - 1

The Other Place - 1

Scandalous - 1