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Two Broadway shows celebrating the spark of sonic creativity – the semi-autobiographical Alicia Keys musical “Hell’s Kitchen” and the play “Stereophonic” about a ’70s rock band recording a star-making album – each earned a leading 13 Tony award nominations Tuesday, April 30, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director.
“This is totally crazy. It took me about an hour to get myself together. I couldn’t even formulate words,” Keys said after a morning where the show loosely based on her life was nominated for best new musical and four acting awards as well as best scenic design, costumes, lighting, sound design, direction, choreography and orchestrations. “I am totally at a loss for words. Don’t ask me to write a song.”
A total of 28 shows earned a Tony nod or more, with the musical “The Outsiders,” an adaptation of the beloved S. E. Hinton novel and the Francis Ford Coppola film, earning 12 nominations; a starry revival of “Cabaret” starring Eddie Redmayne, nabbing nine; and “Appropriate,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ searing play about a family reunion in Arkansas where everyone has competing motivations and grievances, grabbing eight.
The nominations marked a smashing of the Tony record for most women directors named in a single season. The 2022 Tony Awards had held the record, with four total across the two races—musical and play. Only 10 women have gone on to win a directing crown.
This year, seven women took the 10 directing slots. Three women were nominated for best play direction – Lila Neugebauer (“Appropriate”), Anne Kauffman (“Mary Jane”) and Whitney White (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”) – while four were nominated in the musical category—Maria Friedman (“Merrily We Roll Along”), Leigh Silverman (“Suffs”) Jessica Stone (“Water for Elephants”) and Danya Taymor (“The Outsiders”).
“The one thing I feel is it’s starting to feel less remarkable, which is great news,” Stone said after her nomination. “We are directors and not women directors. I’m noticing it more and more and that’s a wonderful thing to think about. It’s a wonderful place to be.”
“Stereophonic,” which became the most-nominated play in Tony history, earned nominations for playwright David Adjmi and for its songs by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire. It’s the story of a Fleetwood Mac-like band over a life-changing year, with personal rifts opening and closing and then reopening. Butler says it is about art’s “horror and its beauty.”
An album of the rock-roots music heard during the play will be available next month and Butler has high hopes: “We wanted it to stand up against Tom Petty and ‘Rumors’ and the new Beyoncé country record,” he said.
