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.
Two Broadway shows celebrating the origins of sonic creativity — the musical “Hell’s Kitchen” fueled by Alicia Keys songs, and the play “Stereophonic” about a ‘70s rock band at the edge of stardom — each earned a leading 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, a list that also saw a record number of women nominated for best director.
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.
Included in the list of nominees are three productions, which saw their world premieres in Chicago: “The Notebook,” the musical directed by Michael Greif and Schele Williams based on the hit movie, bowed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in October (nominated are actors Dorian Haywood and Maryann Plunkett in the best leading roles categories); director-choreographer Justin Peck’s “Illinoise,” based on the music of Sufjan Stevens, which also premiered at Chicago Shakespeare (nominated for best choreography, best book of a musical, best orchestrations, best musical and best lighting design for a musical); and a reimagined production of “The Who’s Tommy,” which debuted last June at the Goodman Theatre (nominated for best revival of a musical).
The nominations marked a smashing of the Tony record for most women named in a single season. The 2022 Tony Awards had held the record for most female directing nominees, with four total across the two races — musical and play. Only 10 women have gone on to win a directing crown.
This year, 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”).
