“Stereophonic,” a three-hour barnburner about the combustible collaboration of a 1970s rock band, set a Tony Awards record for the most nominations by a play with 13 on Tuesday morning.
The David Adjmi-penned production, featuring songs from former Arcade Fire member Will Butler, tied the Alicia Keys jukebox musical “Hell’s Kitchen” for the most nominations on the day as Broadway recognized the best of the 2023-2024 season during an announcement hosted by actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry.
“The Outsiders,” a stylish adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s 1967 coming-of-age novel, would appear to be “Hell’s Kitchen’s” top competition for the coveted best musical prize after racking up 12 nominations, including three acting nods and recognitions in the bellwether categories of book, original score and director of a musical.
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The best musical race — considered particularly volatile this season as several touted shows opened to mixed reviews and no new production emerged as a box-office behemoth — will also feature the women’s-rights parable “Suffs”; the Sufjan Stevens-inspired dance piece “Illinoise”; and “Water for Elephants,” a high-wire adaptation of the 2006 romance novel.
“Merrily We Roll Along,” the smash-hit revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 flop, landed seven nominations, including nods for stars Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe. That total was outpaced by “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club,” a slick but critically divisive reimagining of the canonical 1966 musical, which had recognitions for actors Eddie Redmayne, Gayle Rankin, Steven Skybell and Bebe Neuwirth among its nine nominations. But Rebecca Frecknall’s snub in the director category — where “Merrily’s” Maria Friedman is widely expected to win — is a telling sign of weakness for the immersive revival.
“Gutenberg! The Musical!,” a whimsical two-hander that starred Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, and “The Who’s Tommy” round out the musical revival category.
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“Stereophonic,” which opened on Broadway earlier this month after a heralded off-Broadway run last fall, edged “Slave Play’s” record of 12 nominations from the pandemic-shortened 2019-2020 season. Although the play includes several songs, heard as a Fleetwood Mac-esque band clashes and collaborates on a new album, the production is not considered a musical. But that didn’t stop “Stereophonic” from breaking into the categories for original score and orchestrations, padding a nomination total that also included nods for five of its seven cast members: Juliana Canfield, Sarah Pidgeon, Will Brill, Eli Gelb and Tom Pecinka.
Its competition for best play will be “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” “Mary Jane,” “Mother Play” and “Prayer for the French Republic.”
End of carousel“Appropriate,” D.C. native Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s searing depiction of a White Southern family confronting its racist roots, led all play revivals with eight nominations, including nods for stars Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll. It was joined in the revival of a play category by stagings of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People” and Ossie Davis’s “Purlie Victorious,” which yielded best actor nominations for Jeremy Strong and Leslie Odom Jr., respectively.
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Also among the screen stars who heard their names called on nominations morning: Rachel McAdams (“Mary Jane”), Jessica Lange and Jim Parsons (“Mother Play”), Michael Stuhlbarg (“Patriots”), and Amy Ryan and Liev Schreiber (“Doubt: A Parable”).
Notable snubs included “The Great Gatsby,” a decadent staging of the F. Scott Fitzgerald standby that earned a single nomination for costume design, and “The Wiz,” a splashy revival of the 1970s cult classic musical that was blanked.
“Uncle Vanya” star Steve Carell also wasn’t recognized for his Broadway debut, as co-star William Jackson Harper beat him to a nomination for best actor in a play. And though “The Notebook” (starring Maryann Plunkett and Dorian Harewood) and “Days of Wine and Roses” (starring Kelli O’Hara and Brian d’Arcy James) landed nominations for lead actress and lead actor, both shows missed out on the best musical shortlist.
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The ceremony will be hosted by Ariana DeBose on June 16 at the Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater and broadcast on CBS.
Here is the full list of nominees:
Best musical
“Hell’s Kitchen”
“Illinoise”
“The Outsiders”
“Suffs”
“Water for Elephants”
Best play
“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding” by Jocelyn Bioh
“Mary Jane” by Amy Herzog
“Mother Play” by Paula Vogel
“Prayer for the French Republic” by Joshua Harmon
“Stereophonic” by David Adjmi
Best revival of a musical
“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”
“Gutenberg! The Musical!”
“Merrily We Roll Along”
“The Who’s Tommy”
Best revival of a play
“Appropriate” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
“An Enemy of the People” by Henrik Ibsen (adapted by Amy Herzog)
“Purlie Victorious” by Ossie Davis
Lead actress in a musical
Eden Espinosa (“Lempicka”)
Maleah Joi Moon (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Kelli O’Hara (“Days of Wine and Roses”)
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Maryann Plunkett (“The Notebook”)
Gayle Rankin (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Lead actor in a musical
Brody Grant (“The Outsiders”)
Jonathan Groff (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
Dorian Harewood (“The Notebook”)
Brian d’Arcy James (“Days of Wine and Roses”)
Eddie Redmayne (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Lead actress in a play
Betsy Aidem (“Prayer for the French Republic”)
Jessica Lange (“Mother Play”)
Rachel McAdams (“Mary Jane”)
Sarah Paulson (“Appropriate”)
Amy Ryan (“Doubt: A Parable”)
Lead actor in a play
William Jackson Harper (“Uncle Vanya”)
Leslie Odom Jr. (“Purlie Victorious”)
Liev Schreiber (“Doubt: A Parable”)
Jeremy Strong (“An Enemy of the People”)
Michael Stuhlbarg (“Patriots”)
Featured actress in a musical
Shoshana Bean (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Amber Iman (“Lempicka”)
Nikki M. James (“Suffs”)
Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer (“Monty Python’s Spamalot”)
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Kecia Lewis (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Lindsay Mendez (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
Bebe Neuwirth (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Featured actor in a musical
Roger Bart (“Back to the Future: The Musical”)
Joshua Boone (“The Outsiders”)
Brandon Victor Dixon (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Sky Lakota-Lynch (“The Outsiders”)
Daniel Radcliffe (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
Steven Skybell (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Featured actress in a play
Quincy Tyler Bernstine (“Doubt: A Parable”)
Juliana Canfield (“Stereophonic”)
Celia Keenan-Bolger (“Mother Play”)
Sarah Pidgeon (“Stereophonic”)
Kara Young (“Purlie Victorious”)
Featured actor in a play
Will Brill (“Stereophonic”)
Eli Gelb (“Stereophonic”)
Jim Parsons (“Mother Play”)
Tom Pecinka (“Stereophonic”)
Corey Stoll (“Appropriate”)
Director of a musical
Maria Friedman (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
Michael Greif (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
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Leigh Silverman (“Suffs”)
Jessica Stone (“Water for Elephants”)
Danya Taymor (“The Outsiders”)
Director of a play
Daniel Aukin (“Stereophonic”)
Anne Kauffman (“Mary Jane”)
Kenny Leon (“Purlie Victorious”)
Lila Neugebauer (“Appropriate”)
Whitney White (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”)
Original score
Adam Guettel (“Days of Wine and Roses”)
David Byrne and Fatboy Slim (“Here Lies Love”)
Will Butler (“Stereophonic”)
Shaina Taub (“Suffs”)
Jamestown Revival and Justin Levine (“The Outsiders”)
Book of a musical
Kristoffer Diaz (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Bekah Brunstetter (“The Notebook”)
Adam Rapp and Justin Levine (“The Outsiders”)
Shaina Taub (“Suffs”)
Rick Elice (“Water for Elephants”)
Scenic design of a play
Dots (“Appropriate”)
Dots (“An Enemy of the People”)
Derek McLane (“Purlie Victorious”)
David Zinn (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”)
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David Zinn (“Stereophonic”)
Scenic design of a musical
AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian (“The Outsiders”)
Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Takeshi Kata (“Water for Elephants”)
David Korins (“Here Lies Love”)
Riccardo Hernández and Peter Nigrini (“Lempicka”)
Tim Hatley and Finn Ross (“Back to the Future: The Musical”)
Tom Scutt (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Costume design of a play
Dede Ayite (“Appropriate”)
Dede Ayite (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”)
Enver Chakartash (“Stereophonic”)
Emilio Sosa (“Purlie Victorious”)
David Zinn (“An Enemy of the People”)
Costume design of a musical
Dede Ayite (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Linda Cho (“The Great Gatsby”)
David Israel Reynoso (“Water for Elephants”)
Tom Scutt (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Paul Tazewell (“Suffs”)
Lighting design of a play
Isabella Byrd (“An Enemy of the People”)
Amith Chandrashaker (“Prayer for the French Republic”)
Jiyoun Chang (“Stereophonic”)
Jane Cox (“Appropriate”)
Natasha Katz (“Grey House”)
Lighting design of a musical
Brandon Stirling Baker (“Illinoise”)
Isabella Byrd (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Natasha Katz (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Bradley King and David Bengali (“Water for Elephants”)
Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim (“The Outsiders”)
Sound design of a play
Justin Ellington and Stefania Bulbarella (“Jaja’s African Hair Braiding”)
Leah Gelpe (“Mary Jane”)
Tom Gibbons (“Grey House”)
Bray Poor and Will Pickens (“Appropriate”)
Ryan Rumery (“Stereophonic”)
Sound design of a musical
M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer (“Here Lies Love”)
Kai Harada (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
Nick Lidster for Autograph (“Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club”)
Gareth Owen (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Cody Spencer (“The Outsiders”)
Choreography
Camille A. Brown (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll (“Water for Elephants”)
Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman (“The Outsiders”)
Annie-B Parson (“Here Lies Love”)
Justin Peck (“Illinoise”)
Orchestrations
Timo Andres (“Illinoise”)
Will Butler and Justin Craig (“Stereophonic”)
Justin Levine, Matt Hinkley and Jamestown Revival (“The Outsiders”)
Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone (“Hell’s Kitchen”)
Jonathan Tunick (“Merrily We Roll Along”)
This story has been updated.
correction
This story initially had inaccurate musical titles paired with choreographers Annie-B Parson, Justin Peck, Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll.
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