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'Hell's Kitchen' and 'Stereophonic' lead Tony Awards with 13 nominations each

<em>Hell's Kitchen</em> is one of the Tony Award nominees for Best Musical.
Marc J. Franklin
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Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen is one of the Tony Award nominees for Best Musical.
  • 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

It was a crowded Tony Award season this year, with 36 eligible musicals and plays opening on Broadway stages. But by the time Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry finished reading the nominations on YouTube, there were some clear front-runners: Hell's Kitchen, a musical based on Alicia Keys' life, and Stereophonic, a play with a lot of music that's about a Fleetwood Mac-style band developing an album, both had 13 nominations each. They were closely followed by The Outsiders, a musical based on the S.E. Hinton book and also a fan-favorite 1983 film. The revival Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club had nine.

Surprisingly, the season's runaway hit, the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, had just seven nominations, tied with the circus musical Water for Elephants, based on the book by Sarah Gruen.

The awards are taking place on Sunday, June 16 at 8:00 p.m. ET at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. Ariana DeBose is returning for her third time as host. They'll air live on CBS or on Paramount+ with Showtime. Paramount+ Essential subscribers can watch on demand the next day.

Best Musical

  • Hell's Kitchen
  • Illinoise
  • The Outsiders
  • Suffs
  • Water for Elephants

Best Revival of a Musical

Best Direction of a Musical

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Best Book of a Musical

  • Kristoffer Diaz, Hell's Kitchen
  • Bekah Brunstetter, The Notebook
  • Adam Rapp and Justine Levine, The Outsiders
  • Shaina Taub, Suffs
  • Rick Elice, Water for Elephants

Best Play

  • Jaja's African Hair Braiding
  • Mary Jane
  • Mother Play
  • Prayer for the French Republic
  • Stereophonic

Best Revival of a Play

Best Direction of a Play

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Best Performance by a Leading 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

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Best Original Score

Best Orchestrations

Best Choreography

  • Annie-B Parson, Here Lies Love
  • Camille A. Brown, Hell's Kitchen
  • Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman, The Outsiders
  • Justin Peck, Illinoise
  • Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll, Water for Elephants

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Best Scenic Design in a Play

Best Costume Design of a Play

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Best Sound Design of a Play

Copyright 2024 NPR

Corrected: May 2, 2024 at 12:00 AM EDT
An earlier version of this story misspelled the first name of Eden Espinosa as Edin.
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Jennifer Vanasco
Jennifer Vanasco is an editor on the NPR Culture Desk, where she also reports on theater, visual arts, cultural institutions, the intersection of tech/culture and the economics of the arts.