The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are the most prestigious in the US and this year’s nominations include a Broadway show written by newcomers and starring unknowns. ‘A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder’ has 10 nominations, including best musical, best director and best leading actor.
But the competition is tough and ‘Aladdin’, based on the Disney film, is also up for Best Musical, much to the excitement of actor James Monroe Iglehart.
“You try to keep the ego in check and just do the job and do it well. But then there is a part of you that really wants a Tony. But you know, you don’t want to say that to people. But inside, you’re looking at people and they say, ‘You did such a great job, you’re going to win’, and you say, ‘Thank you! Thank you so much, I really want this Tony!’.”
‘Mothers and Sons’ has been nominated for Best Play and the leading actress, Tyne Daly, is up for Best Actress. You might remember her from the police series Cagney and Lacey.
She was also thrilled to be nominated: “My pal called me up and said, ‘Congratulations and congratulations to the play’ and I was real happy.”
Some notable exceptions from the list of nominations were James Franco, Daniel Radcliffe and Denzel Washington, for his performance in ‘A Raisin in the Sun’.
Kenny Leon, the show’s director, had mixed feelings: “I was really excited when they said LaTanya Richardson Jackson, and I thought she really deserved that, but of course I was a little disappointed at Denzel not getting nominated, but he’s such an American treasure! He’s a great guy and he’s the anchor of our show.”
Neil Patrick Harris was nominated for his performance in punk-rock musical ‘Hedwig and the Angry Inch’.
The Tony Awards will be hosted by Hugh Jackman on June 8.
You can see the full list of nominations here
