The Stage

Billy Elliot leads British charge for US Tony Awards

Published Tuesday 5 May 2009 at 15:30 by Judd Hollander

British theatre looks set for a bumper year in Broadway’s Tony Awards, with Billy Elliot the Musical leading the field with 15 nominations and UK performers, productions and creatives picking up more than a third of all nominations.

All three Billys - David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish - picked up nominations for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical, while the show also received nods for Best Book (Lee Hall), Best Original Score (Elton John-music, Lee Hall-lyrics), Direction (Stephen Daldry), Choreography (Peter Darling), Lighting Design (Ian MacNeil), Costume Design (Nicky Gillibrand), Lighting Design (Rick Fisher), Sound Design (Paul Arditti - who also received a nomination for his work on Mary Stuart), two for Featured Actor (David Bologna, Gregory Jbara) and two for Featured Actress (Carole Shelly and Haydn Gwynne, the latter who originated the role in London).

Also nominated in the Featured Actress Category, this time for a Play, was Angela Lansbury for her role as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, one of two nominations that show received, the other being for costume design.

Among Lansbury’s competition will be UK actresses Jessica Hynes and Amanda Root from the revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s The Norman Conquests, which transferred from London’s Old Vic Theatre.

Norman received seven nominations, including Best Revival, Featured Actor (Stephen Mangan, Paul Ritter), Scenic Design (Rob Howell), and direction (Matthew Warchus). Warchus also received a nomination for his work directing the Best Play nomination God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, which also originated in the West End.

Going up against Carnage in the Best Play category will be Horton Foote’s Dividing The Estate, Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Pretty and Moises Kaufman’s 33 Variations, which featured Jane Fonda’s return to Broadway after a 46-year absence. Fonda’s competition in the Best Actress category will be from British performers Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter, from the Donmar Warehouse production of Mary Stuart and Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden from God of Carnage.

Mary Stuart picked up seven total nominations including Best Revival, Costume Design (Anthony Ward), Lighting Design (Hugh Vanstone), and Direction (Phyllda Lloyd).

Meanwhile, the revival of the West End production of Equus, starring Daniel Radcliffe, picked up two nominations for Gregory Clarke’s Sound Design and David Hersey’s Lighting Design. The Ambassador Theatre Group’s production of Guys and Dolls also received two nominations in the Best Musical Revival and Best Scenic Design of a Musical categories.

Last year, British productions also received numerous nominations, although only a handful managed to convert them into wins - with Mark Rylance, Jim Norton, Boeing Boeing and The 39 Steps among those who were successful.

The American equivalent of the Olivier Awards, and named for actress Antoinette Perry, the 63rd Annual Tony Awards will be aired on Sunday, June 7 in a live, three-hour event broadcast from New York’s Radio City Music Hall. The Tonys are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

Receiving Tony Awards in the four non-competitive categories were composer/lyricist Jerry Herman (Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre); the Signature Theatre of Arlington, Virginia (Regional Theatre Award), a prize that comes with a cash prize of $25,000; actress Phyllis Newman (Isabelle Stevenson Awards), and Theatrical publicist Shirley Herz (Excellence in the Theatre).

The 2009 Tony Nominations are:

Best Play

Dividing the Estate

God of Carnage

Reasons to Be Pretty

33 Variations

Best Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical

Next to Normal

Rock of Ages

Shrek The Musical

Best Book of a Musical

Billy Elliot, The Musical - Lee Hall

Next to Normal - Brian Yorkey

Shrek The Musical - David Lindsay-Abaire

[Title of Show] - Hunter Bell

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Billy Elliot, The Musical - Music: Elton John, Lyrics: Lee Hall

Next to Normal - Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Brian Yorkey

9 to 5: The Musical - Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton

Shrek The Musical - Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

Best Revival of a Play

Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Mary Stuart

The Norman Conquests

Waiting for Godot

Best Revival of a Musical

Guys and Dolls

Hair

Pal Joey

West Side Story

Best Special Theatrical Event

Liza’s at The Palace

Slava’s Snowshow

Soul of Shaolin

You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage

Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow

James Gandolfini, God of Carnage

Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King

Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Hope Davis, God of Carnage

Jane Fonda, 33 Variations

Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage

Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart

Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Gavin Creel, Hair

Brian d’Arcy James, Shrek The Musical

Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages

J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical

Stockard Channing, Pal Joey

Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical

Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical

Alice Ripley, Next to Normal

Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

John Glover, Waiting for Godot

Zach Grenier, 33 Variations

Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests

Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests

Roger Robinson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate

Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests

Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty

Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit

Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical

Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical

Will Swenson, Hair

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal

Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Karen Olivo, West Side Story

Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey

Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King

Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests

Derek McLane, 33 Variations

Michael Yeargan, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls

Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Scott Pask, Pal Joey

Mark Wendland, Next to Normal

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dale Ferguson, Exit the King

Jane Greenwood, Waiting for Godot

Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit

Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages

Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical

Michael McDonald, Hair

Best Lighting Design of a Play

David Hersey, Equus

David Lander, 33 Variations

Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Kevin Adams, Hair

Kevin Adams, Next to Normal

Howell Binkley, West Side Story

Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Mary Stuart

Gregory Clarke, Equus

Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King

Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Acme Sound Partners, Hair

Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages

Brian Ronan, Next to Normal

Best Direction of a Play

Phyllida Lloyd, Mary Stuart

Bartlett Sher, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage

Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests

Best Direction of a Musical

Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Michael Greif, Next to Normal

Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages

Diane Paulus, Hair

Best Choreography

Karole Armitage, Hair

Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical

Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

Best Orchestrations

Larry Blank, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas

Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical

Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal

Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Jerry Herman

Regional Theatre Tony Award

Signature Theatre, Arlington, Va.

Isabelle Stevenson Award

Phyllis Newman

Tony Honor for Excellence in the Theatre

Shirley Herz