Hadestown burns brightly as Tony nominations are revealed

Picture: Matthew Murphy

Hadestown sizzled as the Tony Award nominations were announced, leading the field with 14 nods, including Best Musical.

Following close on its trail were two other Best Musical contenders, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations, with 12 nominations, and Tootsie, with 11.

Also in the Best Musical race are Beetlejuice, which garnered eight nominations, and The Prom, which received seven nods.

The tightest Tony contest will be for Best Musical Revival. There were only two eligible productions, and both were nominated: the drastically reimagined Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and the lovingly appreciated Kiss Me, Kate. Including the tap for Best Musical Revival, Oklahoma! scored eight nominations, while Kiss Me, Kate picked up four.

Other musicals receiving Tony nods in various categories were The Cher Show and King Kong, each with three nominations, and Be More Chill, with one.

The awards will be presented on 9 June 2019 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, with James Corden hosting.

Several special Tony Awards have already been announced, with lifetime achievements going to Terrence McNally, the prolific playwright whose work includes the books for such musicals as Ragtime, Kiss of the Spider Woman and The Full Monty; Harold Wheeler, Broadway orchestrator and conductor; and actress Rosemary Harris. Harris has appeared mostly in straight plays, but she is currently assaying Professor Higgins’ mum in the Lincoln Center revival of My Fair Lady.

There will also be a special award for the late Marin Mazzie, the three-time Tony-nominated actress who died last September for her legacy of leadership and advocacy as she fought ovarian cancer. Other special honours are going to Jason Michael Webb, who imbued the play with music Choir Boy with gospel arrangements, and to Sonny Tilders and Creature Technology Company for their work in creating the titular guy in King Kong.

Ron Cohen

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Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre, New York – Review