Most people only focus on the Grammy Awards or the Academy Awards, maybe the Screen Actors Guild Awards or Golden Globes Awards. Fewer people mainstream the Tony Awards, which is unfortunate because it can often be the most entertaining award show of award season.
The nominees for the 2014 Tony Awards, which will take place June 8, were announced April 29. Twenty-seven productions were nominated among the 26 categories, with each category having four nominees.
Taking the lead is “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” with 10 nominations, followed by “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” with eight. “A Gentleman’s Guide” is a new musical, while “Hedwig,” starring Neil Patrick Harris, is a revival.
The biggest names in revivals are “Les Miserables” for musical and Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” for play. “Les Miserables” is still in recent memory from the December 2012 movie, the 25th anniversary tour in 2010 or maybe even the 2006 revival. “Twelfth Night” has had over two dozen revivals since it was first done on Broadway in 1804, the most recent in 1998.
These are huge names in the revivals category. At this years Tony Awards revivals are king, unlike last year when everything was a movie adaptation, including “Kinky Boots,” “Matilda,” “Bring it On,” and “A Christmas Story.”
It’s always amusing to spot an actor or actress attempting to earn “EGOT,” that is, an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. There are only 12 actors who have achieved this, including Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, and most recently, Robert Lopez, who earned EGOT status after “Frozen” won an Academy Award for best original song.
Unfortunately this year none of the nominees are eligible. I’d keep my eye on Bryan Cranston and Woody Allen however, because they are big names who could be contenders in the future.
With Hugh Jackman hosting, the production value of this years awards is going to be phenomenal. Expect hilarious and awesome homages and performances by nominated casts. There is a high likelihood of Neil Patrick Harris popping in for several guest performances throughout the night.