How to Succeed, Anything Goes, The Book of Mormon Cast Albums & Harry Connick Jr. Among Grammy Nominees

The cast recordings of Anything Goes, The Book of Mormon and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying have received nominations for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be presented on February 12, 2012. In a separate category, Harry Connick Jr. received a nomination for In Concert on Broadway. Nominees in a whopping 78 categories were announced on November 30.

Although the vast majority of Grammy categories included five nominees, only three recordings were deemed worthy of the “Best Musical Theater Cast Album” award. The official nominees list explains that the Grammy is awarded “to the principal vocalist(s) and the album producers(s) of 51% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of a new score are eligible for an award if they have written and/or composed a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time on the album.” Translation: Daniel Radcliffe, Sutton Foster or Josh Gad may soon be the proud recipients of a Grammy Award.

The official credits for the three nominated cast albums are as follows:

Anything Goes (Ghostlight Records): Sutton Foster & Joel Grey, principal soloists; Rob Fisher, James Lowe & Joel Moss, producers

The Book of Mormon (Ghostlight Records): Josh Gad & Andrew Rannells, principal soloists; Anne Garefino, Robert Lopez, Stephen Oremus, Trey Parker, Scott Rudin & Matt Stone, producers; Robert Lopez, Trey Parker & Stone, composers/lyricists

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Decca): John Larroquette & Daniel Radcliffe, principal soloists; Robert Sher, producer

Connick, who is currently starring on Broadway in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, received a nomination for “Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album” for Columbia Records’ release of his 2010 Broadway concert. Connick will compete for the Grammy with Tony Bennett (Duets II), Susan Boyle (The Gift), Seth MacFarlane (Music Is Better Than Words), and Barbra Streisand (What Matters Most: Barbra Streisand Sings the Lyrics of Alan and Marilyn Bergman).

This year's Grammys honor recordings released from October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011. Leading the list of nominations with seven was Kanye West, followed by six Grammy nods for Adele, Bruno Mars and Foo Fighters.