In and Out: A Look at the 2005 Tony Nominations
Spamalot was tops when the 2005 Tony nominations were announced on May 10. The tuner received 14 nominations, including one for Best Musical. The total is up there, but The Producers' record of 15 Tony nominations remains untouched. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Light in the Piazza, which will both compete with Spamalot in the Best Musical category, received eleven nominations each. The other Best Musical contender, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, netted six nods.
Doubt and The Pillowman are locked in a battle for the Best Play Tony Award, and each did well at the nominations. Doubt received more nods than any play with eight, including nominations for all four actors. Proof, which, like Doubt, transferred from the Manhattan Theatre Company's off-Broadway space to the Walter Kerr, similarly received nods for each of its actors back in 2001. The Pillowman received two fewer nominations that Doubt did.
Two closed shows also did well. Gem of the Ocean, which was warmly received by most critics, picked up five nominations, including one for Best Play. The Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Pacific Overtures, which received mixed reviews and did not extend its run at Studio 54 beyond its initial booking period, was also a winner today, receiving four nominations.
The acting categories offered a few surprises. Mary-Louise Parker received rave reviews for her performance in the now-closed Manhattan Theatre Club production of Reckless, but she did not receive either an Outer Critics Circle or Drama Desk Award nomination. Nevertheless, Parker did receive a Tony nod for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. Similarly, Gem of the Ocean star Phylicia Rashad, also a Leading Actress in a Play contender, did not receive noms for other awards for her critically acclaimed performance. Lead Actor in a Musical contenders Gary Beach of La Cage aux Folles and John Lithgow of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels were also not recognized by the previous awards but still honored by the Tony committee. Other actors in that same situation include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf's Mirielle Enos, The Rivals's Dana Ivey and Spamalot's Christopher Sieber.
As is true each year, the people left off the Tony nomination list is almost as big a story as who was included. Because three actresses Sight Unseen's Laura Linney, Gem of the Ocean's Phylicia Rashad and Parker who appeared in shows that are now closed received nods for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, three actresses in currently running productions The Glass Menagerie's Jessica Lange, A Streetcar Named Desire's Natasha Richardson and On Golden Pond's Leslie Uggams were left without nominations.
The list of celebrities who appeared on Broadway this year that did not receive Tony nods also includes Julius Caesar's Denzel Washington, Spamalot's David Hyde Pierce, The Pillowman's Jeff Goldblum, A Streetcar Named Desire's John C. Reilly, The Glass Menagerie's Christian Slater, 'night, Mother stars Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco and Steel Magnolias's Delta Burke. Another notable omission from the Featured Actor in a Musical category was theater regular Denis O'Hare, a past Tony winner who previously received nominations from the Outer Critics and Drama Desk for his work in Sweet Charity. In total there were 14 Tony-eligible productions that did not pick up a single nomination. They are: The Frogs, Dracula, Brooklyn, Good Vibrations, All Shook Up, Brooklyn Boy, After the Fall, 'night, Mother, The Glass Menagerie, Julius Caesar, Steel Magnolias, Forever Tango, The Good Body and Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed. Of those, six are currently running All Shook Up, Brooklyn, The Glass Menagerie, Julius Caesar, Steel Magnolias and Jackie Mason: Freshly Squeezed.
What will happen Tony night? Stay tuned… Tony winner Hugh Jackman will host the 59th Annual Tony Awards on June 5 at Radio City Music Hall.
