Drag Queens & Witches & Snubs, Oh My! 8 Fun Facts About the 2014 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award Nominees

Hooray, the 2014 Broadway.com Audience Choice Award polls are officially open! But wait—before you cast your votes for your faves, we’ve combed through our archives to collect some important information that might make you think twice about which stars and shows you vote for. Read below for eight fun facts about this year’s nominees, then click here to #VoteBway!


1. New Kids Rule
15 of this year’s BACA nominees are making their Broadway debuts: Ramin Karimloo (Les Miserables), Bryan Cranston (All the Way), James Franco (Of Mice and Men), Zachary Quinto (The Glass Menagerie), Leighton Meester (Of Mice and Men), Zachary Levi (First Date), Andy Mientus (Les Miserables), Kyle Scatliffe (Les Miserables), Sarah Greene (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Lisa O’Hare (A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder), Emerson Steele (Violet), Arthur Darvill (Once), Ben Platt (The Book of Mormon), Fran Drescher (Cinderella) and Jane Lynch (Annie).


2. Sutton Reigns Supreme
Violet star and two-time nominee Sutton Foster has previously won eight BACA awards—the most of any actor in the awards’ history. Will she snag two more trophies to put on her shelf this year?


3. Les Miserables Leads the Pack
The hit revival racked up 11 nominations, including a whopping eight acting nominations, but it didn’t come close to touching Spring Awakening’s record 14 acting nominations in 2007. Spring Awakening and Hairspray are currently tied for the most BACA wins, with seven each.


4. Drag Is the New Black
Four-and-a-half actors have previously won BACAs for drag performances: Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), Nick Adams (Priscilla Queen of the Desert), Matt McGrath (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Harvey Fierstein (Hairspray) and Gary Beach, (who only wore a dress for one scene in The Producers). With Gabriel Ebert (Casa Valentina), Mark Rylance (Twelfth Night) and Neil Patrick Harris (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) all nominated for drag roles this year, there might be a few more additions to that category!


5. Witches Win Big
Wicked has won Favorite Long-Running Show for the last five years—will The Book of Mormon, Matilda, Newsies or Pippin rob the witches’ title in 2014? It’s up to you!


6. Dan Rad Made History
The Cripple of Inishmaan star and BACA nominee Daniel Radcliffe currently holds the title of the youngest winner! He was 19 when he won his first trophy for Equus in 2009.


7. BACA Winners Unite
13 of the 2014 BACA nominees are previous winners: Will Swenson (Les Miserables), Norbert Leo Butz (Big Fish), Sutton Foster (Violet), Idina Menzel (If/Then), Krysta Rodriguez (First Date), LaChanze (If/Then), Santino Fontana (Act One), Daniel Radcliffe (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Cherry Jones (The Glass Menagerie), Audra McDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill), Mary-Louise Parker (The Snow Geese), Celia Keenan-Bolger (The Glass Menagerie) and Marin Mazzie (Bullets Over Broadway).


8. Snubs Get Love
A whopping 34 BACA nominees were snubbed by the Tony Awards committee this year: Norbert Leo Butz (Big Fish), Will Swenson (Les Miserables), Krysta Rodriguez (First Date), Hunter Foster (The Bridges of Madison County), Jonathan Freeman (Aladdin), Anthony Rapp (If/Then), James Snyder (If/Then), Kate Baldwin (Big Fish), Nikki M. James (Les Miserables), LaChanze (If/Then), Caissie Levy (Les Miserables), Santino Fontana (Act One), James Franco (Of Mice and Men), Zachary Quinto (The Glass Menagerie), Daniel Radcliffe (The Cripple of Inishmaan), Debra Messing (Outside Mullingar), Mary-Louise Parker (The Snow Geese), Gabriel Ebert (Casa Valentina), Jim Norton (Of Mice and Men), Victoria Clark (The Snow Geese), Andrea Martin (Act One), Leighton Meester (Of Mice and Men), Marin Mazzie (Bullets Over Broadway), Zachary Levi (First Date), Keala Settle (Les Miserables), Steven Pasquale (The Bridges of Madison County), Jake Epstein (Beautiful), Andy Mientus (Les Miserables), Cliff Saunders (Les Miserables), Kyle Scatliffe (Les Miserables), Lisa O’Hare (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder), Courtney Reed (Aladdin), Emerson Steele (Violet) and Helene Yorke (Bullets Over Broadway). They all have a chance to win big at the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards!

Are you ready? Click here to #VoteBway!