2006 Broadway.com Audience Award Nominees Announced; The Color Purple Tops List

The Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's The Color Purple led the list of 2006 Broadway.com Audience Award nominees, earning an impressive 13 nods. Also proving to be favorites with Broadway.com users were Sweeney Todd and The Drowsy Chaperone, earning nine and eight nominations, respectively. In categories honoring long-running shows, Wicked came out on top, earning six nominations.

The Color Purple earned nominations in the Favorite New Broadway Musical category and also received multiple nominations for stars LaChanze, Brandon Victor Dixon, Felicia P. Fields, Kingsley Leggs and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes. In addition, three selections from the Color Purple score by stage newcomers Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell and Allee Willis were honored in the Favorite New Broadway Song category: "The Color Purple," "Hell No!" and "Push Da Button."

Other notable nominees:

— Because of the unique nature of the Audience Awards, where a performer can be recognized for his or her individual work, his or her pairing with a co-star and for being part of an ensemble, many receive multiple nominations in one year. This year, Sweeney Todd's Patti LuPone was recognized in four categories: Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Musical, Favorite Diva Performance, Favorite Onstage Pair and Favorite Ensemble Cast. Following close behind with three nominations each were Sweeney Todd's Michael Cerveris and Manoel Felciano, The Color Purple's Felicia P. Fields and LaChanze, The Drowsy Chaperone's Sutton Foster and Bob Martin and, last but not least, Harry Connick, Jr. of The Pajama Game.

— In the categories honoring Broadway replacement stars, Wicked took five out of a possible 10 slots. Ben Vereen was nominated for his turn as The Wizard, but it was the ladies of the production that really ruled with nominators. In the category of Favorite Replacement Female, four of the five nominees came from Wicked: Eden Espinosa's Elphaba, Megan Hilty's Glinda and two Madame Morribles: current star Carol Kane and predecessor Rue McClanahan.

— See What I Wanna See was the most honored off-Broadway show, earning nominations for Favorite New Off-Broadway Musical, Favorite Ensemble Cast recognizing stars Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lohr, Idina Menzel, Henry Stram and Mary Testa and Favorite Diva Performance for past Audience Award winner Menzel.

— The box office hit The Odd Couple had a strong showing, earning nominations for leads Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane also nominated as Favorite Onstage Pair, a title they won in 2001 for The Producers, and featured players Rob Bartlett and Brad Garrett, in addition to a nomination for Favorite Broadway Play Revival.

— All three stars of the much talked-about Broadway staging of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain—Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd—received acting nominations in their respective categories, with the play being honored as Favorite Broadway Play Revival. No other production saw all of its stars honored.

The nominees for the 7th Annual Broadway.com Audience Awards were chosen by Broadway.com readers over a one-week period. Five nominees were chosen from each category from a list of candidates. Multiple submissions from the same computer were eliminated from the final tally.

A complete list of this year's nominees follows:

Favorite New Broadway Musical
The Color Purple
The Drowsy Chaperone
Jersey Boys
Tarzan
The Wedding Singer

Favorite New Broadway Play
Festen
The History Boys
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Rabbit Hole
Well

Favorite Broadway Musical Revival
The Pajama Game
Sweeney Todd
The Threepenny Opera

Favorite Broadway Play Revival
Awake and Sing!
Barefoot in the Park
Faith Healer
The Odd Couple
Three Days of Rain

Favorite New Off-Broadway Musical
The Great American Trailer Park Musical
Grey Gardens
I Love You Because
See What I Wanna See
[title of show]

Favorite New Off-Broadway Play
Dog Sees God
The Little Dog Laughed
Miss Witherspoon
Red Light Winter
Stuff Happens

Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Musical
Michael Cerveris, Sweeney Todd
Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game
Stephen Lynch, The Wedding Singer
Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Musical
Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
LaChanze, The Color Purple
Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Favorite Leading Actor in a Broadway Play
Matthew Broderick, The Odd Couple
Ralph Fiennes, Faith Healer
Nathan Lane, The Odd Couple
Paul Rudd, Three Days of Rain
Patrick Wilson, Barefoot in the Park

Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Play
Judy Kaye, Souvenir
Cynthia Nixon, Rabbit Hole
Amanda Peet, Barefoot in the Park
Lynn Redgrave, The Constant Wife
Julia Roberts, Three Days of Rain

Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Musical
Jim Dale, The Threepenny Opera
Brandon Victor Dixon, The Color Purple
Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd
Christian Hoff, Jersey Boys
Kingsley Leggs, The Color Purple

Favorite Featured Actress in a Broadway Musical
Carolee Carmello, Lestat
Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple
Cyndi Lauper, The Threepenny Opera
Beth Leavel, The Drowsy Chaperone
Amy Spanger, The Wedding Singer

Favorite Featured Actor in a Broadway Play
Rob Bartlett, The Odd Couple
Bradley Cooper, Three Days of Rain
Brad Garrett, The Odd Couple
Brian d'Arcy James, The Lieutenant of Inishmore
Mark Ruffalo, Awake and Sing!

Favorite Featured Actress in a Broadway Play
Lauren Ambrose, Awake and Sing!
Jill Clayburgh, Barefoot in the Park
Tyne Daly, Rabbit Hole
Cherry Jones, Faith Healer
Julianna Margulies, Festen

Favorite Diva Performance
Sutton Foster, The Drowsy Chaperone
LaChanze, The Color Purple
Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Idina Menzel, See What I Wanna See
Chita Rivera, Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Favorite Solo Performance
Adrienne Barbeau, The Property Known as Garland
Sandra Bernhard, Everything Bad and Beautiful
Steven Fales, Confessions of a Mormon Boy
Hal Holbrook, Mark Twain Tonight!
Sarah Jones, Bridge & Tunnel

Favorite Ensemble Cast
Awake and Sing!
Lauren Ambrose, Ned Eisenberg, Ben Gazzara, Jonathan Hadary, Peter Kybart, Mark Ruffalo, Pablo Schreiber, Richard Topol & Zoë Wanamaker
The Drowsy Chaperone
Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Sutton Foster, Edward Hibbert, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Beth Leavel, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Bob Martin, Jennifer Smith, Lenny Wolpe, Linda Griffin, Angela Pupello, Joey Sorge & Patrick Wetzel
The History Boys
Samuel Anderson, Joseph Attenborough, Tom Attwood, Samuel Barnett, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Frances de la Tour, Rudi Dharmalingam, Sacha Dhawan, Richard Griffiths, Colin Haigh, Andrew Knott, Pamela Merrick, Clive Merrison, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jamie Parker & Russell Tovey
See What I Wanna See
Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lohr, Idina Menzel, Henry Stram & Mary Testa
Sweeney Todd
John Arbo, Michael Cerveris, Donna Lynne Champlin, Diana DiMarzio, Manoel Felciano, Alexander Gemignani, Mark Jacoby, Patti LuPone, Benjamin Magnuson & Lauren Molina

Favorite Breakthrough Performance Male
Harry Connick, Jr., The Pajama Game
Manoel Felciano, Sweeney Todd
Bob Martin, The Drowsy Chaperone
Josh Strickland, Tarzan
John Lloyd Young, Jersey Boys

Favorite Breakthrough Performance Female
Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple
Sarah Jones, Bridge & Tunnel
Cyndi Lauper, The Threepenny Opera
Lauren Molina, Sweeney Todd
Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple

Favorite Replacement Male
Will Chase, Rent
Aaron Lazar, The Light in the Piazza
Jonathan Pryce, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Jai Rodriguez, The Producers
Ben Vereen, Wicked

Favorite Replacement Female
Eden Espinosa, Wicked
Megan Hilty, Wicked
Carol Kane, Wicked
Rue McClanahan, Wicked
Rachel York, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Favorite Onstage Pair
Matthew Broderick & Nathan Lane, The Odd Couple
Michael Cerveris & Patti LuPone, Sweeney Todd
Harry Connick, Jr. & Kelli O'Hara, The Pajama Game
LaChanze & Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, The Color Purple
Brandon Victor Dixon & Felicia P. Fields, The Color Purple

Favorite New Broadway Song
"The Color Purple," The Color Purple
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis
"Hell No!," The Color Purple
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis
"It's Your Wedding Day," The Wedding Singer
Music by Matthew Sklar, Lyrics by Chad Beguelin
"Push Da Button," The Color Purple
Music & Lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis
"Show Off," The Drowsy Chaperone
Music & Lyrics by Lisa Lambert & Greg Morrison

Favorite Long-Running Broadway Show
Avenue Q
Hairspray
The Phantom of the Opera
Rent
Wicked

Favorite Long-Running Off-Broadway Show
Altar Boyz
Blue Man Group
Forbidden Broadway
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change
Stomp

Shows with Multiple Nominations:
The Color Purple - 13
Sweeney Todd - 9
The Drowsy Chaperone - 8
The Odd Couple - 6
Wicked - 6
The Pajama Game - 5
Awake and Sing! - 4
Barefoot in the Park - 4
Jersey Boys - 4
Three Days of Rain - 4
The Threepenny Opera - 4
The Wedding Singer - 4
Faith Healer - 3
Rabbit Hole - 3
See What I Wanna See - 3
Bridge & Tunnel - 2
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels - 2
Festen - 2
The History Boys - 2
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - 2
Rent - 2
Tarzan - 2

Final voting for the Broadway.com Audience Awards takes place through 11:59PM on Thursday, June 1. Winners will be announced on Monday, June 5. Click here to vote now!