Nominations were announced this morning for the 63rd annual Tonys, Broadway's biggest awards, and the news of who got nominated may get outshone by the story of who didn't.
Billy Elliot, The Musical racked up the biggest tally, at 15, including an unusual joint nomination for the three young actors who alternate in the title role of the kid who's just gotta dance. But some much-praised revivals were shut out — like The Seagull, in which Kristin Scott Thomas gave an incandescent performance, and Desire Under the Elms, which left New York Times critic Charles Isherwood drooling over the sexual tension between Carla Gugino and Pablo Schreiber, pictured at right. ("Rarely has sexual passion been depicted with such tense, animalistic ferocity on a Broadway stage," said Isherwood.) And some not-so-well-reviewed shows, like Shrek the Musical and Dolly Parton's adaptation of 9 to 5, did surprisingly well.
The Times' Patrick Healy posted a live blog on the nominations this morning — lots of good observations and comments, among them that this was such a good year for play revivals there were bound to be some Tony omissions. See excerpts after the jump.
This article appears in Apr 29 – May 5, 2009.