AFP
New York (AFP) โ A new Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about a young artistโs inner demons is leading this yearโs Tony nominations announced Monday, with 11 chances at the highest honors in American theater.
โA Strange Loopโ will compete for the coveted best musical prize with โGirl From The North Country,โ a Depression-era show using the songs of Bob Dylan; โMJ,โ a jukebox musical about Michael Jackson; โMr. Saturday Night,โ which remakes the beloved Billy Crystal film; โSix,โ a retelling of the lives of Henry VIIIโs wives; and โParadise Square,โ about 19th-century era race relations in New York.
This yearโs Tonys will celebrate the first Broadway season that followed a lengthy pandemic shutdown of live theater and left the industry reeling.
โMJโ and โParadise Squareโ were neck and neck behind โA Strange Loopโ with 10 nominations each, while the hit โCompanyโ โ by the late Broadway icon Stephen Sondheim โ received nine nods, including for best revival of a musical.
โThe Lehman Trilogyโ โ which chronicles the rapid ascent and disastrous fall of the investment firm in the 2008 financial crisis โ is vying for eight awards including best play.
Among the best-known performers up for Tonys this year are Ruth Negga, Hugh Jackman, Billy Crystal, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker and Patti LuPone.
The star-studded 75th annual Tony Awards, Broadwayโs biggest night and the equivalent of the Academy Awards for theater, will take place on June 12.
The show put on by the American Theatre Wing includes 26 competitive categories, with nominees selected by a 29-member independent committee of theater professionals.
Now 650 Tony voters from within the industry will choose the winners ahead of the June ceremony.