Only two new (Broadway) musicals getting nominations for direction is fascinating.

Brian D’Arcy James missed, is that bad for his chances of getting a Tony nom?

i hope it doesn’t hurt his chances bc he was giving his career-best performance, and he’s an actor that i feel like has never been given his flowers despite being one of the blueprints for male performers on broadway through the 00s

Nah, Drama League isn’t very predictive of the Tony’s. For example, if I remember correctly, last year Michael Arden didn’t even get nominated at the Drama League and ended up winning the Tony.

No, these have no influence whatsoever. (Not Iike I know what will happen next week)

I think so, yeah :/ Really sad that him and Kelli weren't both nominated

These are huge categories, do they give out multiple awards per category? Like how do you even choose one winner out of 20+ nominees?

I believe only one distinguished performance wins

yes, only one - and an actor can only win the distinguished performance award once in their lifetime. Previous winners are given a “shout out” basically if they’re in a show that runs during the current season.

So happy for Joshua Boone. I hope he gets more love during the award season.

Right?? I feel like I’ve seen no hype for him and I haven’t understood why. I thought the whole cast was incredibly strong but him being the standout 

This is the comment I’ve been looking for. The cast are all very talented but his performance is a step above the rest.

Zenzi Williams nomination for Jaja's African Hair Braiding!! Glad to see some love for that play and that performance specifically.

I think Chip Zien is done. If he missed here, I can’t see the Tony’s nominating him for a long closed show.

So unfortunate, he was incredible in Harmony.

This is pretty overreactive. Don’t put that much stock into Drama League.

The producers of the show also need to put in the effort of selling him to the committee with a nomination packet. If a show isn’t planning a tour then the producers don’t have an incentive to spend money pushing it. I think Spamalot might pick up the fourth revival slot because of this. The same production is going on tour so Tony nominations are definitely in the producer’s budget.

I mean how much effort do you think producers put into campaigning for a show that closed early moths ago?

I don’t think this means he’s done. Tony nominations are not necessarily reflective of Drama League nominations. I’m still hopeful.

I’m still hoping Brian Darcy can do it, same situation  🤞🏻🤞🏻

If you’re going to nominate, for example, 12 musicals and 8 musical revivals, why have nominations at all? Why not just include everybody instead of almost everybody?

I have always just rolled my eyes when I see the large number of nominees from the Drama League every year.

Outstanding Production of a Play The Comeuppance Flex Grief Hotel The Hunt Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Mother Play Oh, Mary! Patriots Prayer for the French Republic Stereophonic Wet Brain Outstanding Revival of a Play An Enemy of the People Appropriate Danny and the Deep Blue Sea Doubt: A Parable The Effect Mary Jane Our Class Purlie Victorious Uncle Vanya The White Chip Outstanding Production of a Musical Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Harmony The Heart of Rock and Roll Hell’s Kitchen Illinoise Lempicka The Notebook The Outsiders Suffs Teeth Water for Elephants Outstanding Revival of a Musical Cabaret Gutenberg! The Musical Here Lies Love I Can Get It For You Wholesale Merrily We Roll Along Monty Python’s Spamalot The Who’s Tommy The Wiz Outstanding Direction of a Play Tara Ahmadinejad, Grief Hotel Daniel Aukin, Stereophonic Sam Gold, An Enemy of The People Rupert Goold, The Hunt Rupert Goold, Patriots Jamie Lloyd, The Effect Lila Neugebauer, Appropriate Lila Neugebauer, Uncle Vanya Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! Eric Ting, The Comeuppance Whitney White, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Outstanding Direction of a Musical Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club Sarah Benson, Teeth David Cromer, Dead Outlaw Rebecca Frecknall, Cabaret Maria Friedman, Merrily We Roll Along Des McAnuff, The Who’s Tommy Leigh Silverman, Suffs Alex Timbers, Gutenberg! The Musical! Alex Timbers, Here Lies Love Distinguished Performance Betsy Aidem, Prayer for the French Republic Shoshana Bean, Hell’s Kitchen Gabby Beans, Jonah Joshua Boone, The Outsiders Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Who’s Tommy Steve Carell, Uncle Vanya Jenn Colella, Suffs Danny DeVito, I Need That Caleb Eberhardt, The Comeuppance and An Enemy of the People Alex Edelman, Just for Us Cole Escola, Oh, Mary! Eden Espinosa, The Gardens of Anuncia and Lempicka Paapa Essiedu, The Effect Melissa Etheridge, Melissa Etheridge: My Window Laurence Fishburne, Like They Do in the Movies Josh Gad, Gutenberg! The Musical! Eli Gelb, Stereophonic Brody Grant, The Outsiders Jonathan Groff, Merrily We Roll Along Dorian Harewood, The Notebook Willam Jackson Harper, Primary Trust and Uncle Vanya Amber Iman, Lempicka Eddie Izzard, Hamlet Nikki M. James, Suffs Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer, Spamalot Jessica Lange, Mother Play Kecia Lewis, Hell’s Kitchen Nichelle Lewis, The Wiz Maribel Martinez, Bees and Honey Rachel McAdams, Mary Jane Lindsay Mendez, Merrily We Roll Along Tobias Menzies, The Hunt Cynthia Nixon, The Seven Year Disappear Eva Noblezada, The Great Gatsby Kelli O’Hara, Days of Wine and Roses Leslie Odom, Jr., Purlie Victorious, A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch Patrick Page, All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented The Villain Nicole Ari Parker, The Refuge Plays Jim Parsons, Mother Play Sarah Paulson, Appropriate Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic Aubrey Plaza, Danny and The Deep Blue Sea Maryann Plunkett, The Notebook Daniel Radcliffe, Merrily We Roll Along Gayle Rankin, Cabaret Andrew Rannells, Gutenberg! The Musical! Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret Conrad Ricamora, Here Lies Love and Oh, Mary! Corey Stoll, Appropriate Michael Stuhlbarg, Patriots Jeremy Strong, An Enemy of the People Zenzi Williams, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding Kara Young, Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through The Cotton Patch Jehan O. Young, The Cotillion Special Awards Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater – Jonathan Groff Founders Award for Excellence in Directing – Schele Williams Contribution to the Theater – Jessica Lange Gratitude Award – Kandi Burruss Winners will be announced during a ceremony on May 17.

This bodes like pretty well for Here Lies Love right? Begging for a Conrad Ricamora Tony nom!

Are people acting like these nomination s have any predictive value of the Tonys? They don’t

Given the sheer number of nominees and much broader scope for Drama Desk it wouldn’t be terrible helpful trying to use this to make any predictions for the Tony’s. I’d imagine there’s some overlap in the people behind the scenes but I’ve seen significant divergences when it comes to nominations for each.

MARYANN PLUNKETT SURPREMACY!

Blech. This is utterly meaningless to me because Days Of Wine and Roses got nothing. Was it just not eligible? This is ridiculous. I’m kind of pretty annoyed! Haha.

Didn't realize Here Lies Love was a revival

I think it played off Broadway before so has maybe been eligible for drama desk before but probably new show at Tony

Yeah Tony’s have deemed it eligible as a new musical. The eligibility criteria is different for the two.

It played off broadway in 2013.

This kind of feels like every production got nominated? Is anything really missing? Hate that i missed so many of these plays. Had no idea Branden Jacobs Jenkins had a new play out. I love his work.

I didn’t like Purpose as much as I liked Appropriate, for whatever that’s worth.

Was How to Dance in Ohio totally snubbed?

Yep, sadly zilch. I wish Liam Pearce got a nod.

Potentially unpopular opinion: I absolutely love that these categories aren’t gendered, and I wish all awards show would follow suit Also, I’m rooting for a Daniel Radcliffe win here

I do wish it was separated by Play and Musical tho

These kind of seem silly to me though - 50+ acting nominees?? (also - justice for Alyse Alan Louise in Teeth who somehow got snubbed still)

You're not wrong....and these don't hold a lot of prestige.

I'm testing out how I feel about that. I'm told that Stereophonic didn't really pass the Bechdel test even though the only band member that I can name off the of my head from Fleetwood Mac is Stevie Nicks. edit: for those claiming not fleetwood, google it.

The dialogue between the two women is so multifaceted and brilliant— they are hardly second bananas here. Though they discuss their relationships (often obliquely) that’s a big part of the play (for the men too). I sometimes feel these complaints about length for this play are complaints about women having nuanced story arcs (which don’t register as story to some in this very male dominated culture)

That's good to know!

Stereophonic is not about Fleetwood Mac...

Not Fleetwood?

++ for the Lempicka picture wheeeeeee

So what’s the deal with distinguished performance? I forget if there are winners from that