Alicia Keys' semi-autobiographical musical and a play about a group of musicians struggling to record an album each earned 13 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, in a packed Broadway season where shows need all the help they can get. It was tied for the most.
The musical “Hell's Kitchen” features some of Keys' biggest hits as well as her new songs. David Adjmi's play “Stereophonic,'' which explores creativity and conflict within the recording studio, has become the most nominated play in Tony Award history, breaking the record set by “Slave Play,'' which received 12 nominations in 2021. .
The favorite to win in the musical revival category is “Merrily We Roll Along,'' a star-studded production that turned Stephen Sondheim's flop into the season's biggest hit. But the category also includes the extravagant “Cabaret,” starring Eddie Redmayne, which received the most nominations, the hilarious revival of “The Who's Tommy,” and the now-closed film “The Who's Tommy.” He is also facing several other major revivals, including a revival of Who's Tommy? “Gutenberg! The Musical!” was a success with two charming co-stars.
The two most nominated shows, “Hell's Kitchen” and “Stereophonic,” opened 24 hours apart less than two weeks ago.
“Stereophonic,” which features songs by former Arcade Fire member Will Butler, premiered off-Broadway last fall at the non-profit Playwrights Horizons. Despite having a running time of just three hours and no high-powered celebrity cast, the film was a success, supported by strong reviews and word of mouth.
“I'm just amazed,” said Adjmi, a longtime downtown playwright whose work has never made it to Broadway. “I started this play 11 years ago and I didn't even know if it would actually be performed. It was surreal, very demanding on every level, a place of passion and obsession. To be able to get paid on a platform like this is mind-boggling and I'm at a loss for words.”
“Hell's Kitchen,” which opened off-Broadway at the nonprofit Public Theater starting last fall, follows the story of a 17-year-old man growing up in Manhattan who struggles to overcome his first love, his desire for independence and his strained relationships with his friends. This is a story about a young girl. She is a well-intentioned but overprotective single mother.
“I'm definitely in a state of extreme panic. It's just amazing and amazing and so grateful,” Keyes said. His challenges as an adolescent in the 1990s shaped the plot of Hell's Kitchen. “I really identified with the mission of this story. I always felt like this story had a purpose, a reason, something important.”
The nominations come at a difficult time for Broadway. Theaters are packed with shows, with 36 Tony-eligible shows opening this season, including an unusually large production of his 15 new musicals. But since the pandemic, production costs have soared while the number of ticket buyers has declined.
Other highlights of the nominations include:
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Daniel Radcliffe has finally broken all the bonds that kept him from getting a Tony Award nomination. The actor, beloved for playing Harry Potter in all eight movies, was ignored by nominees for his past four Broadway performances, but on Tuesday he was honored for his performance in “Merrily We Roll Along.” was recognized.
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“Hell's Kitchen'' is currently in the midst of an unusually intense music award race. That's because none of the candidates has broken out as a consensus favorite at the box office or among critics. Just behind “Hell's Kitchen'' in the nomination derby was “The Outsider,'' a musical adaptation of SE Hinton's classic young adult novel, with 12 nominations. Other nominees include “Illinois,” a narrative dance that tells a story of self-discovery with music by Sufjan Stevens. “Suffs”, a look at the women's suffrage movement in the United States. and “Water for Elephants,” which is based on a novel about a circus romance.
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“Stereophonic” appears to be the favorite in the Best Play race, but it's up against four strong competitors: “Jaja's African Hair Braiding,” “Mary Jane,” “Mother Play,” and “Prayer for the French Republic.” There is.
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Notably, three of the nominated plays (Jajazz, Mary Jane, and Prayer) were produced on Broadway by a single nonprofit organization, the Manhattan Theater Club. Two of the nominated musicals (Hell's Kitchen and Suffus) were produced on Broadway. ) opened at the Public Theater.
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In addition to Radcliffe and Redmayne, other screen stars who received Tony nods include Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Paulson, Jeremy Strong, Liev Schreiber, Leslie Odom Jr. Amy Ryan and others are there.
Nominations were chosen by a group of 44 people with theatrical expertise, many of them artists or arts administrators, but with no financial stake in the performances in question. He originally had 60 people in this group, but that number dwindled because they needed to watch all 36 of his shows, which meant they missed some shows and created a conflict of interest.
The Tony Awards ceremony, sponsored by the Broadway League and American Theater Wing, will be held on June 16th. The ceremony will be hosted by Ariana DeBose at Lincoln Center and broadcast on CBS.
