Tony Awards Nominations 2023: Live Updates - The New York Times

May 2, 2023, 9:13 a.m. ET

Theater reporter

As Broadway’s rebound from the pandemic shutdown picks up pace, Tony nominators showered much-sought attention on a wide variety of shows, from razzle-dazzle spectacles to quirky adventurous fare.

“Some Like It Hot,” a jazz age show about two performers who witness a gangland slaying and dress as women to escape the mob, scored the most nominations: 13. But it faces extremely stiff competition in the race for best new musical — ticket buyers have not made any of the contenders a slam-dunk hit, and there does not appear to be a consensus favorite among the industry insiders who make up the Tony voting pool.

The nominees for best new musical are wildly different from one another — the others include three that picked up nine nominations: “& Juliet,” which combines pop songs with an alternative narrative arc for Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers; “New York, New York,” a dance-driven tuner about a pair of young musicians seeking success and love in a postwar city; and “Shucked,” a pun-laden country comedy about a rural community facing a corn crisis. The critical favorite remains “Kimberly Akimbo,” about a high school student with a life-altering genetic condition and a criminally dysfunctional family; it picked up eight nominations.

Among the well-known performers who scored nominations are Sara Bareilles, Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer, Josh Groban, Sean Hayes, Samuel L. Jackson, Wendell Pierce and Ben Platt, as well as the perennial Broadway favorite, Audra McDonald.

To compete in another prestigious category, for best play, the nominators chose “Ain’t No Mo’,” Jordan E. Cooper’s wild comedy imagining a moment when America decides to resolve its race issues by offering all Black residents one-way tickets to Africa; “Between Riverside and Crazy,” Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play about a retired police officer trying to hang on to his apartment; “Cost of Living,” Martyna Majok’s drama about caregiving and disability; “Fat Ham,” James Ijames’s riff on “Hamlet,” set in the North Carolina backyard of a family that runs a barbecue restaurant; and “Leopoldstadt,” Tom Stoppard’s autobiographically inspired drama about a European Jewish family before, during and after World War II. Three of the Tony-nominated plays, “Between Riverside and Crazy,” “Cost of Living” and “Fat Ham,” have already won the Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Of the 38 Tony-eligible plays and musicals this season, 27 scored at least one nomination, leaving 11 with no nods. The most-nominated musical revival was “Sweeney Todd,” with eight nods; the most-nominated play revival was “A Doll’s House,” with six.

Check back here throughout the day for more news about the Tony Awards, including reaction from nominees, as well as analysis from reporters and commentary from critics.

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