If you are sensing a frisson of excitement in the Manhattan area today, that may well be because the 2024 Tony nominees were announced this morning. (Installed at Sofitel New York on West 44th Street, Renée Elise Goldsberry and Jesse Tyler Ferguson made a deeply charming double-act as they read off the categories.) In a season filled with several thrilling debuts—as well as vaunted revivals, reunions, and other happy returns—the list of nominated actors, directors, playwrights, composers, and other theater-makers this year was filled with all manner of exciting names, from rising stars to Broadway veterans.
Of the former category: Jocelyn Bioh, who made her Broadway playwriting debut with Jaja’s African Hair Braiding last fall, was thrilled at her show’s five nominations (for best new play, best scenic design of a play, best costume design of a play, best sound design of a play, and best direction of a play). “This is a dream bigger than any I could have imagined sitting in the chair of a Harlem hair braiding shop as a kid,” Bioh said. “That little girl never thought a day like today was possible, but it is one I will never, ever forget.”
Television writer Bekah Brunstetter, who penned the book for Michael Greif and Schele Williams’s inventive musical adaptation of The Notebook, also received a nod for her debut Broadway production. “I’m back home in LA, so I was jolted awake early this morning by the BEST KIND OF EARTHQUAKE,” she enthused in an email. “Working with Ingrid [Michaelson, who wrote the music] on The Notebook has been such a true collaboration in every sense of the word; we built this together over the years, so I see this nomination as something the whole creative team gets to celebrate together as a family. I’m so grateful to be included in this bananas season of talent.”
Kristoffer Diaz, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 2010, made his own Broadway debut this month with Alicia Keys’s Hell’s Kitchen. Reacting to his nomination, one of that show’s 13, he said, “In the mid-’90s I saw three shows that changed my life: Rent, Crazy for You, and John Leguizamo’s Spic-O-Rama. Somewhere in there I made up my mind that this was what I was going to do with my life. Broadway was always the goal. The Tonys were always the goal. And today, I get to celebrate my show that was directed by Michael Greif (Rent) in the Shubert Theater (Crazy for You), and John Leguizamo was the first person to text me congrats. It means the world to be recognized for this show alongside this company… and the best collaborator I’ve ever worked with (Alicia Keys!) and hopefully make New York City proud.”
Many actors making their Broadway debuts this season were also recognized by the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing. One was 21-year-old Maleah Moon, the star of Hell’s Kitchen. “All anyone wants is to be recognized for their work,” she said. “This nomination means so much, but all in all it is confirmation to keep going, keep dreaming, and keep trying to inspire others to do the same. Always.” Another was Brody Grant, of The Outsiders—a musical adaptation of S. E. Hinton’s classic novel—up for 12 awards: “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’m grateful to all of the guardian angels who got me here. I’m honored to be included with actors that have inspired me.”
Among the others were four members of the Stereophonic crew: Sarah Pidgeon, Juliana Canfield, Eli Gelb, and Tom Pecinka. (A fifth actor from that cast, Will Brill, who also received his first nomination today, has been on Broadway before, most recently in Oklahoma!) Said Pidgeon: “When we began working on the show, David Adjmi told me that Diana is just so happy to be in the studio working alongside her band, and I share that feeling every night walking into the Golden Theatre.”
“As a kid from Long Island who took the train in to see Broadway shows from seven years old, this is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream,” said Pecinka. “To be nominated alongside my Stereophonic cast mates, Jim Parsons [for Mother Play], and my old friend Corey Stoll [for Appropriate] is just the cherry on top.” Added Canfield, “I’m so grateful to everyone who has given their heart and talent and support to our show. Let’s rock and roll”
Stereophonic’s 13 nominations—including for its scenic design, costumes, lighting, sound design, and direction—made first-time Tony nominees out of playwright David Adjmi and Will Butler, too, both of whom also made their Broadway debuts with the show. “Will, [director Daniel Aukin], and I spent over a decade working on this play without knowing if it would ever see the light of day,” Adjmi said. “So, to experience this trajectory is, quite frankly, completely shocking. We all worked so hard to try and make a piece with real integrity and zero compromises—and I believe that is what we did. To be recognized in this way is a validation not only of our work, but of the many artists working in the trenches and taking real risks to help build a vital theatre culture in this country.”
“It’s overwhelming,” said Butler. “What a fun morning! My parents and aunts and uncles and cousins and friends and coworkers are also all over the moon. David wrote an extraordinary play, worth the extraordinary effort everyone has put into it. To get to walk into work and have the office be David Zinn’s beautiful set, perfectly lit by Jiyoun Chang; to get to obsess over Enver Chakartash’s costumes with the designer himself—I can’t get over it. To get to work day in day out with Justin Craig on orchestrating this extraordinary band; to have Ryan Rumery bring the work to life through the speakers; it’s been one of the great privileges of my life.”
Among the artists fêting their first Tony nod after a round or two on the Great White Way was Gayle Rankin, who appeared in Sam Mendes’s 2014 production of Cabaret on Broadway before assuming the role of Sally Bowles in Rebecca Frecknall’s version this spring. She said: “I am so wildly proud to be nominated inside of Rebecca’s incredible vision. It’s been the honor of my career, so far, to play Sally. I’m over the moon for the love and support The Broadway League and The American Theater Wing has shown our production and I can’t wait to get back on stage tonight.”
Sky Lakota-Lynch, who made his Broadway debut in Dear Evan Hansen in 2018, was a first-time nominee for his role as Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. “I am absolutely stunned. This season is proof that Broadway is back and the renaissance is here. Thank you to the Tonys for listening to our stories, and seeing our hearts.”
The Notebook’s Dorian Harewood, who made his Broadway debut in 1975, before breaking away to launch a robust career in television and film, also celebrated his first nomination today. (He was recognized alongside his co-star Maryann Plunkett, who made her own debut in the early 1980s and won her first Tony in 1987.) “My manager woke me up this morning to tell me I had been nominated! I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly,” he said. “Coming back to Broadway after 40-some years to work on such a beautiful show was a dream come true.”
And then there were the rich array of artists who have been nominated for—and even won!—Tonys before. These included the legendary Bebe Neuwirth, for her work in Cabaret (“I’m deeply grateful for this recognition,” she said. “I love our show and everyone working on it with heart and soul”); Eddie Redmayne, also for Cabaret (“Diving into the miraculous world of Kander, Ebb, and Masteroff nightly is the stuff of dreams”); Jessica Lange, for her lead role in Paula Vogel’s Mother Play (“I am so honored to be nominated amongst such wonderful talent, including my dear friend Sarah [Paulson, for Appropriate]. Creating Phyllis alongside the incomparable Paula Vogel and bringing this new play to life each night is thrilling”); Michael Stuhlbarg, who this morning received his second career nomination—almost 20 years after his first—for Patriots (“You honor us all in remembering us with this today. Thank you!”); and five-time nominee Brian D’Arcy James, for his affecting turn in Adam Guettel and Craig Lucas’s Days of Wine and Roses (“I find it more thrilling, more humbling and I’m more grateful than ever to have been honored with this recognition from the community,” he said. “I’m also so excited to be able to celebrate this alongside my friend and fellow nominee, the brilliant Kelli O’Hara”). Also in the mix was the great orchestrator and music director Jonathan Tunick. A longtime collaborator of Stephen Sondheim’s, he orchestrated Merrily We Roll Along’s original production more than 40 years ago and did the same for Maria Friedman’s blockbuster revival this season. Of receiving his 12th Tony nomination today, Tunick quipped: “Twelve arrests but only one conviction!” (His one win came in 1997, for his work on Maury Yeston’s Titanic.)
How things will shake out on June 16 is anybody’s guess—but in the meanwhile, for many nominees, it’s back to work tonight.