In the Heights, a lively snapshot of Latino
life in Upper Manhattan, received 13 Tony award nominations
Tuesday, more than any other show.
A lavish revival
of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific took 11
nominations, followed by Sunday in the Park With
George with nine. Three shows received seven
nominations: August: Osage County, Passing
Strange, and the revival of Gypsy.
Heights was nominated for best musical along
with Passing Strange, the story of one man's
journey through sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll;
Cry-Baby, a raunchy '50s teenage romance based on
the John Waters film; and Xanadu, a spoof of
the '80s disco movie musical.
August: Osage County, already the winner of the
Pulitzer Prize for drama, was nominated for best play along
with Conor McPherson's The Seafarer, Tom
Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll, and The 39
Steps by Patrick Barlow.
The best
actor-play category will provide some starry
competition with Patrick Stewart playing the title
character in Macbeth, going up against Laurence
Fishburne in Thurgood; Mark Rylance in
Boeing-Boeing; Ben Daniels in Les Liaisons
Dangereuses; and Rufus Sewell in Rock 'n' Roll.
''I am totally,
completely shocked and amazed by all of this,'' said
Fishburne, who portrays Supreme Court justice Thurgood
Marshall in the show. ''More than that, I am grateful
and truly blessed that every night I get to play one
of the most compelling and extraordinary men from the
20th century.''
Nominations in
the best actress-play category went to women who play
mother and daughter in August: Osage County,
Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton; Eve Best in The
Homecoming; Kate Fleetwood as the murderous wife in
Macbeth; and S. Epatha Merkerson in Come Back,
Little Sheba.
The two romantic
leads in South Pacific, Kelli O'Hara and Paulo
Szot, received nominations. In the best
actress-musical category, O'Hara will go against
Patti LuPone in Gypsy, Faith Prince in A
Catered Affair, Kerry Butler in Xanadu,
and Jenna Russell in Sunday in the Park With George.
Szot's
competition will be Lin-Manuel Miranda in In the
Heights, Daniel Evans in Sunday in the Park With
George, Stew in Passing Strange, and Tom Wopat in
A Catered Affair.
A special
lifetime achievement Tony award will go to Stephen Sondheim,
and a special Tony will be awarded posthumously to
orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett, who died in 1981.
The regional theater Tony will go to the Chicago
Shakespeare Theater.
The winners in 26
competitive categories will be announced June 15 in a
three-hour CBS telecast from Radio City Music Hall. (AP)