“Hairspray,” the exuberant musical that celebrates the ’60s in the Cinderella story of a plus-size high-schooler and her chubby mom, emerged as the heavyweight contender in the 57th Annual Tony Awards nominations announced Monday.
The smash hit, which auspiciously launched Broadway’s season and features Harvey Fierstein as Baltimore’s Edna Turnblad, won 13 nominations (just two shy of the record set by “The Producers” in 2001). In a strong showing, “Movin’ Out,” the Twyla Tharp musical drawn from the songs of Billy Joel, took 10 nominations.
The revival of the 1982 musical “Nine,” which deals with the turbulent relationships of a movie director (and is based on the Federico Fellini film “8 1/2”) garnered eight nominations. Faring less well than expected was the return of “Gypsy,” which opened recently and garnered four nominations, including one for Bernadette Peters, who has been plagued by a respiratory ailment and missed performances.
Other nominees for new musical are the short-lived “Amour” and the children’s story “A Year With Frog and Toad.”
Because only seven new plays bowed on Broadway this season, “Take Me Out,” Richard Greenberg’s well-received drama about the coming out of a gay baseball player, is regarded as the one to beat.
The other new-play nominees are “Enchanted April,” the tale of four women on a life-changing vacation; “Vincent in Brixton,” based on a true episode in the early career of Vincent van Gogh; and, surprisingly, “Say Goodnight Gracie,” the affable one-man show about comedy team George Burns and Gracie Allen.
In the revival of a play category, the overwhelming favorite is “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” The production of the heart-breaking Eugene O’Neill masterpiece took seven nominations, including nods to all four of its stars: Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard.
The race for top performing honors should provide some of the liveliest Tony competition.
“Nine” star Antonio Banderas is Fierstein’s main competitor for best performer in a musical. Malcolm Gets (“Amour”), the golden-voiced Brian Stokes Mitchell (“Man of La Mancha”) and John Selya (“Movin’ Out”) round out the field.
Peters’ acclaimed account of Mama Rose in “Gypsy,” a triumphant rebuttal to those who thought the role out of her range, is up against Marissa Jaret Winokur (“Hairspray”), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (“Man of La Mancha”), Elizabeth Parkinson (“Movin’ Out”) and Melissa Errico (“Amour”).
The actor in a play category has a Hollywood flavor, with Paul Newman a fine Stage Manager in the revival of “Our Town” and Stanley Tucci (“Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune”) ranged against favorite Dennehy. The other nominees are Brian Bedford (“Tartuffe”) and Eddie Izzard (“A Day in the Life of Joe Egg”).
The even more competitive actress in play category honors two powerful performances: Redgrave’s portrait of Mary Tyrone in O’Neill’s tragedy and Fiona Shaw’s mesmerizing lead in “Medea.” The other nominees are Jayne Atkinson (“Enchanted April”), Clare Higgins (“Vincent in Brixton”) and Victoria Hamilton (“A Day in the Life of Joe Egg”).
Nominations were announced at Sardi’s restaurant in New York by John Lithgow and Melanie Griffith. CBS-TV will broadcast the Tony Awards ceremony live from Radio City Music Hall at 8 p.m. EDT June 8.