On April 30, the nominations for the 73rd annual Antoinette Perry “Tony’s” award ceremony, hosted by James Corden on June 9, were announced on CBS. The awards ceremony is revered as the biggest night for Broadway and will take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. With 48 total shows opening this season, the competition was tight. Hadestown came out on top with 14 nominations, Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations following behind with 12.

Both of these shows along with Beetlejuice, The Prom, and Tootsie were honored with a nomination for Best Musical. Among the musicals that opened this season that did not quite make the cut were sci-fi internet phenomenon Be More Chill and jukebox musical Head Over Heels. Only two musicals were revived this season and both – Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! and 1948 musical Kiss Me, Kate – were nominated for Best Revival of a Musical. The nominees for Best Play are Choir Boy, The Ferryman, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, Ink, and What the Constitution Means to Me, and the nominees for Best Revival of a Play are Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, The Boys in the Band, Burn This, Torch Song, and The Waverly Gallery.

Technical and design awards include Choir Boy, Hadestown, Kiss Me Kate, Tootsie, and Ain’t Too Proud for Best Choreography; Ain’t Too Proud, King Kong, Hadestown, Oklahoma!, and Beetlejuice for Best Scenic Design of a Musical; The Cher Show, Hadestown, Beetlejuice, Ain’t Too Proud, and King Kong for Best Lighting Design; and To Kill a Mockingbird, Ink, The Ferryman, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus, and Network for Best Scenic Design of a Play.

Hadestown and Ain’t Too Proud also raked in several acting awards. The Prom, Oklahoma!, and Tootsie received a fair amount as well, but perhaps the most exciting part of the acting awards – and dare I say, the entire release of nominations – was Oklahoma! actress Ali Stroker’s nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. Stroker plays Ado Annie and performs the famous Cole Porter song “Cain’t Say No” for Broadway audiences nightly. However, what sets her apart from the other nominees is the fact that she is the first physically impaired actor to be nominated for a Tony award. The first time Stroker made history was four years ago when she revived the role of Anna in Deaf West Theatre’s production of rock musical Spring Awakening and appeared as the first wheelchair-bound actor to set wheel on the Broadway stage. The 2015 production shattered ceilings on many fronts, featuring an entirely integrated cast of deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing actors along with Stroker. The production gathered three Tony nominations but did not win any (against 2015’s Best Musical winner Hamilton, there were not many who took home awards except for Hamilton).

Hadestown is a contemporary rock musical by singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell which modernizes the Greek myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Persephone and Hades. The story is told by Hermes, played by nominee Andre de Shields, and the three Fates. Joining de Shields in nominations are three of the four principle characters – Eva Noblezada for Best Actress in a Leading Role as Eurydice, Patrick Page in de Shields’s same category as Hades, and Amber Gray for Best Actress in a Featured Role as Persephone. Amber Gray and Patrick Page were both part of the 2010 concept album in their same roles. Shortly after the concept album was released, a full production opened in London. It finally opened on Broadway to fantastic critical acclaim earlier this month. This is Noblezada’s second Tony nomination in this category, her first in 2017 for her portrayal as Kim in the Broadway revival of Miss Saigon. She was only 21 when she was nominated the first time and is 23 now, making her one of the youngest women to be nominated in this category.

Tune in to CBS on June 9 at 7:00 PM to see the results and performances of these nominees.

All photos from Google.