Broadway Celebrates the Season – NBC New York

The 28 Broadway shows that have earned at least one Tony Award nomination are hoping Sunday is the day the sealed envelopes break in their favor.

The awards ceremony at Lincoln Center concludes a Broadway theater season that had something for everyone: fun musicals like “Back to the Future,” compelling romance in “The Notebook,” political rallying cries like “Suffs” and intimate ensembles like “Mother Play’. and ‘appropriate’. Filipinos were the focus of “Here Lies Love,” and autism was explored in “How to Dance in Ohio.”

“I think it’s been a year of real flexibility. I also think Broadway is in a time of transformation,” said Tony host Ariana DeBose. “A total of 36 productions opened on Broadway this season alone, and each production appealed to a completely different audience. I truly believe we are learning, “If you build it, they will come.” So we continue to find our voice and who Broadway wants to be.

DeBose has said she expects the show to move “like a Broadway show” — in other words, briskly and with scene changes for the audience. “We want to give you a full Broadway experience,” she said.

Lauren Scala takes us backstage at ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, where choreographer Camille A. Brown and costume designer Dede Ayite share their work and vision.

Nicole Scherzinger will anchor the “In Memoriam” section and the late Chita Rivera will receive a separate tribute from Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Bebe Neuwirth.

Two shows share the most nominations with 13: the coming-of-age of a piano prodigy in “Hell’s Kitchen” and the back-and-forth struggle to make a rock album in the play “Stereophonic.” They compete in different categories, best new musical and best new play.

Of the 26 competitive categories, two are virtual locks: “Stereophonic,” a critical and box office triumph, and “Merrily We Roll Along,” the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical that flopped when it premiered on Broadway in 1981. but the strongest. favorite for best musical revival.

A case could also be made that “Appropriate,” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play about a family reunion in Arkansas, where everyone has competing motivations and grievances, will easily earn the award for best play revival.

‘The Outsiders,’ an adaptation of SE Hinton’s beloved novel and Francis Ford Coppola’s film, aims to beat ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ for the best new musical crown; “Illinoise,” the dance-heavy, dialogue-free stage adaptation of Sufjan Stevens’ 2005 album “Illinois”; “Suffs,” based on the American suffragists of the early 20th century; and ‘Water for Elephants’, which combines Sara Gruen’s 2006 bestseller with circus elements.

Hoping to beat ‘Stereophonic’ is ‘Mother Play’, Paula Vogel’s look at a mother and her children from 1964 to the 21st century; “Mary Jane,” Amy Herzog’s humanistic portrait of a divorced mother of a young boy with serious health problems; “Prayer for the French Republic,” Joshua Harmon’s sprawling family comedy-drama that deals with Zionism, religious fervor and anti-Semitism; and “Jaja’s African Hair Braiding,” Jocelyn Bioh’s comedy about the lives of West African women who work in a salon.

Alicia Keys, Sarah Paulson, Jonathan Groff and more Tony nominees talk with Lauren Scala about their Broadway journeys.

The leading lady in a musical race is between “Days of Wine and Roses” veteran Kelli O’Hara and “Hell’s Kitchen” newcomer Maleah Joi Moon. On the acting side, Sarah Paulson of “Appropriate” is expected to win the Best Lead Actress trophy after challenging Jessica Lange in “Mother Play.”

On the men’s side, former “Hamilton” CEO Leslie Odom Jr. from “Purlie Victorious” will face “Succession” star Jeremy Strong in the revival of “An Enemy of the People,” while Jonathan Groff is the favorite to win on the men’s side. musical side for “Merrily We Roll along,” competing against Eddie Redmayne in “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” and Brian d’Arcy James from “Days of Wine and Roses.”