Some Surprising Omissions From Tony Nominations

Hadestown, singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell's Broadway debut, earned a leading 14 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, followed by the jukebox musical Ain't Too Proud, built around songs by the Temptations, which received a dozen nominations. Hadestown, which intertwines the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice and Hades and Persephone, bested more familiar names, including stage adaptations of the hit movies Tootsie and Beetlejuice. The four aforementioned productions, plus The Prom, round out the best musical category, the AP reports. Hadestown also was the only new musical on Broadway directed by a woman, 2017 Tony Award nominee Rachel Chavkin, who earned her second best direction nod Tuesday.

The best-play nominees are the Northern Irish drama The Ferryman, from Jez Butterworth; James Graham's Ink, about Rupert Murdoch; Taylor Mac's Broadway debut, Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus; Tarell Alvin McCraney's Choir Boy; and Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me, a personal tour of the landmark document at the heart of so many American divisions. Theater veterans were surprised to see Aaron Sorkin's adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird; Hillary and Clinton, about Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign; and the stage adaptation of the media satire film Network not getting best play nods, though they did earn recognition in other categories. Many also expected the celebrated actress Glenda Jackson to be nominated for playing King Lear but it was not to be. The awards will be presented June 9. (Click for much more, including other nominees and call-outs to Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement among the nominees.)