NEW YORK — NEW YORK - The Book of Mormon, the scabrous musical from the creators of South Park and Avenue Q, won 14 Tony nominations, the most of any production this year. The shows that will compete for Broadway’s top honors were announced Tuesday morning in New York.
Jerusalem, Jez Butterworth’s comic drama about a former daredevil biker whose bosky trailer-home is a drug-and alcohol-infused refuge in the English countryside, won six nominations. They included best play and lead actor, Mark Rylance.
A revival of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, starring Al Pacino as the moneylender Shylock, took seven nominations, the most of any play, including a best performance nod for its star.
Four more high-profile actors taking the stage this season - comedians Robin Williams and Chris Rock, James Earl Jones and Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe - were snubbed by the nominating committee.
Mormon follows the misadventures of two young church missionaries in Africa. The actors in those parts, Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells, were nominated. In addition, Mormon was nominated for best book, score, director, featured performance by an actor and actress, choreographer, set, costumes, sound and lighting design, and orchestrations.
The other best-musical nominees are Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act and The Scottsboro Boys, which closed in the fall. The final show by the Chicago and Cabaret team of John Kander and Fred Ebb, Scottsboro received 12 nominations, the second-most after Mormon.
Competing for best play are Good People, The Motherf ***** With the Hat and War Horse, an import from England’s National Theatre.
Pacino and Rylance will vie for the best-actor award with Brian Bedford, Bobby Cannavale and Joe Mantello. The latter stars in a late-season production of Larry Kramer’s 1985 AIDS drama, The Normal Heart, which has become one of the year’s most-acclaimed shows.
The other nominees for best play revival are Arcadia, The Importance of Being Earnest and Merchant.
The nominees for best actress are Vanessa Redgrave, Jones’ co-star in a revival of Driving Miss Daisy; Frances McDormand, Lily Rabe and Hannah Yelland.
Cole Porter’s 1934 Anything Goes, presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company, was nominated for nine awards, including best revival of a musical and best actress for its star, Sutton Foster. Its only competition will be Frank Loesser’s 1961 spoof of the business world, which presented Radcliffe in his first Broadway role as a song-and-dance man.
The nominations were voted by a committee of 26 people, including actors Andre de Shields and Alice Playten, director Michael Greif and theater historian Robert Kimball.
CBS will telecast the 65th annual Tony Awards on June 12, from 7 to 10 p.m. Central time.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 05/04/2011