NEW YORK — The megahit musical "Hamilton" has grabbed a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations, the biggest haul in Broadway history and another notch in the show's march into theatrical history.
Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury secretary on Tuesday broke the 15-nominations record held by "The Producers" and "Billy Elliot." ''Hamilton" was nominated in virtually every category it could compete in, from acting to scenic design.
Next month, it will fight for Broadway's biggest crown — best new musical — with "Bright Star," ''School of Rock," ''Shuffle Along" and "Waitress."
"School of Rock," the adaptation by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes of the Jack Black movie about a wannabe rocker who enlists fifth-graders to form a rock group, earned four nominations, including best musical, book, original score and best leading man in Alex Brightman.
"It's a funny season this one, isn't it," said Lloyd Webber from London. "As you know, it's the 'Hamil-Tonys.' We've gotten everything we could have hoped for and that's all we'll get. But it's lovely in this season of all seasons to get score and musical and book. We're terribly pleased."
The best play category is composed of "Eclipsed," ''The Father," ''The Humans" and "King Charles III."
The awards will be handed out June 12, with James Corden playing host from the Beacon Theatre.
After "Hamilton," the other top nominations went to the new musical "Shuffle Along," a show that explores a groundbreaking 95-year-old musical starring, written and directed by African-Americans, which got 10 nominations, and the revival of "She Loves Me," which earned eight.
Audra McDonald, who was eligible as a lead actress in a musical, was not nominated and will not be able to win her seventh Tony.
"Hamilton" earned seven acting nominations — Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson and Renee Elise Goldsberry. It also earned nominations for scenic design, costumes, lighting design, direction, choreography, orchestrations, best book and best original score.
Soo, nominated for best leading actress in a musical, will face off against Laura Benanti, a previous Tony winner who stars in "She Loves Me," the 1963 romantic musical by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock about two star-crossed co-workers at a perfume store.
Benanti and Soo also face competition from Carmen Cusack in "Bright Star," Cynthia Erivo in "The Color Purple" and Jessie Mueller in "Waitress."
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.