Everything You Need to Know About the 2024 Tony Awards
Consider this your go-to guide for Sunday.
It’s officially the week of the 2024 Tony Awards, and this year’s got a lot of drama (pun intended, unfortunately). As much as I’d love to honor the former sports journalist within me and say the actual Super Bowl is my Super Bowl, the Tony Awards take that honor.
It’s an especially exciting awards year, with tons of new shows — many of which slid in right under the nomination deadline.
So, what shows are nominated? What are some silly little fun facts you can use to make conversation with theater-minded friends or look impressive to the non-theater people in your life? Here’s everything you should know about this year’s Tonys.
What Are The Tony Awards and Who Can Win Them?
The Tony Awards are the awards for the past season’s Broadway shows. There are 41 Broadway theaters; shows that open in those theaters during the season are eligible. This season’s deadline for eligibility was April 25th.
Like other big awards like the Oscars or Emmys, there are various Tonys for various elements of a show. There are awards for performance, design, direction, writing, music, and more. There are also overall Best Play and Best Musical awards, but they’re split by whether the play or musical is a revival or new work. There are usually four or five nominees in each category; if a category has nine or more eligible nominees, there are five nominees.
Why Are This Year’s Tony Awards Notable?
I would argue every Tony Awards season is notable in its own way, but this year’s Tonys are packed. 36 shows were eligible, including 21 musicals — 15 of which were eligible for best new musical. Not to mention, 14 of those shows opened within the last few weeks of April.
Ariana DeBose, an iconic host, will host this year’s Tonys for the third time in a row. We’ll also get performances from most of the Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical nominees. (Sadly, we won’t get any performances from plays, even though one of the plays this year does feature music!)
The Top Nominees
There’s history in the making with the top nominees. “Stereophonic,” a play about a band recording their album, got 13 nominations, which makes it the most-nominated play of all time (previously, “Slave Play” was nominated for 12 awards in 2020).
In the musicals category, “Hell’s Kitchen,” a new musical written by Alicia Keys, also got 13 nominations. “The Outsiders” came in close behind with 12 nominations.
And the No-So Nominees
While so many shows came to Broadway this year, not all of them earned a nomination. Show that got zero nominations include:
“Once Upon a One More Time”: a new jukebox musical based on Brittney Spears songs
“How to Dance in Ohio”: a new musical about a group of autistic young adults preparing for their first spring formal
“Harmony”: a new musical that tells the true story of the Comedian Harmonists
“The Cottage”: a new play described as a modern Noël Coward comedy
“The Shark is Broken”: a new play about the filming of “Jaws”
“I Need That”: a new play about an old man and his house of junk
“The Wiz”: a musical revival that’s an all-Black retelling of “The Wizard of Oz
“The Heart of Rock and Roll”: a new musical with music from Huey Lewis and the News
Of these shows, only two are still running: “The Wiz” and “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” which both opened in the spring.
A few more shows got a little recognition, but not much: “The Great Gatsby” and “Tommy” got one nomination each, while “Back to the Future” got two.
There’s No True Front-Runner for Best Musical
Even though “Hell’s Kitchen” and “The Outsiders” both garnered a ton of nominations, the award for Best Musical is pretty much anyone’s game. Unlike previous years — think “Hamilton” — there’s no consensus on who should win or any obvious winner.
Although critics aren’t the ones voting for Tonys, I think this year’s reviews — and the response — exemplify the lack of consensus. The critics got a lot of flack this season, at least on my social feeds. Many of the biggest reviewers panned shows that people loved. Fans of “The Notebook” struck back against reviews because the main reviewers were men, and not very sentimental or emotional; Jesse Green publicly admitted everyone else in the audience was crying at the performance, but he wasn’t, so that meant everyone else was in the wrong. “Lempicka” had a cult following — I personally follow one person who rushed the show practically every day — yet critics didn’t love it (unfortunately, including me).
What Even Is a Musical?
There are two shows this season that challenge the “musical” and “play” categories.
The first is “Illinoise,” a dance-musical hybrid based on Sufjan Stevens’s 2005 concept album. While jukebox musicals (musicals based on existing music) are no stranger to Broadway, this show is unique because it uses dance to tell the story, not a book. There’s no dialogue.
The second is “Stereophonic,” which is a play that features music. The music in “Stereophonic” is so good that it was nominated for Best Score, a category usually reserved for musicals. It’s also so good that I’ve listened to the cast album regularly since it came out on Spotify — you should too, especially if you like Fleetwood Mac or “Daisy Jones and the Six.”
A Year of Shows Based on Books (and Movies and Albums)
Unfortunately, shows with existing IPs are still very much in, and they’re dominating Broadway right now:
“Back to the Future”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Notebook”
“The Outsiders”
“Water for Elephants”
“The Heart of Rock and Roll”
If you’re thinking, “that’s a lot of the books I read or movies I watched in high school,” you’d be right.
And a Year for Women Directors...
Women make up seven (!!) of the ten nominations for Best Direction across musicals and plays, which smashes the previous record of four from 2022.
...and Actresses!
There are seven actresses nominated for the Featured Actress race — which means there’s a three-way tie for the fifth nomination slot. Incredibly exciting and tough competition.
And is there a correlation with going green? Out of all the musical nominations for actresses (Featured Actress and Best Actress), three actresses have played Elphaba in “Wicked” on Broadway.
Celebrities Came to the Stage
Actors from TV and movies are trying their hand at the theater, especially in plays. Sarah Paulson has been nominated for “Appropriate”; Jeremy Strong was nominated for “Enemy of the People”; Jim Parsons was nominated for “Mother Play”; Rachel McAdams was nominated for “Mary Jane.”
A few screen actors returned to the stage, too. Daniel Radcliffe was nominated for “Merrily We Roll Along”; Jessica Lange was nominated for “Mother Play”; Eddie Redmayne was nominated for “Cabaret.”
Lots of Rain...
Three shows feature on-stage rain, including “The Great Gatsby,” “The Outsiders,” and, of course, “The Notebook.” (You know the scene.)
...and Cars?
Unfortunately, I’m not talking about a musical based on the Pixar film “Cars,” although I would be intrigued. Instead, cars made a feature this year on various sets, including “Back to the Future,” “Lempicka,” and “Illinoise,” “The Outsiders,” and “The Great Gatsby.”
The car from “Back to the Future” is entirely worth the ticket. It’s one of the smartest, most exciting set elements I’ve seen.
We’ve Got a Triple Threat on Our Hands
Lin Manuel Miranda, step aside. This year we have Shaina Taub, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics for “Suffs,” and stars as the show’s main character, Alice Paul. Taub did not get a nomination for her performance, but she did get nominations for Best Book and Best Score.
A Thrice-Nominated Nominee
Specifically, three years in a row for the Featured Actress category. Kara Young was nominated for the third time in a row, this time for her performance in “Purlie Victorious,” which you can now stream for free on PBS.
Sunday at 8 p.m.!
It’s been a busy Broadway season, and I’m excited for a night that celebrates that. If you take away one thing from this post, I hope it’s that Broadway has SO much going on right now — and that there’s something for everyone.