Irish actor Laura Donnelly has been nominated for a Tony award alongside Hollywood names including George Clooney, Mia Farrow, Sarah Snook and Sadie Sink on Thursday as Broadway began its celebration of an unusually starry season.
But a bevy of big stars did not get nods from the nominators, including Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nick Jonas, Jim Parsons, Idina Menzel and Kit Connor.
Donnelly, from Belfast, was nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in The Hills of California alongside Farrow, Snook, Sink and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
Donnelly’s play, written by her partner Jez Butterworth and directed by Sam Mendes, sees the Webb sisters, who were trained to sing close harmony, wind up as acrimonious adults as they return to their childhood home in an English seaside town to say “goodbye” to their ailing mother.
Donnelly’s performance - she plays two roles - was described by the New York Times as a “blur of skittery emotion”.
Audra McDonald, a much-honoured stage veteran now starring in a revival of Gypsy, and Nicole Scherzinger, a former Pussycat Doll making her Broadway debut in Sunset Boulevard, were among five women nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, and they are considered the frontrunners in that talent-rich category.
In a robust season with 14 new musicals, the Tony nominators set up a five-way race for the coveted Best New Musical prize. The contenders are Buena Vista Social Club, about a group of beloved Cuban musicians; Dead Outlaw, which tells the strange story of a train robber whose corpse became an attraction; Death Becomes Her, a stage adaptation of the film about two frenemies who take an immortality potion; Maybe Happy Ending, about a relationship between two robots; and Operation Mincemeat, about a bizarre second World War British intelligence operation.
Oddly enough, three of the best musical contenders centre on dead people – Dead Outlaw and Operation Mincemeat are both about corpses, and Death Becomes Her is about two undead women.
The race for best play also features five contenders: English, a Pulitzer-winning drama about a group of Iranians struggling to learn a new language; The Hills of California, about singing British sisters reuniting as their mother dies; John Proctor is the Villain, about Georgia high school students reading The Crucible and seeing parallels in their own lives; Oh, Mary! a hit comedy ahistorically spoofing Mary Todd Lincoln; and Purpose, a family drama about a politically active black family in Chicago.
The nominations were announced in New York by actors Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce. A few marquee categories were announced on CBS Mornings.
The announcement begins a five-week scramble in which the 840 Tony voters – mostly people who work in theatre or who help finance Broadway shows – will finish seeing the nominated shows so they can cast their ballots for the productions and performances they admired most.
The Tony Awards ceremony is set to take place on June 8th at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Cynthia Erivo.
Broadway has lots to brag about this season: a bumper crop of 42 openings, an unusual number of movie stars treading the boards, several productions that are drawing young audiences, and a mix of quirky and original shows alongside big-brand spectacle. But there are big challenges too: ticket prices, especially for the hottest shows, have become out of reach for many, and profitability rates have plunged as the cost of producing has risen.
This year, there were 21 plays and 21 musicals eligible for awards, opening on Broadway between April 26th, 2024, and April 27th, 2025.
The nominees were chosen by a committee made up of people who have considerable knowledge about theatre, but who do not work on, or have a financial interest in, any of the season’s shows. The committee started with 65 members, but because of recusals, 54 wound up participating in selecting the nominees.
TONY AWARDS NOMINATIONS 2025
Best New Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Best New Play
English
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain
Oh, Mary!
Purpose
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor Is the Villain
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Leading Actor in a Play
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
John Michael Hill, Purpose
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellowface
Harry Lennix, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop!
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
