2006 Tony Award nominations announced

The 2005-2006 Tony Award Nominations were announced today at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Bruno Walter Auditorium by Phylicia Rashad, Natasha Richardson and Liev Schreiber.

Amongst this years crop of Broadway musicals, the musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperons leads the way with thirteen nominations, followed by The Color Purple with 11 Nominations, The Pajama Game with 9 nominations and the Jersey boys with 8, making the competition to see which musical will receive the most Tony's a closely contended affair.

Amongst Broadway's plays, the Lincoln Center's revival of Clifford Odet's Awake and Sing leads with 8 nominations, closely followed by Alan Bennett's The History Boys, which has already won the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Outstanding Play, and the New York Critics' Circle and Drama League award for Best Play, with 7 nominations.

The winners will be announced at the Tony 2005-6 Award ceremony at Radio City Music Hall on Sun 11 Jun. The host for the ceremony is still to be announced.

The Regional Theatre Tony Award will be presented to Intiman Theatre, in Seattle, WA.

The Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre will this year be presented to Harold Prince.

The Tony Award Administration Committee have voted to present a Special Tony Award to Sarah Jones, writer and star of the Broadway one-woman show Bridge and Tunnel.

2006 nominations by category are:

Best Play:

• The History Boys
• The Lieutenant of Inishmore
• Rabbit Hole
• Shining City

Best Musical:

• The Color Purple
• The Drowsy Chaperone
• Jersey Boys
• The Wedding Singer

Best Revival of a Play:

• Awake and Sing!
• The Constant Wife
• Edward Albee's Seascape
• Faith Healer

Best Revival of a Musical:

• The Pajama Game
• Sweeney Todd
• The Threepenny Opera

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

• Ralph Fiennes; Faith Healer
• Richard Griffiths; The History Boys
• Zeljko Ivanek; The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
• Bill Irwin; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• Oliver Platt; Shining City
• David Wilmot; The Lieutenant of Inishmore

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play:

• Kate Burton; The Constant Wife
• Judy Kaye; Souvenir
• Lisa Kron; Well
• Cynthia Nixon; Rabbit Hole
• Lynn Redgrave; The Constant Wife

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical:

• Michael Cerveris; Sweeney Todd
• Harry Connick, Jr; The Pajama Game
• Stephen Lynch; The Wedding Singer
• Bob Martin; The Drowsy Chaperone
• John Lloyd Young; Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical :

• Sutton Foster; The Drowsy Chaperone
• La Chanze; The Color Purple
• Patti LuPone; Sweeney Todd
• Kelli O'Hara: The Pajama Game
• Chita Rivera; Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play:

• Samuel Barnett; The History Boys
• Domhnall Gleeson; The Lieutenant of Inishmore
• Ian McDiarmid; Faith Healer
• Mark Ruffalo; Awake and Sing!
• Pablo Schreiber; Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play :

• Tyne Daly; Rabbit Hole
• Frances de la Tour; History Boys
• Jayne Houdyshell; Well
• Alison Pill; The Lieutenant of Inishmore
• Zo� Wanamaker; Awake and Sing!

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical:

• Danny Burstein; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Jim Dale; The Threepenny Opera
• Brandon Victor Dixon; The Color Purple
• Manoel Felciano; Sweeney Todd
• Christian Hoff; Jersey Boys

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical:

• Carolee Carmello; Lestat
• Felicia P. Fields; The Color Purple
• Megan Lawrence; The Pajama Game
• Beth Leavel; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Elisabeth Withers-Mendes; The Color Purple

Best Direction of a Play:

• Nicholas Hytner; History Boys
• Wilson Milam; The Lieutenant of Inishmore
• Bartlett Sher; Awake and Sing!
• Daniel Sullivan; Rabbit Hole

Best Direction of a Musical:

• John Doyle; Sweeney Todd
• Kathleen Marshall; The Pajama Game
• Des McAnuff; Jersey Boys
• Casey Nicholaw; The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Choreography :

• Rob Ashford; The Wedding Singer
• Donald Byrd; The Color Purple
• Kathleen Marshall; The Pajama Game
• Casey Nicholaw; The Drowsy Chaperone

Best Orchestrations:

• Larry Blank; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Dick Lieb and Danny Troob; The Pajama Game
• Steve Orich; Jersey Boys
• Sarah Travis; Sweeney Todd

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics)
Written for the Theatre:

• The Color Purple; Music & Lyrics: Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray
• The Drowsy Chaperone; Music & Lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
• The Wedding Singer; Matthew Sklar; Lyrics: Chad Beguelin
• The Woman in White; Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics: David Zippel

Best Book of a Musical:

• Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy; The Wedding Singer
• Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice; Jersey Boys
• Bob Martin and Don McKellar; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Marsha Norman; The Color Purple

Best Scenic Design of a Play:

• John Lee Beatty; Rabbit Hole
• Bob Crowley; The History Boys
• Santo Loquasto; Three Days of Rain
• Michael Yeargan; Awake and Sing!

Best Scenic Design of a Musical:

• John Lee Beatty; The Color Purple
• David Gallo; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Derek McLane; The Pajama Game
• Klara Zieglerova; Jersey Boys

Best Costume Design of a Play:

• Michael Krass; The Constant Wife
• Santo Loquasto; A Touch of the Poet
• Catherine Zuber; Awake and Sing!
• Catherine Zuber; Seascape

Best Costume Design of a Musical :

• Gregg Barnes; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Susan Hilferty; Lestat
• Martin Pakledinaz; The Pajama Game
• Paul Tazewell; The Color Purple

Best Lighting Design of a Play :

• Christopher Akerlind; Awake and Sing!
• Paul Gallo; Three Days of Rain
• Mark Henderson; Faith Healer
• Mark Henderson; The History Boys

Best Lighting Design of a Musical :

• Ken Billington and Brian Monahan; The Drowsy Chaperone
• Howell Binkley; Jersey Boys
• Natasha Katz; Tarzan
• Brian MacDevitt; The Color Purple

Total Nominations by Production:
The Drowsy Chaperone - 13
The Color Purple - 11
The Pajama Game - 9
Awake and Sing! - 8
Jersey Boys - 8
The History Boys - 7
Sweeney Todd - 6
Rabbit Hole - 5
The Lieutenant of Inishmore - 5
The Wedding Singer - 5
The Constant Wife - 4
Faith Healer - 4
Edward Albee�s Seascape - 2
Lestat - 2
Shining City - 2
Three Days of Rain - 2
The Threepenny Opera - 2
Well - 2
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial - 1
Chita Rivera: The Dancer�s Life - 1
Souvenir - 1
Tarzan - 1
A Touch of the Poet - 1
The Woman in White - 1