The 2020 Tony Nominations Were Announced And Aaron Tveit Is The Only Best Lead Actor In A Musical Nominee

We see you 2020 Tony Award nominee Aaron Tveit. Very clever unleashing a global pandemic just so you can have the category of Best Performance of an Actor in A Leading Role in a Musical all to yourself! Absolutely diabolical and I am here for it. Way to bring the drama to the 2020 Tony Nominations which were announced this morning. Due to the coronavirus, the Broadway season was cut short, making Moulin Rouge, in which Aaron starred, one of only three musicals eligible for nomination this year. The other two were the Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical which only starred ladies for some reason. 

According to Playbill:

The 74th annual ceremony honors a Broadway season cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, as shows went dark March 12 and will remain shuttered until at least June 2021 (and likely later). As the Broadway League and American Theatre Wing determined a February 19 eligibility cut-off, 18 total productions are in the running for this year’s awards

Some productions had begun previews or opened between that date and March 12, though nominators or voters may not have seen them in time to make determinations.

The Alanis Morissette musical Jagged Little Pill led the pack with 15 nominations, earning at least one nomination in every eligible category (including six for the show’s principal performers). Moulin Rouge! was not far behind, earning 14 nominations. The two and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical comprise this year’s Best Musical category, effectively locking out the one other show eligible: The Lightning Thief.

According to Tony rules, Aaron will need to get 60% of the votes in his category to win, meaning for the first time in Tony history, saying “it’s his to lose” is 100% accurate. This is Aaron’s first nomination.

Is Aaron Tveit winning a Tony………by default……. pic.twitter.com/ZiE25ZkhYT

— Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) October 15, 2020

Congratulations to that man. Aaron is joined in nomination by his Moulin Rouge co-star Karen Olivo (pictured above) for Best Performance By an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical along with Elizabeth Stanley for JLP and Adrienne Warren for Tina: TTTM. For you bookish intellectual types, there were also nominations for what they like to call in the business “plays” which are kind of like musicals but with no singing and dancing, if that makes sense.

In the Play categories, Jeremy O. Harris‘ Slave Play and Matthew Lopez‘s The Inheritance came out on top with 12 (the most ever for a play) and 11 nominations, respectively. Joining the two in the main production category are Bess Wohl‘s Grand Horizons, Adam Rapp‘s The Sound Inside, and Sea Wall/A Life from Simon Stephens and Nick Payne.

Slave Play is now the most Tony-nominated play ever with 12 nominations. There’s also no nominations for Best Revival of a Musical.

A few notable movie stars are nominated like Laura Linney for My Name is Lucy Barton, Mary-Louise Parker for The Sound Inside, Jake Gyllenhaal for Sea Wall/A Life as well as a special commendation for Tom Hiddleston for Best Audience Orgasm in Betrayal. Here’s the announcement hosted by Aladdin‘s James Monroe Iglehart.

No date for the ceremony has been announced yet but it will be held virtually. Here are some of the nominees, you can find the full list here.

Best Play
Grand Horizons by Bess Wohl
The Inheritance by Matthew Lopez
Sea Wall/A Life by Simon Stephens and Nick Payne
Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris
The Sound Inside by Adam Rapp

Best Revival of a Play
Betrayal
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally
A Soldier’s Play by Charles Fuller

Best Musical
Jagged Little Pill
Moulin Rouge! The Musical
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Joaquina Kalukango, Slave Play
Laura Linney, My Name is Lucy Barton
Audra McDonald, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Mary-Louise Parker, The Sound Inside

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Ian Barford, Linda Vista
Andrew Burnap, The Inheritance
Jake Gyllenhaal, Sea Wall/A Life
Tom Hiddleston, Betrayal
Tom Sturridge, Sea Wall/A Life
Blair Underwood, A Soldier’s Play

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Karen Olivo, Moulin Rouge!
Elizabeth Stanley, Jagged Little Pill
Adrienne Warren, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Aaron Tveit, Moulin Rouge!*

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Ato Blankson-Wood, Slave Play
James Cusati-Moyer, Slave Play
David Alan Grier, A Soldier’s Play
John Benjamin Hickey, The Inheritance
Paul Hilton, The Inheritance

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Jane Alexander, Grand Horizons
Chalia La Tour, Slave Play
Annie McNamara, Slave Play
Lois Smith, The Inheritance
Cora Vander Broek, Linda Vista

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Danny Burstein, Moulin Rouge!
Derek Klena, Jagged Little Pill
Sean Allan Krill, Jagged Little Pill
Sahr Ngaujah, Moulin Rouge!
Daniel J. Watts, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Kathryn Gallagher, Jagged Little Pill
Celia Rose Gooding, Jagged Little Pill
Robyn Hurder, Moulin Rouge!
Lauren Patten, Jagged Little Pill
Myra Lucretia Taylor, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical

Best Book of a Musical
Jagged Little Pill, Diablo Cody
Moulin Rouge!, John Logan
Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Katori Hall with Frank Ketelaar and Kees Prins

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
A Christmas Carol, Christopher Nightingale
The Inheritance, Paul Englishby
The Rose Tattoo, Fitz Patton and Jason Michael Webb
Slave Play, Lindsay Jones
The Sound Inside, Daniel Kluger

Pic: Wenn.com