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‘ Mean Girls,’‘ SpongeBob SquarePants,’ lead 2018 Tony Award nominations
Tina Fey’s musical “Mean Girls,” which she adapted fromher much- beloved and oft- quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” lead the 2018 Tony Award nominations with 12 nominations apiece, it was announced Tuesday.
Leslie Odom Jr. and Katharine McPhee announced the nominations fromthe New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
A British revival of “Angels in America,” Tony Kushner’s monumental, two- part drama about AIDS, life and love during the 1980s, grabbed 11 nominations— the most for any play— 25 years after it first appeared on Broadway. The shimmering, grown- up musical “The Band’s Visit” also earned 11 nods.
Fey and her husband, Jeff Richmond, who wrote the “Mean Girls” music, both admitted they awaited the announcement with bated breath. “We’re new to this whole Broadway thing and this whole musical thing so it was hard to tell which way everything could swing,” Richmond said.
J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” franchise extended its magical touch to Broadway, with a two- part stage play featuring the bespectacled wizard earning 10 nominations, as did a revival of “My Fair Lady.” The two- part “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which picks up 19 years from where Rowling’s last novel left off and portrays Potter and his friends as grown- ups, won nine Olivier Awards in London before coming to the U. S. and bewitching critics and audiences alike. It now will face “The Children,” “Farinelli and The King,” “Junk” and “Latin History for Morons” for best new play.
The best newmusical category is filled by “The Band’s Visit,” “Frozen,” “Mean Girls” and “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” ( which had its world premiere in Chicago in 2016).
Comedian Amy Schumer received a nomination for best actress in a play for her Broadway debut in the Steve Martin comedy “Meteor Shower.”
Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member Laurie Metcalf received a nomination for best actress in a featured role for her work in Edward Albee’s “Three Tall Women.” Chicago’s Jessie Mueller received a nomination for best actress in a leading role in a musical for “Carousel.” Veteran Chicago and Broadway director David Cromer received a nomination for best direction of amusical for “A Band’s Visit.”
This is Tony winner Mueller’s fourth nomination, but she said it never gets old. “It’s still exciting. It always feels different because every show means something different and is very personal in its own way. I just keep thinking of all the happy faces I’m going to see tonight when I go to work,” she said.
The Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York City will be televised live June 10 on CBS.