The wait is over! This morning the nominees for the 77th Annual Tony Awards Ceremony were announced, rounding out one of Broadway’s hottest and most packed seasons since 2020. Tony Award winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry announced the nominees for the 26 categories live from Sofitel New York on CBS Mornings.
The 77th annual Tony Awards ceremony, celebrating the best of theater, is taking place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City on Sunday, June 16th. The night will be hosted by the multi-talented singer and Academy Award winning actress Ariana DeBose for the third year in a row.
DeBose isn’t the only queer star being celebrated at this year’s ceremony, several out performers and creatives are being recognized for their outstanding talent and hard work in the 2023-2o24 Broadway season. Take a look at some of the LGBTQ folks and stories being celebrated in the performance and Best Musical categories!
Lesbian icon Sarah Paulson is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for her role as Toni in Appropriate, a darkly comic American family drama by Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, under the direction of Drama Desk Award winner Lila Neugebauer.
Up for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical is the multi-talented, openly gay, Jonathan Groff, for his role as Franklin in Merrily We Roll Along. The play charts the turbulent relationship between three lifelong friends and traces every milestone of their lives for nearly two decades as they navigate success, show business and unbreakable bonds. This marks Groff’s 3rd Tony nomination.
Nominated for 4 Tony Awards is Illinoise, a theatrical reimagining of groundbreaking queer artist Sufjan Stevens‘ Grammy and Oscar-nominated album. Directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Justin Peck, this coming-of-age tale is up for Best Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Orchestrations. The story follows Henry, a shy man with a secret who wanders into a wayward writers’ group in an Illinois cornfield. Henry eventually reveals the story of his relationship with his two best friends, Carl, whom Henry was in love with, and Shelby, whom Carl was in love with.
Out actor Jim Parsons is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his role as Carl in Mother Play. Set in 1962, Mother Play is deeply honest new play about the hold our family has over us and the surprises we find when we unpack the past.
Queer star Eden Espinosa is up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, for her role as Tamara de Lempicka in Lempicka. Up for 3 Tony Awards, Lempicka explores the contradictions of a world in crisis, a woman ahead of her era, and an artist whose time has finally come.
Tied for most nominations at the 77th Annual Tony Awards is Hell’s Kitchen, with 13 nominations including Best Musical. Hell’s Kitchen is a New York City coming-of-age story by 16-time Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys. LGBTQ performers Maleah Joi Moon and Brandon Victor Dixon are up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical, respectively.
Additionally, for her role as Jersey, outspoken LGBTQ advocate Shoshana Bean is up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.
The Tony Awards will be streamed live on Sunday, June 16th at 8:00pm ET on CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ in the U.S.. See a full list of nominees here.
