'Hamilton' receives record 16 Tony nods
Lin-Manuel Miranda's hit Broadway musical "Hamilton" leads the race for the 70th annual Tony Awards with a record 16 nominations, including Best Musical.
The nominations were announced May 3.
Shuffle Along received 10 nominations, while the musical She Loves Me followed with eight. In the Best Musical Category, Hamilton will compete against Bright Star, School of Rock, Shuffle Along and Waitress.
The previous record for most nods was 15, shared by Mel Brooks' 2001 hit The Producerswhich snagged 12 prizesand 2009's Billy Elliot, The Musical.
Despite Hamilton's dominance and the wait to see if it will break The Producers' record, several other categories will bear watching. For example, regarding Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, the nominees are Jessica Lange ( Long Day's Journey Into Night ), Michelle Williams ( Blackbird ), Laurie Metcalf ( Misery ), Sophia Akenedo ( The Crucible ) and Lupita Nyong'o ( Eclipsed ).
The Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast live on CBS June 12 from the Beacon Theatre.
Bridgforth among Doris Duke awardees
Out lesbian Sharon Bridgforth is among six theater artists who will receive $275,000 each as recipients of the fifth annual Doris Duke Artist Awards, American Theatre noted.
Twenty-one awardees in total were named in the fields of dance, jazz and theater. The other theater honorees are Janie Geiser, Taylor Mac, Lynn Nottage, Thaddeus Phillips and Will Power.
Bridgforth is a San Francisco—based playwright, producer, founder and curator of the Theatrical Jazz Institute. Her work includes River See, and she is currently working on dat Black Mermaid Man Lady.
See AmericanTheatre.org/2016/05/04/doris-duke-artist-awards-announced-for-2016/ .