2004 Tony Award Nominations Announced

The nominations for the 2004 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards were announced this morning at the Hudson Theatre. Among the notable New Yorkers on hand to read the list of nominees were pop star Cyndi Lauper, designer Kenneth Cole, football player Tiki Barber, actresses Jane Krakowski and Edie Falco, actors John Leguizamo and Jesse L. Martin, and celebrity comedy couple Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

Wicked, the new musical version the Gregory Maguire novel that provides a pre-history of The Wizard of Oz, received the most nominations with 10. In addition to the nominees in the competitive categories listed below, it was announced that this year’s regional theater award will be presented to the Cincinnati Playhouse and that producer James M. Nederlander will receive a special Tony for lifetime achievement.

The 2004 Tony Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, June 6 at Radio City Music Hall from 8pm to 11pm and will be telecast live by CBS. A complete list of the nominees follows:

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Best Play
Anna in the Tropics
Frozen
I Am My Own Wife
The Retreat From Moscow

Best Musical
Avenue Q
Caroline, or Change
The Boy From Oz
Wicked

Best Revival of a Play
Henry IV
Jumpers
King Lear
A Raisin in the Sun

Best Revival of a Musical
Assassins
Big River
Fiddler on the Roof
Wonderful Town

Leading Actor in a Musical
Hunter Foster, Little Shop of Horrors
Hugh Jackman, The Boy From Oz
Alfred Molina, Fiddler on the Roof
Euan Morton, Taboo
John Tartaglia, Avenue Q

Leading Actor in a Play
Simon Russell Beale, Jumpers
Kevin Kline, Henry IV
Frank Langella, Match
Jefferson Mays, I Am My Own Wife
Christopher Plummer, King Lear

Leading Actress in a Musical
Kristin Chenoweth, Wicked
Stephanie D’Abruzzo, Avenue Q
Idina Menzel, Wicked
Donna Murphy, Wonderful Town
Tonya Pinkins, Caroline, or Change

Leading Actress in a Play
Eileen Atkins, The Retreat from Moscow
Tovah Feldshuh, Golda’s Balcony
Anne Heche, Twentieth Century
Swoosie Kurtz, Frozen
Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

Featured Actress in a Play
Essie Davis, Jumpers
Sanaa Lathan, A Raisin in the Sun
Margo Martindale, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Audra McDonald, A Raisin in the Sun
Daphne Rubin-Vega, Anna in the Tropics

Featured Actress in a Musical
Beth Fowler, The Boy From Oz
Isabel Keating, The Boy From Oz
Anika Noni Rose, Caroline, or Change
Jennifer Westfeldt, Wonderful Town
Karen Ziemba, Never Gonna Dance

Featured Actor in a Play
Tom Aldredge, Twentieth Century
Ben Chaplin, The Retreat From Moscow
Aidan Gillen, The Caretaker
Omar Metwally, Sixteen Wounded
Brían F. O’Byrne, Frozen

Featured Actor in a Musical
John Cariani, Fiddler on the Roof
Michael Cerveris, Assassins
Raul Esparza, Taboo
Michael McElroy, Big River
Denis O’Hare, Assassins

Best Direction of a Play
Doug Hughes, Frozen
Moisés Kaufman, I Am My Own Wife
David Leveaux, Jumpers
Jack O’Brien, Henry IV

Best Direction of a Musical
Joe Mantello, Assassins
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jason Moore, Avenue Q
George C. Wolfe, Caroline, or Change

Best Original Score
Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx, Avenue Q
Tony Kushner (lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music), Caroline, or Change
Boy George, Taboo
Stephen Schwartz, Wicked

Best Book of a Musical
Jeff Whitty, Avenue Q
Tony Kushner, Caroline, or Change
Martin Sherman (adapted from Nicholas Enright’s original), The Boy From Oz
Winnie Holzman, Wicked

Best Choreography
Wayne Cilento, Wicked
Kathleen Marshall, Wonderful Town
Jerry Mitchell, Never Gonna Dance
Anthony Van Laast and Farah Khan, Bombay Dreams

Best Orchestrations
Paul Bogaev, Bombay Dreams
William David Brohn, Wicked
Larry Hochman, Fiddler on the Roof
Michael Starobin, Assassins

Best Costume Design
Jess Goldstein, Henry IV
Susan Hilferty, Wicked
Mike Nicholls and Bobby Pearce, Taboo
Mark Thompson, Bombay Dreams

Best Lighting Design
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Assassins
Brian MacDevitt, Fiddler on the Roof
Brian MacDevitt, Henry IV
Kenneth Posner, Wicked

Best Scenic Design
Robert Brill, Assassins
Ralph Funicello, Henry IV
Eugene Lee, Wicked
Tom Pye, Fiddler on the Roof