2003 Tony Award Nominations Announced at Sardi’s

The nominations for the 57th Annual Antoinette Perry (Tony) Awards were announced this morning at Sardi’s by John Lithgow, winner of the Best Actor in a Musical Award last year for Sweet Smell of Success, and Melanie Griffith, who will be appearing on Broadway this summer as Roxie Hart in Chicago.

Hairspray led the pack with 13 nominations, followed by Movin’ Out with 10, Nine with eight, and Long Day’s Journey Into Night with 7. Among the notable omissions: Urban Cowboy, which has been struggling at the box office since opening to extremely negative reviews in March, was nominated for Best Original Score but not for Best Musical. Sam Mendes was not acknowledged for his direction of Gypsy, although the show itself was nominated as Best Revival of a Musical. While Stanley Tucci was nominated for his role in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Edie Falco — his co-star in the two-character play — was passed over. And, partly because the category of Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical was dominated by three cast members of Nine, none of the featured actresses in Hairspray were nominated.

The complete list of nominations follows:

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Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Melissa Errico, Amour
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Man of La Mancha
Elizabeth Parkinson, Movin’ Out
Bernadette Peters, Gypsy
Marissa Jaret Winokur, Hairspray

Leading Actress in a Play
Jayne Atkinson, Enchanted April
Victoria Hamilton, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Clare Higgins, Vincent in Brixton
Vanessa Redgrave, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Fiona Shaw, Medea

Best Leading Actor in a Play
Brian Bedford, Tartuffe
Brian Dennehy, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Eddie Izzard, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Paul Newman, Our Town
Stanley Tucci, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune

Best Leading Actor in Musical
Antonio Banderas, Nine
Harvey Fierstein, Hairspray
Malcolm Gets, Amour
Brian Stokes Mitchell, Man of La Mancha
John Selya, Movin’ Out

Best Play
Enchanted April by Matthew Barber
Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg
Say Goodnight Gracie by Rupert Holmes
Vincent in Brixton by Nicholas Wright

Best Musical
Amour
A Year With Frog and Toad
Hairspray
Movin’ Out

Best Revival of a Play
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Dinner at Eight
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Best Revival of a Musical
Gypsy
La Bohème
Man of La Mancha
Nine

Best Lighting Design
Donald Holder, Movin’ Out
Nigel Levings, La Bohème
Brian MacDevitt, Nine
Kenneth Posner, Hairspray

Best Costume Design
Greg Barnes, Flower Drum Song
William Ivey Long, Hairspray
Catherine Martin and Angus Strathie, La Bohème
Catherine Zuber, Dinner at Eight

Best Scenic Design
John Lee Beatty, Dinner at Eight
Santo Loquasto, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Catherine Martin, La Bohème
David Rockwell, Hairspray

Best Book of a musical
Didier van Cauwelaert and Jeremy Sams, Amour,
Willie Reale, A Year With Frog and Toad
David Henry Hwang, Flower Drum Song
Marc O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan, Hairspray

Best Original Score Written for the Theatre
Robert Reale and Willie Reale, A Year With Frog and Toad
Michel Legrand, Amour
Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Hairspray
Multiple composers, Urban Cowboy

Best Choreography
Robert Longbottom, Flower Drum Song
Jerry Mitchell, Hairspray
Melinda Roy, Urban Cowboy
Twyla Tharp, Movin’ Out

Best Orchestrations
Billy Joel and Stuart Malina, Movin’ Out
Nicholas Kitsopoulos, La Bohème
Jonathan Tunick, Nine
Harold Wheeler, Hairspray

Best Direction of Play
Lawrence Boswell, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Robert Falls, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Joe Mantello, Take Me Out
Deborah Warner, Medea

Best Direction of a Musical
David Leveaux, Nine
Baz Luhrmann, La Bohème
Jack O’Brien, Hairspray
Twyla Tharp, Movin’ Out

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Robert Sean Leonard, Long Day’s Journey Into Night
Denis O’Hare, Take Me Out
Daniel Sunjata, Take Me Out

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Michael Cavanaugh, Movin’ Out
John Dossett, Gypsy
Dick Latessa, Hairspray
Corey Reynolds, Hairspray
Keith Roberts, Movin’ Out

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Christine Ebersole, Dinner at Eight
Linda Emond, Life (x) 3
Kathryn Meisle, Tartuffe
Michele Pawk, Hollywood Arms
Marian Seldes, Dinner at Eight

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Tammy Blanchard, Gypsy
Jane Krakowski, Nine
Mary Stuart Masterson, Nine
Chita Rivera, Nine
Ashley Tuttle, Movin’ Out

Best Theatrical Event
Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home
The Play What I wrote
Prune Danish
Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam on Broadway

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In addition to the nominees in the competitive categories above, it was announced that special Tonys will be bestowed in the following categories at the awards ceremony on Sunday, June 8:

Regional Theatre
Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lifetime Achievement
Cy Feuer

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
The ten revolving cast members of La Bohème
Paul Huntley, hair and wig designer
Johnson/Liff Casting
The Acting Company, America’s leading touring company