Tina Fey’s ’Mean Girls,’ ’SpongeBob’ musical lead Tony Award nods (2024)

NEW YORK — Tina Fey’s musical “Mean Girls,” which she adapted from her much-beloved and oft-quoted 2004 high school comedy movie, and the goofy undersea adaptation from the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical” lead the Tony Award nominations with dozen nods each.

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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.

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.”

Best new musical category is filled by “The Band’s Visit,” “Frozen,” “Mean Girls” and “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.” Those musicals that failed to make the cut were the Hal Prince revue “Prince of Broadway,” the Jimmy Buffet musical “Escape to Margaritaville” and “Summer,” about disco diva Donna Summer.

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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 America 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.

Best male acting nominations for a play include Denzel Washington, starring in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s epic “The Iceman Cometh.” The 2010 Tony winner for “Fences” will have to face-off against Andrew Garfield in “Angels in America,” Tom Hollander of “Travesties,” Jamie Parker of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” and Mark Rylance in “Farinelli and The King.”

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Michael Cera of Brampton, Ont., received a nomination for best featured actor in a play for his role in “Lobby Hero.”

Amy Schumer, who made her Broadway debut in Steve Martin’s comedy “Meteor Shower,” won a nomination for best actress in a play. Others in the category include Glenda Jackson from “Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women,” Condola Rashad in “Saint Joan” and Lauren Ridloff in “Children of a Lesser God.”

“Carousel,” “My Fair Lady” and “Once on This Island” make up the best musical revival category, mostly because they’re only eligible nominees.

The best play revival category is filled by “Angels in America,” “Three Tall Women,” “Lobby Hero,” “Travesties” and “The Iceman Cometh.”

Bruce Springsteen, whose solo show mixes songs and stories from his bestselling memoir “Born to Run” and has been banking over $2 million each week he’s onstage, will be granted a special, non-competitive Tony, along with John Leguizamo for “Latin History for Morons.”

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Plenty of nominations don’t necessarily lead to actual wins on Tony night. While “Hamilton” was nominated for 16 awards in 2016 and went on to win 11, just last year “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” earned a leading 12 nominations but got just two technical awards on the big night.

Select nominations for the 2018 Tony Awards, announced Tuesday.

Best Musical: “The Band’s Visit;” ”Frozen;“ ”Mean Girls;“ ”SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical“

Best Play: “The Children;” ”Farinelli and the King;“ ”Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two;“ ”Junk;“ ”Latin History for Morons“

Best Book of a Musical: “The Band’s Visit;” ”Frozen;“ ”Mean Girls“; ”SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical“

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater: “Angels in America”; “The Band’s Visit;” ”Frozen“; ”Mean Girls“; ”SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical“

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Best Revival of a Play: “Angels in America;” ”Three Tall Women;“ ”The Iceman Cometh;“ ”Lobby Hero“; ”Travesties“

Best Revival of a Musical: “Carousel;” ”My Fair Lady;“ ”Once on This Island“

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Andrew Garfield, “Angels in America”; Tom Hollander, “Travesties”; Jamie Parker, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two”; Mark Rylance, “Farinelli and The King”; Denzel Washington, “The Iceman Cometh”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Glenda Jackson, “Three Tall Women”; Condola Rashad, “Saint Joan”; Lauren Ridloff, “Children of a Lesser God”; Amy Schumer, “Meteor Shower”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Harry Hadden-Paton, “My Fair Lady”; Joshua Henry, “Carousel”; Tony Shalhoub, “The Band’s Visit”; Ethan Slater, “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.”

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Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Lauren Ambrose, “My Fair Lady”; Hailey Kilgore, “Once On This Island”; LaChanze, “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”; Katrina Lenk, “The Band’s Visit”; Taylor Louderman, “Mean Girls”; Jessie Mueller, “Carousel”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Anthony Boyle, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two”; Michael Cera, “Lobby Hero”; Brian Tyree Henry, “Lobby Hero”; Nathan Lane, “Angels in America”; David Morse, “The Iceman Cometh”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Susan Brown, “Angels in America”; Noma Dumezweni, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two”; Deborah Findlay, “The Children”; Denise Gough, “Angels in America”; Laurie Metcalf, “Three Tall Women”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Norbert Leo Butz, “My Fair Lady”; Alexander Gemignani, “Carousel”; Grey Henson, “Mean Girls”; Gavin Lee, “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical”; Ari’el Stachel, “The Band’s Visit”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Ariana DeBose, “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”; Renee Fleming, “Carousel”; Lindsay Mendez, “Carousel”; Ashley Park, “Mean Girls”; Diana Rigg, “My Fair Lady”

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