'The Producers' Gets 15 Tony Nominations
May 7, 2001 -- The Producers, Broadway's biggest hit inyears, received a record-breaking 15 nominations today, includinga nod for Best Musical, as the 2001 Tony nominations honoring thebest of the Broadway season were announced.
Its two stars, Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, were nominatedas were three of its performers in the Featured-Actor category:Roger Bart, Gary Beach and Brad Oscar.
Setting the Record Straight
The musical, based on the classic 1968 Mel Brooks film comedy,also received nods for book, score, Direction-Musical,Feature-Actress musical, choreography, sets, costumes, lighting andorchestrations. Brooks himself received three nominations — forbook, score and for being a producer of The Producers.
There was some confusion involving the previous record holderfor most Tony nominations. For 30 years, it was thought thatCompany, the Stephen Sondheim-George Furth musical, also hadreceived 15 nominations.
"Company, in fact, had 14 nominations," said Keith Sherman, aspokesman for the Tonys. "In all the record books, Hal Prince waslisted twice, for Best Production and Best Producer. In fact,
Company only won for best production. We went back to theactually ballot from the '70s and noticed the truth."
Yet, according to Mary Bryant, a spokesman for Prince, "Halremembers being nominated three times, but he really doesn't talkTonys." Prince was nominated for — and did win — a Tony forCompany as Best Director of a Musical.
Competition for The Producers for this year's top musicalaward includes The Full Monty, an American version of thepopular English film comedy; A Class Act, a celebration of thelife of songwriter Ed Kleban, and Jane Eyre, a retelling of theCharlotte Bronte novel.
Juliette Binoche, Linda Lavin Get Nods
Nominated for Best Play were Proof, the 2001 Pulitzer Prizewinner by David Auburn; The Invention of Love, Tom Stoppard'sdrama about English poet A.E. Housman; King Hedley II, thelatest installment from August Wilson on the 20th century blackexperience in America, and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife,Charles Busch's comedy about an anxiety-riddled Manhattan matron.
Nominated for best actor in a play were Brian Stokes Mitchell,the volcanic title character in King Hedley II; Richard Easton,who plays the older Housman in The Invention of Love; GarySinise, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and the two stars ofthe Irish comedy, Stones in His Pockets, Sean Campion andConleth Hill.
Actress nods went to Mary-Louise Parker, the tormented daughterin Proof; Linda Lavin, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife;Leslie Uggams, King Hedley II; Jean Smart, who played atempestuous star in the revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner;and Juliette Binoche, Betrayal.
Besides Lane and Broderick, Best-Actor Musical nominations wentto Kevin Chamberlin, Seussical; Tom Hewitt, The Rocky HorrorShow, and Patrick Wilson of The Full Monty.
The Actress-Musical nods: Blythe Danner, Follies;Christine Ebersole, 42nd Street; Randy Graff, A ClassAct; Faith Prince, Bells Are Ringing, and Marla Schaffel,Jane Eyre.
The names and number of categories have varied over the years.For example, the award for stage technician was discontinued after1963. Authors and producers originally shared the Tony Award forBest Musical. However, since 1971, Best Musical has gone only tothe producer, while authors have been eligible for Best Score andBest Book of a Musical.