Nominations for the Tony Awards were announced today, celebrating the best of NYC's musical theater and giving the gays across America yet another awards program to discuss snottily as if they've seen any of the nominated shows.

Highlights of the nominations: The Color Purple, co-produced by Oprah Winfrey and based on the book and movie of the same name, was nominated for several awards including Best Musical. Sweeney Todd, the bizarre but brilliantly-written musical about a cannibalistic barber, was nominated for Best Revival Of A Musical, as was Threepenny Opera, starring Alan Cumming and Cyndi Lauper. If you're wondering why Phantom Of The Opera hasn't been nominated, well...don't bother watching the awards ceremony on June 11. You won't have any idea of what's going on.

Harry Connick, Jr. took a break from Will & Grace to play the lead in The Pajama Game, for which he was nominated for Best Performance By A Leading Actor; Patti Lupone, who once played Corky's mom in Life Goes On, was nominated for her lead role in Sweeney Todd. Besides appearing on feel-good family dramas, Lupone has played some of the biggest roles on Broadway, including the pre-Madonna Evita. We're holding out, however, for all the big wins to go to the musical adaptation of The Wedding Singer, as it sounds too ridiculous to be a legit show and we don't know anyone who went to see it. Or maybe it's good, who knows?

The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards [site]