The Tony nominations are officially here and they’re very, very, VERY queer

Broadway is back and “Rainbow High” with a full slate of queer contenders for the 76^th annual Tony Awards.

Forty productions opened — and a handful closed or were limited runs — during the 2022-23 Broadway season, which includes shows that opened between May 5, 2022, and April 27, 2023. Among them were nine new musicals, six musical revivals, 17 new plays, six play revivals, and two wildcards (the Jonas Brothers in concert and a return engagement of last season’s Take Me Out).

Considered one of the theater’s highest honors (unless you count actually landing a gig), this year’s Tony Awards will be vacating its recent home at Radio City Music Hall and heading uptown to the historic United Palace for the June 11 ceremony and live broadcast on CBS. But the big question is, who’s invited?

This year’s nominees include both perennial favorites and newcomers and plenty of queer talent, which has historically been welcomed by the theater community with open arms. But the awards themselves have yet to catch up to the nonbinary times. One notable — and purposeful omission — is Justin David Sullivan’s performance in & Juliet.

Sullivan, who identifies as trans nonbinary and uses he/she/they pronouns, plays Juliet’s best friend May in a musical that images what the star-crossed lover’s life could be through the songbook of hitmaker Max Martin.

“I felt I had no choice but to abstain from being considered for a nomination this season,” Sullivan said in a statement released on February 1. “I hope that award shows across the industry will expand their reach to be able to honor and award people of all gender identities.”

While Sullivan opted out, others opted in — perhaps using their potential time in the spotlight to advocate for renamed performance categories.

J. Harrison Ghee (he/she/they), who stars as Jerry/Daphne in the musical adaption of Some Like It Hot, is a frontrunner in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical category, up against co-star Christian Borle, along with Josh Groban (Sweeney Todd), Brian d’Arcy James (Into the Woods), Ben Platt (Parade), and Colton Ryan (New York, New York).

Related:

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The 1959 film receives a Broadway recalibration with plenty of Prohibition-era jazz hot fun, including a standout performance by J. Harrison Ghee.

Alex Newell (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Glee), who identifies as nonbinary and gender-nonconforming, had a different take on category consideration for their standout performance as Lulu in Shucked, a new musical featuring music and lyrics by queer country artists Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally.

“I went based off the English language,” Newell told Variety. “The standard has always been a male is an actor and a female as an actress. And I don’t like that. Because when I say I’m an actor, I mean that is my profession, the craft that I studied, the craft that I’m doing. Everyone who does acting is an actor. That is genderless.”

Some of our favorite queer actors returned to the stage, earning nominations for playing straight — the ultimate casting coup! — including Ben Platt as the real-life Leo Frank in Parade, Sean Hayes as legendary pianist and comedian Oscar Levant in Goodnight, Oscar, and Newell’s previously mentioned performance as the smart-talkin’ Lulu in Shucked.

Related:

Sean Hayes brings laughter and levity to Broadway’s ‘Good Night, Oscar’

Sean Hayes takes on Golden Age Hollywood personality and pianist Oscar Levant in a new play by Doug Wright.

Other queer highlights from this year’s nominations include:

Jeanine Tesori (Best Original Score, Kimberly Akimbo) — The composer of Fun Home returns to Broadway with a musical adaptation of Kimberly Akimbo, David Lindsay-Abaire’s play about a teenage girl with a degenerative disease in which she ages at four times the average rate. The musical’s four-person ensemble of high schoolers subtly and beautifully touches on queer themes without the trauma.

“I think when you first start writing, at least when I did, it’s very confessional,” Tesori said at an American Theater Critics Association panel. “It’s very based on — I think about my ninth-grade poetry — well, I burned it all — but then you get to the parts where you can explore the joy and the spectrum of experiences. Every time that we start something, it’s a question of why are we writing it? Why are we bringing it to the stage? And how is it going to hit its time? So we touched on it to ensure that we were very wide-eyed about that and then moved on.”

Jordan E. Cooper (Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, Ain’t No Mo’) — Cooper not only appeared in the play, he wrote it, too, posing the question: “What if the U.S. government attempted to solve racism by offering Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa?”

Amid the pandemic, the play struggled to find an audience despite positive reviews. Cooper campaigned to keep the show open, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s an interesting time to actually take a chance on art. And I think that is really the conversation that needs to be had.”

James Ijames (Best Play, Fat Ham) — Ijames won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his modern retelling of Hamlet through a queer, Black Southern lens. Will a Tony be next?

“I love Shakespeare. I love dramatic literature that is written in a kind of poetry. I love the scale of the storytelling in Shakespeare. And I love being a Black person from the South. I love the culture I inherited from my ancestors who have been in the south for generations,” Ijames told INTO. “I feel an ownership of Shakespeare because Shakespeare is impossible without the subjugation of people. You don’t get art in a high culture like that without somebody having to suffer as a result of that. So I take ownership of that text because I feel like it’s my inheritance, just like the culture I grew up in.”

Of course, no awards season is complete without a snub or two. Missing from this year’s nominations is the revival of Bob Fosse’s Dancin’, featuring a more inclusive take on the choreographer’s work; Sharon D Clarke as Linda Loman in the revival of Death of a Salesman (featuring three out Black queer actors); and Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus’s revival of 1776 showcasing an all-female and nonbinary cast.

Related:

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76th annual Tony Awards, full nominee list:

Best Book of a Musical
& Juliet, David West Read
Kimberly Akimbo, David Lindsay-Abaire
New York, New York, David Thompson & Sharon Washington
Shucked, Robert Horn
Some Like It Hot, Matthew López & Amber Ruffin

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Almost Famous, Music: Tom Kitt, Lyrics: Cameron Crowe & Tom Kitt
Kimberly Akimbo, Music: Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire
KPOP, Music & Lyrics: Helen Park & Max Vernon
Shucked, Music and Lyrics: Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally
Some Like It Hot, Music: Marc Shaiman, Lyrics: Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog
Corey Hawkins, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog
Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
Wendell Pierce, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House
Jodie Comer, Prima Facie
Jessica Hecht, Summer, 1976
Audra McDonald, Ohio State Murders

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Christian Borle, Some Like It Hot
J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot
Josh Groban, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Brian d’Arcy James, Into the Woods
Ben Platt, Parade
Colton Ryan, New York, New York

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sara Bareilles, Into the Woods
Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Lorna Courtney, & Juliet
Micaela Diamond, Parade

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Jordan E. Cooper, Ain’t No Mo’
Samuel L. Jackson, August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
Arian Moayed, A Doll’s House
Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt
David Zayas, Cost of Living

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Nikki Crawford, Fat Ham
Crystal Lucas-Perry, Ain’t No Mo’
Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living
Kara Young, Cost of Living

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Kevin Cahoon, Shucked
Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo
Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like It Hot
Jordan Donica, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Alex Newell, Shucked

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Julia Lester, Into the Woods
Ruthie Ann Miles, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
NaTasha Yvette Williams, Some Like It Hot
Betsy Wolfe, & Juliet

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Prima Facie
Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi
Rachel Hauck, Good Night, Oscar
Richard Hudson, Leopoldstadt
Dane Laffrey & Lucy Mackinnon, A Christmas Carol

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Michael Yeargan & 59 Productions, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Scott Pask, Shucked
Scott Pask, Some Like It Hot

Best Costume Design of a Play
Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi
Dominique Fawn Hill, Fat Ham
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt
Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’
Emilio Sosa, Good Night, Oscar

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot
Susan Hilferty, Parade
Jennifer Moeller, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Clint Ramos & Sophia Choi, KPOP
Paloma Young, & Juliet
Donna Zakowska, New York, New York

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt
Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie
Jon Clark, A Doll’s House
Bradley King, Fat Ham
Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi
Jen Schriever, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, New York, New York
Lap Chi Chu, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Heather Gilbert, Parade
Howard Hudson, & Juliet
Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot
Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Sound Design of a Play
Jonathan Deans & Taylor Williams, Ain’t No Mo’
Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi
Joshua D. Reid, A Christmas Carol
Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll’s House
Ben & Max Ringham, Prima Facie

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, New York, New York
John Shivers, Shucked
Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann, Into the Woods
Gareth Owen, & Juliet
Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Direction of a Play
Saheem Ali, Fat Ham
Jo Bonney, Cost of Living
Jamie Lloyd, A Doll’s House
Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt
Stevie Walker-Webb, Ain’t No Mo’
Max Webster, Life of Pi

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Parade
Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Jack O’Brien, Shucked
Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo

Best Choreography
Steven Hoggett, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Susan Stroman, New York, New York
Jennifer Weber, & Juliet
Jennifer Weber, KPOP

Best Orchestrations
Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet
John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo
Jason Howland, Shucked
Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot
Daryl Waters & Sam Davis, New York, New York

Best Play
Ain’t No Mo’
Between Riverside and Crazy
Cost of Living
Fat Ham
Leopoldstadt

Best Musical
& Juliet
Kimberly Akimbo
New York, New York
Shucked
Some Like It Hot

Best Revival of a Play
August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson
A Doll’s House
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

Best Revival of a Musical
Into the Woods
Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot
Parade
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tony Nominations by Production
Some Like It Hot – 13
& Juliet – 9
New York, New York – 9
Shucked – 9
Kimberly Akimbo – 8
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – 8
Ain’t No Mo’ – 6
A Doll’s House – 6
Into the Woods – 6
Leopoldstadt – 6
Parade – 6
Cost of Living – 5
Fat Ham – 5
Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot – 5
Life of Pi – 5
Prima Facie – 4
A Christmas Carol – 3
Good Night, Oscar – 3
KPOP – 3
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog – 3
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman – 2
August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson – 2
Between Riverside and Crazy – 2
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window – 2
Almost Famous – 1
Ohio State Murders – 1
Summer, 1976 – 1