Tony Award Nominations 2024: ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Stereophonic’ Lead with 13 Nods Each

On Tuesday, April 29, Tony winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Take Me Out) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) announced the 2024 Tony Award nominations. From May 2023 to April 2024, 39 new productions opened: 21 were musicals, 16 were plays and two were classified as specials. While those numbers didn’t break any records, there were more contenders than usual in the new musical category.

Biggest Winners & History Makers

Alicia Keys’ semi-autobiographical musical Hell’s Kitchen and David Adjmi’s portrait of a rock band Stereophonic both received the most nominations, 13 each. That makes Stereophonic the most nominated play ever! Since Hell’s Kitchen mostly features preexisting hits by Keys, it was not eligible for Best Original Score. However, the cluster of rock songs written by Will Butler (of Arcade Fire fame) for Best Play nominee Stereophonic earned him a Best Original Score nomination. So it is possible (though unlikely) that Stereophonic will win Best Play and Best Original Score.

Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Scenic Design of a Musical both have seven nominees due to a three-way tie for the fifth nomination slot. Best Featured Actor in a Musical has six nominees due to a tie for the fifth nomination slot.

Kara Young is the first performer to earn nominations three seasons in a row for Best Featured Actress in a Play. And Amy Herzog is the first playwright to be nominated for Best Play and Best Revival of a Play in the same season.

Sky Lakota-Lynch is the first known Native American performer to be nominated for a Tony Award.

Women directors made history this year. Four of the five Best Director of a Musical nominees are women, and three of the five Best Director of a Play nominees are women. That easily beats the previous record of four women directors being nominated for Tony Awards in one season.

While we’re on the subject of gender, while other awards have done away with gendered categories, the Tonys still separate performers by gender. Last year, that was a hot-button topic since multiple nominees (and, ultimately, two winners, Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee) were nonbinary. That does not seem to be the case this year, however, it’s an ongoing issue the Tonys still need to address.

Artists with Multiple Nominations

Shaina Taub was nominated for both her book and score for Suffs, though she was not honored for her lead performance in that musical. Tom Scutt was nominated for his costume and scenic design for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. Cody Spencer was recognized for his sound design for Here Lies Love and The Outsiders. In lighting design, Natasha Katz was nominated for Hell’s Kitchen and Grey House, and Isabella Byrd was honored for An Enemy of the People and Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. The set design collective dots was nominated for Appropriate and An Enemy of the People. Costume designer Dede Ayite was thrice recognized for her work on Appropriate, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding and Hell’s Kitchen. David Zinn also received three nods for his scenic design for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding and Stereophonic, and his costumes for An Enemy of the People.

Shutout Shows

Eight shows failed to score nominations: Once Upon a One More Time, Harmony, How to Dance in Ohio, The Cottage, The Shark Is Broken, I Need That, The Wiz and The Heart of Rock and Roll. The solo shows El Mago Pop, Melissa Etheridge: My Window and Alex Edelman: Just for Us were not eligible for Tony consideration.

Other Notable Snubs

Many had hoped Chip Zien would receive his first Tony nomination for his performance in Harmony. Ali Louis Bourzgui not receiving a nod for his turn in The Who’s Tommy was a shock (odd that show was only nominated for Best Musical Revival). Considering How to Dance in Ohio was the first Broadway show to feature autistic performers playing autistic characters, it’s disappointing no one was recognized—Liam Pearce was particularly impressive. Francis Benhamou’s showstopping monologue in Prayer for the French Republic was forgotten. None of the performers in Here Lies Love, the first Broadway musical with an all-Filipino cast, received any love. And almost all the actors from Stereophonic being nominated when no one was recognized from Jaja’s African Hair Braiding is a reminder that there really needs to be a Best Ensemble category.

Tony Awards 411

Produced by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, the 77th annual ceremony will take place on Sunday, June 16 at Lincoln Center with West Side Story Oscar winner Ariana DeBose returning to host for her third year in a row. Unlike 2023, when there was a writers’ strike, she’ll have a script this time (for better or worse). The Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS starting at 8 p.m. on June 16 and also available to stream on Paramount+. As in recent years, some statuettes will be given out during a streaming preshow on Pluto TV, which is free to watch and will be hosted by Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar.

The complete list of 2024 Tony Award nominations is below along with links to articles we’ve written about the nominees.

Best Musical

Hell’s Kitchen

Illinoise

The Outsiders

Suffs

Water for Elephants

Best Play

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding by Jocelyn Bioh

Mary Janeby Amy Herzog

Mother Playby Paula Vogel

Prayer for the French Republicby Joshua Harmon

Stereophonicby David Adjmi

Best Revival of a Musical

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Gutenberg! The Musical

Merrily We Roll Along

The Who’s Tommy

Best Revival of a Play

Appropriate by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

An Enemy of the Peopleadapted by Amy Herzog

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patchby Ossie Davis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Eden Espinosa in Lempicka

Maleah Joi Moon in Hell’s Kitchen

Kelli O’Hara in Days of Wine and Roses

Maryann Plunkett in The Notebook – read our interview with Plunkett on TDF Stages

Gayle Rankin in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Brody Grant in The Outsiders

Jonathan Groff in Merrily We Roll Along

Dorian Harewood in The Notebook – read our interview with Harewood on TDF Stages

Brian d’Arcy James in Days of Wine and Roses

Eddie Redmayne in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Betsy Aidem in Prayer for the French Republic

Jessica Lange in Mother Play

Rachel McAdams in Mary Jane

Sarah Paulson in Appropriate

Amy Ryan in Doubt: A Parable

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

William Jackson Harper in Uncle Vanya

Leslie Odom, Jr. in Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Liev Schreiber in Doubt: A Parable

Jeremy Strong in An Enemy of the People

Michael Stuhlbarg in Patriots

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Roger Bart for Back to the Future: The Musical

Joshua Boone for The Outsiders

Brandon Victor Dixon for Hell’s Kitchen

Sky Lakota-Lynch for The Outsiders

Daniel Radcliffe for Merrily We Roll Along

Steven Skybell for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Shoshana Bean for Hell’s Kitchen

Amber Iman for Lempicka – read an interview with Iman on TDF Stages

Nikki M. James for Suffs

Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer for Spamalot – read an interview with Kritzer on TDF Stages

Kecia Lewis for Hell’s Kitchen

Lindsay Mendez for Merrily We Roll Along

Bebe Neuwirth for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Will Brill for Stereophonic – read an interview with Brill on TDF Stages

Eli Gelb for Stereophonic

Jim Parsons for Mother Play

Tom Pecinka for Stereophonic

Corey Stoll for Appropriate

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Quincy Tyler Bernstine for Doubt: A Parable

Juliana Canfield for Stereophonic

Celia Keenan-Bolger for Mother Play

Sarah Pidgeon for Stereophonic

Kara Young for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Best Book of a Musical

Hell’s Kitchen by Kristoffer Diaz

The Notebookby Bekah Brunstetter

The Outsidersby Adam Rapp and Justin Levine

Suffsby Shaina Taub

Water for Elephantsby Rick Elice

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Days of Wine and Roses by Adam Guettel

Here Lies Loveby David Byrne and Fatboy Slim

The Outsidersby Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine

Stereophonicby Will Butler

Suffsby Shaina Taub

Best Orchestrations

Timo Andres for Illinoise

Will Butler and Justin Craig for Stereophonic

Justin Levine, Matt Hinkley and Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) for The Outsiders

Tom Kitt and Adam Blackstone for Hell’s Kitchen

Jonathan Tunick for Merrily We Roll Along

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

AMP featuring Tatiana Kahvegian for The Outsiders

Robert Brill and Peter Nigrini for Hell’s Kitchen

Takeshi Kata for Water for Elephants

David Korins for Here Lies Love

Riccardo Hernández and Peter Nigrini for Lempicka

Tim Hatley and Finn Ross for Back to the Future: The Musical

Tom Scutt for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Best Scenic Design of a Play

dots for Appropriate

dots for An Enemy of the People

Derek McLane for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

David Zinn for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

David Zinn for Stereophonic

Best Costume Design of a Play

Dede Ayite for Appropriate

Dede Ayite for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Enver Chakartash for Stereophonic

Emilio Sosa for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

David Zinn for An Enemy of the People

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Dede Ayite for Hell’s Kitchen

Linda Cho for The Great Gatsby

David Israel Reynoso for Water for Elephants

Tom Scutt for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Paul Tazewell for Suffs

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Isabella Byrd for An Enemy of the People

Amith Chandrashaker for Prayer for the French Republic

Jiyoun Chang for Stereophonic

Jane Cox for Appropriate

Natasha Katz for Grey House

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Brandon Stirling Baker for Illinoise

Isabella Byrd for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Natasha Katz for Hell’s Kitchen

Bradley King and David Bengali for Water for Elephants

Brian MacDevitt and Hana S. Kim for The Outsiders

Best Sound Design of a Play

Justin Ellington and Stefania Bulbarella for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Leah Gelpe for Mary Jane

Tom Gibbons for Grey House

Bray Poor and Will Pickets for Appropriate

Ryan Rumery for Stereophonic

Best Sound Design of a Musical

M.L. Dogg and Cody Spencer for Here Lies Love

Kai Harada for Merrily We Roll Along

Nick Lidster for Autograph for Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club

Gareth Owen for Hell’s Kitchen

Cody Spencer for The Outsiders

Best Direction of a Play

Daniel Aukin for Stereophonic

Anne Kauffman for Mary Jane

Kenny Leon for Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch

Lila Neugebauer for Appropriate – read an interview with Lila Neugebauer on TDF Stages

Whitney White for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

Best Direction of a Musical

Maria Friedman for Merrily We Roll Along

Michael Greif for Hell’s Kitchen

Leigh Silverman for Suffs

Jessica Stone for Water for Elephants

Danya Taymor for The Outsiders

Best Choreography

Camille A. Brown for Hell’s Kitchen

Annie-B Parson for Here Lies Love

Rick Kuperman and Jeff Kuperman for The Outsiders

Justin Peck for Illinoise

Jesse Robb and Shana Carroll for Water for Elephants

Number of Tony Nominations by Show

Hell’s Kitchen – 13

Stereophonic– 13

The Outsiders– 12

Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club– 9

Appropriate– 8

Merrily We Roll Along– 7

Water for Elephants– 7

Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch– 6

Suffs– 6

An Enemy of the People– 5

Jaja’s African Hair Braiding– 5

Here Lies Love– 4

Illinoise– 4

Mary Jane– 4

Mother Play– 4

Days of Wine and Roses– 3

Doubt: A Parable– 3

Lempicka– 3

The Notebook– 3

Prayer for the French Republic– 3

Back To The Future: The Musical– 2

Grey House– 2

The Great Gatsby– 1

Gutenberg! The Musical!– 1

Monty Python’s Spamalot– 1

Patriots– 1

Uncle Vanya– 1

The Who’s Tommy– 1

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre

Wendall K. Harrington, projection designer

Colleen Jennings-Roggernsack, arts leader

Judith O. Rubin, arts organization board member

Dramatists Guild Foundation

Samuel J. Friedman Health Center for the Performing Arts

Special Tony Awards for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre

Jack O’Brien, director, writer and producer

George C. Wolfe, director, writer and producer

Special Tony Awards

Alex Edelman, writer-performer of Just for Us

Abe Jacob, sound designer

Nikiya Mathis, hair and wig designer for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding as well as an actor

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award

Billy Porter