Tony Awards 2024: Alicia Keys' 'Hell's Kitchen,' 'Stereophonic' lead with 13 nominations

Tony voters are in an Empire State of mind.

"Hell's Kitchen," a heart-tugging new Broadway musical featuring the songs of Alicia Keys, led Tuesday's Tony Awards nominations with 13, including best musical and four acting nods. Loosely inspired by Keys' teenage years, the show follows a young girl (Maleah Joi Moon) growing up in subsidized artists' housing as she defies her mom (Shoshana Bean) and discovers her love for the piano.

"Stereophonic," a captivating three-hour drama set entirely in a recording studio, tied "Hell's Kitchen" with 13 nominations including best play, best score and best orchestrations. The show follows a Fleetwood Mac-style band in the 1970s as they clash while making their next album.

Other best musical nominees include "Illinoise," a dance show set to songs of Sufjan Stevens; "The Outsiders," based on S.E. Hinton's classic 1967 novel; "Suffs," about women's years-long fight to win the right to vote; and "Water for Elephants," a romance set against the backdrop of the circus.

Despite dividing critics, "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" still made off with nine nominations, including best actor in a musical (Eddie Redmayne) and best actress (Gayle Rankin). The lavish, semi-immersive revival is set at a seedy Berlin nightclub pre-World War II.

"Merrily We Roll Along," the beloved revival of Stephen Sondheim's once-notorious flop, earned seven nominations including for its three stars: Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsey Mendez.

Fifteen new shows were eligible for best new musical this season, including splashy adaptations of "The Notebook," "Back to the Future" and "The Great Gatsby." All earned three or less nominations, while "The Heart of Rock and Roll," Huey Lewis' joyous new jukebox show, was completely passed over. Barry Manilow musical "Harmony," about a singing group upended by the rise of Nazism, was similarly blanked.

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Jessica Lange, a Tony winner for 2016's "Long Day's Journey into Night," is nominated again this year for best leading actress in a play. In Paula Vogel's semiautobiographical drama "Mother Play," she portrays the domineering, homophobic parent of two gay children (Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger, both also nominated).

Sarah Paulson is up for best leading actress for the hit play "Appropriate," a biting riff on Tennessee Williams that follows an estranged Southern family confronting their racist past. And Rachel McAdams, making her Broadway debut, helps round out the category with her crushing performance in "Mary Jane," playing the steadfast single mom of a critically ill boy.

A slew of other Hollywood actors garnered Tony nominations, such as Jeremy Strong ("An Enemy of the People"), Leslie Odom Jr. ("Purlie Victorious"), Amy Ryan ("Doubt"), Liev Schreiber ("Doubt"), Corey Stoll ("Appropriate"), and William Jackson Harper ("Uncle Vanya").

Surprisingly, Steve Carell ("Uncle Vanya") and Michael Imperioli ("An Enemy of the People") were both overlooked for their performances, despite many awards pundits predicting nods for both. Vladimir Putin drama "Patriots," from "The Crown" creator Peter Morgan, also only picked up one nomination for actor Michael Stuhlbarg.

How to watch the Tony Awards

The 77th annual Tony Awards will air live from Lincoln Center on June 16 on CBS (8 EDT/5 PDT and streaming on Paramount+).

The show will be hosted for a third time by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose.