“Spring Awakening,” the musical hailed for bringing a fresh and authentic rock edge to a 19th-century German tale about teen angst, received 11 Tony nominations Tuesday morning in New York. Right behind, with 10, was “Grey Gardens,” an unorthodox musical about off-kilter relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. “The Coast of Utopia,” Tom Stoppard’s heady, three-part epic drama about 19th-century Russian revolutionaries, led the play nominees with 10 nods.
Other best-musical nominees were the Disney standard “Mary Poppins” and “Curtains,” a backstage whodunit starring David Hyde Pierce.
Besides “The Coast of Utopia,” the best-play nominees include “Frost/Nixon,” about the 1977 television interview between the British TV personality and the disgraced U.S. president; “Radio Golf,” the last play in August Wilson’s 10-play cycle about black life in the 20th century; and “The Little Dog Laughed,” Douglas Carter Beane’s satire about a budding film star who is gay but closeted.
Wilson died of cancer in October 2005 after making final changes to his play during its run that year at Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.
Also contending posthumously are two members of the “Curtains” team: lyricist Fred Ebb and book writer Peter Stone. They had teamed with composer John Kander, who turned to Rupert Holmes to complete the show.
Duncan Sheik, composer of “Spring Awakening,” has a chance to become the only rock musician besides Elton John (“Aida”) to claim Broadway success with songs written expressly for the stage.
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