‘Hamilton’ leads Tony nods, sets record with 16 nominations

By MARK KENNEDY

AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK

The megahit musical “Hamilton” has grabbed a record-breaking 16 Tony Award nominations, the biggest haul in Broadway history and another notch in the show’s march into theatrical history.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop-flavored biography about the first U.S. treasury secretary on Tuesday broke the 15-nominations record held by “The Producers” and “Billy Elliot.” “Hamilton” was nominated in virtually every category it could compete in, from acting to scenic design.

Next month, it will fight for Broadway’s biggest crown – best new musical – with “Bright Star,” “School of Rock,” “Shuffle Along” and “Waitress.”

“School of Rock,” the adaptation by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Julian Fellowes of the Jack Black movie about a wannabe rocker who enlists fifth-graders to form a rock group, earned four nominations, including best musical, book, original score and best leading man in Alex Brightman.

“It’s a funny season this one, isn’t it,” said Lloyd Webber from London. “As you know, it’s the ‘Hamil-Tonys.’ We’ve gotten everything we could have hoped for and that’s all we’ll get. But it’s lovely in this season of all seasons to get score and musical and book. We’re terribly pleased.”

The best play category is composed of “Eclipsed,” “The Father,” “The Humans” and “King Charles III.”

The awards will be handed out June 12, with James Corden playing host from the Beacon Theatre.

After “Hamilton,” the other top nominations went to the new musical “Shuffle Along,” a show that explores a groundbreaking 95-year-old musical starring, written and directed by African-Americans, which got 10 nominations, and the revival of “She Loves Me,” which earned eight.

“Hamilton” earned seven acting nominations – Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff, Christopher Jackson and Renee Elise Goldsberry. It also earned nominations for scenic design, costumes, lighting design, direction, choreography, orchestrations, best book and best original score.

Soo, nominated for best leading actress in a musical, will face off against Laura Benanti, a previous Tony winner who stars in “She Loves Me,” the 1963 romantic musical by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock about two star-crossed co-workers at a perfume store.

Benanti and Soo also face competition from Carmen Cusack in “Bright Star,” Cynthia Erivo in “The Color Purple” and Jessie Mueller in “Waitress.”

“It feels like – in this political climate and what’s happening in our nation as well as so much violence happening all over the world – that to have 2 hours and 45 minutes to just sit in a theater and smile and laugh and be transported to a sweeter, softer place feels really necessary to me right now,” said Benanti, who was enjoying her first-time nomination in a leading actress category.

“Hamilton” has burst through the Broadway bubble like few shows. U.S. presidential candidates have tweeted about it, it has influenced the debate over the nation’s currency, and the show has been referenced on “Saturday Night Live” and “Inside Amy Schumer.”

Hollywood stars didn’t do so well on Tuesday, with Clive Owen, Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan and George Takei all missing out on nods.