'Paris' 'Fun Home' get 12 Tony noms

(MENAFN- Arab Times) NEW YORK April 28 (Agencies): The musicals 'An American in Paris' and 'Fun Home' each received a leading 12 Tony Award nominations on Tuesday showing two very different sides of this Broadway season.

One side is sunny the dance-heavy stage adaptation of the 1951 musical film choreographed by Gene Kelly and the other moody the dark show based on Alison Bechdel's coming of age graphic novel about her closeted and suicidal dad.

The best new play category will include the candidates 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two' 'Hand to God' 'Disgraced' and 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.' Larry David's 'Fish in the Dark' was snubbed entirely.

In addition to 'An American in Paris' and 'Fun Home' the best new musical category includes 'Something Rotten!' and 'The Visit.' The Peter Pan-themed 'Finding Neverland' marking Harvey Weinstein's first-ever venture into Broadway as a lead producer didn't get a single nomination.

The nominations were announced in a televised event co-hosted by Mary-Louise Parker and Bruce Willis. The Tonys will be handed out at Radio City Music Hall on June 7.

The best actress in a musical category includes Kristin Chenoweth for 'On the Twentieth Century' Kelli O'Hara for 'The King and I' Chita Rivera for 'The Visit' Leanne Cope from 'An American in Paris' and Beth Malone from 'Fun Home.'

The best actor in a musical nominees are Brian d'Arcy James for 'Something Rotten!' Michael Cerveris in 'Fun Home' Matthew Morrison from 'Finding Neverland' Ken Watanabe in 'The King and I' Tony Yazbeck in 'On the Town' and Robert Fairchild in 'An American in Paris.'

The best actor in a play nominees include Bradley Cooper for 'The Elephant Man' Ben Miles for 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two' Alex Sharp in 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' Steven Boyer in 'Hand to God' and Bill Nighy for 'Skylight.'

The five best actresses in a play nominees are: Carey Mulligan in 'Skylight' Helen Mirren in 'The Audience' Ruth Wilson in 'Constellations' Geneva Carr in 'Hand to God' and Elisabeth Moss in 'The Heidi Chronicles.'

Select nominations for the 2015 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards announced Tuesday.

* Best Musical: 'An American in Paris' 'Fun Home' 'Something Rotten!' 'The Visit'

* Best Play: 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' 'Disgraced' 'Hand to God' 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two.'

* Best Book of a Musical: 'An American in Paris' 'Fun Home' 'Something Rotten!' 'The Visit.'

* Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater: 'Fun Home' 'The Last Ship' 'Something Rotten!' 'The Visit.'

* Best Revival of a Play: 'The Elephant Man' 'Skylight' 'This is Our Youth 'You Can't Take It With You.'

* Best Revival of a Musical: 'The King and I' 'On the Town' 'On the Twentieth Century.'

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Steven Boyer 'Hand to God'; Bradley Cooper 'The Elephant Man'; Ben Miles 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two' Bill Nighy 'Skylight'; Alex Sharp 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.'

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Geneva Carr 'Hand to God'; Helen Mirren 'The Audience'; Elisabeth Moss 'The Heidi Chronicles'; Carey Mulligan 'Skylight'; Ruth Wilson 'Constellations.'

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Michael Cerveris 'Fun Home'; Robert Fairchild 'An American in Paris'; Brian d'Arcy James 'Something Rotten!'; Ken Watanabe 'The King and I'; Tony Yazbeck 'On the Town.'

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Kristin Chenoweth 'On the Twentieth Century'; Leanne Cope 'An American in Paris'; Beth Malone 'Fun Home'; Kelli O'Hara 'The King and I'; Chita Rivera 'The Visit.'

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Matthew Beard 'Skylight'; K. Todd Freeman 'Airline Highway'; Richard McCabe 'The Audience'; Alessandro Nivola 'The Elephant Man'; Nathaniel Parker 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two'; Micah Stock 'It's Only a Play.'

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Annaleigh Ashford 'You Can't Take It With You'; Patricia Clarkson 'The Elephant Man'; Lydia Leonard 'Wolf Hall Parts One & Two'; Sarah Stiles 'Hand to God'; Julie White 'Airline Highway.'

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Christian Borle 'Something Rotten!'; Andy Karl 'On the Twentieth Century'; Brad Oscar 'Something Rotten!'; Brandon Uranowitz 'An American in Paris'; Max von Essen 'An American in Paris.'

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Victoria Clark 'Gigi'; Judy Kuhn 'Fun Home'; Sydney Lucas 'Fun Home'; Ruthie Ann Miles 'The King and I'; Emily Skeggs 'Fun Home.'

Also:

LOS ANGELES: John Cameron Mitchell and 'Wicked' composer Stephen Schwartz will win special 2015 Tony Awards with Mitchell earning the recognition for his head-turning return to the lead role of the musical that he co-created 'Hedwig and the Angry Inch' and Schwartz scoring the Tonys' honor for humanitarian or charitable organizations.

Mitchell originated the title role in the show's 1998 Off Broadway premiere but as one of the replacement actors who has followed Neil Patrick Harris into the current Broadway production he isn't eligible for consideration in this year's competitive acting race at the Tonys. During last year's awards season fans of Mitchell and of 'Hedwig' registered dissatisfaction with the fact that the actor-writer-director wasn't eligible as one of the co-creators of the show since the production was considered a revival rather than a new musical (although the title had never before played Broadway).

The special Tony award corrects that. It'll also give a nice publicity boost to 'Hedwig' in which Darren Criss recently began his starring stint following Mitchell's run.

Meanwhile Schwartz the composer whose string of enduring musical titles includes 'Pippin' and 'Godspell' will take home the Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for his work supporting artists and emerging creatives with the ASCAP Musical Theater Workshop the ASCAP Foundation and the Dramatists Guild. Schwartz was president of the Dramatists Guild for six years before recently stepping down.

Mitchell and Schwartz will receive their Tonys as part of the 2015 Tony Awards ceremony set to be broadcast live June 7 from Radio City Music Hall. The nominees for this year's competitive categories was be announced April 28.