Tony Awards 2023: Wendell Pierce, Jessica Chastain Among Snubs
Shows with multiple nominations that failed to win any awards include ‘&Juliet’ ‘Into The Woods,’ ‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘Ain’t No Mo’.
Ain’t No Mo’ earned 6 nominations, despite fears that the Tonys would forget about the play that had closed earlier, despite a campaign to save it. But when the 2023 Tonys were handed out Sunday night, Ain’t No Mo’ failed to win a single award for which it was nominated.
Other multiple nominees shut out include 9-time nominee & Juliet, 6-time nominee Into the Woods and Jessica Chastain, star of revival, A Doll’s House.
Even Chastain didn’t win the best actress Tony, losing to fellow Hollywood star Jodie Comer (Prima Facie).
In the best lead actor in a play, Wendell Pierce was snubbed for his role in Death of a Salesman, a project that didn’t perform as well this time, even in nominations.
Most multiple Hollywood nominees left empty-handed, including: Samuel L. Jackson (August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson), Sara Bareilles (Into the Woods) and Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford (Sweeney Todd).
Overall, the Groban- and Ashford-led Sweeney Todd revival fared rather poorly, winning only two awards from its eight nominations. Similarly, New York, New York won only one award, for scenic design, which was presented in the Tonys’ Act One preshow. Still, the show got some airtime via a performance in the main CBS ceremony and legendary composer John Kander receiving a lifetime achievement award from his New York, New York collaborator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Alex Newell made history by becoming the first openly nonbinary actor to win Tony (J. Harrison Ghee became the second openly nonbinary acting winner shortly after), but Newell’s win was the only one for corn-centric musical Shucked, which got nine nominations.
After voters failed to nominate The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window stars Rachel Brosnahan and Oscar Isaac, it was a surprise that one of the play’s few nominees, Miriam Silverman, did win.
Similarly, Brandon Uranowitz’s win for featured actor in a play for Leopoldstadt was somewhat of a surprise when it was announced. But the victory may have signaled the strong showing for Leopoldstadt, which won four awards, including best play.
