Tony Snubs & Surprises: No Noms For Big Names Steve Carell & Michael Imperioli; Little Love For Brit Hit 'Patriots' & Hearty Welcome For 'Outsiders'

Two of the more anticipated star turns on Broadway this season — Steve Carell making his debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Uncle Vanya and The Sopranos alum Michael Imperioli returning to the New York stage in Circle in the Square's An Enemy of the People — got no love from Tony Award nominators today, and the West End hit Patriots, written by The Crown's Peter Morgan, barely registered on the roster, with only one nom for lead actor Michael Stuhlbarg.

Even more empty-handed than Patriots was The Wiz, the cheery, if rote, revival of the beloved Black retelling of The Wizard of Oz. Despite a star turn by Wayne Brady, it's possible that Tony nominators saw the Broadway revival for the uninspired road show it is.

Other shows with zero nominations included I Need That starring Danny DeVito, the Barry Manilow-Bruce Sussman musical Harmony, the Huey Lewis jukebox musical The Heart of Rock and Roll, the Britney Spears-fueled fairy tale musical Once Upon a One More Time, the Jaws-inspired The Shark Is Broken, The Cottage starring Eric McCormack and How To Dance In Ohio, the musical adapted from a 2015 documentary.

Neither The Who's Tommy, Monty Python's Spamalot nor Gutenberg! The Musical landed more than one nomination, though each of those productions had their fervent supporters. Lempicka, a tough sell given the barely-there name recognition of the title character — 20th century painter Tamara Lempicka — scored a respectable three nominations.

Far outperforming the expectations of naysayers — myself included — was The Outsiders, with 12 nominations, putting Danya Taymor's reinvention of the 1967 S.E. Hinton novel second in number only to Hell's Kitchen and Stereophonic (both at 13). Water for Elephants — another book-to-movie-to-musical adaptation — also performed well, with seven nominations.

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Some other initial reactions:

• Tony nominators didn't seem inclined to honor the dancers of the musical-dance hybrid Illinoise with performance nominations. A shame, since some of the most exhilarating and poignant moments on the stage this season were to be had there.
• Whatever one thinks about Back to the Future, the show's appeal rests almost entirely on the energetic appeal of young Casey Likes as Marty McFly. I think he is more crucial to that musical than Dorian Harewood is to The Notebook, but that's a quibble.
• I'd make the same argument for including Shaina Taub of Suffs over The Notebook's Maryann Plunkett, as fine an actress as Plunkett is.
• Rebecca Frecknall's quirky, often unpleasant direction of Cabaret found no support among Tony nominators. Together with Patriots' near-shutout, a clearer display of the sharp divide between UK and U.S. tastes can't be imagined.
• No nomination for Francis Benhamou, who brought so much life to Prayer for the French Republic as the fiercely intellectual member of a family under siege, is inexcusable.
• And finally, songwriter Will Butler's nomination for the original score of the play Stereophonic might well draw some raised eyebrows. Ignore the naysayers. Even though the non-musical play includes only a few songs — and more often just snippets of songs — the music is absolutely crucial to the story of a Fleetwood Mac-like '70s supergroup coming unglued. Butler captured, without stealing, the various sounds of Buckingham, Nicks and McVie, creating a perfect and vital soundtrack to the proceedings. And the songs sound great. Back in the day, they coulda been hits. Still could, actually.

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