The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards started in 1947 as a way to celebrate excellence in theatre. The Tony Awards Ceremony was originally held at the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria Ballroom in New York City. Mickey Rooney, Herb Shriner, Ethel Waters, and David Wayne all took the stage that night!
Related: 2018 Drama League Nominations announced
The awards got their name from Antoinette Perry, a famous actress, director, producer and wartime leader of the American Theatre Wing.
During the first two years, the winners received a scroll and a gold money clip for men or a compact for women. In 1949, United Scenic Artists sponsored a contest for the design of the award itself. The winner of the contest was Herman Rosse, with the design of the comedy and tragedy mask; on the other side was Antoinette Perry in profile. To this day, the Tony Award statue that the winners receive still resembles this design.
CBS has been airing the Tony Awards every year since 1978, giving viewers all around the world a chance to get in on the action on Tony Awards Night.
In 2000, IBM started collaborating with the iconic awards ceremony to build a website with information about nominees, past winners, history and trivia. The site also serves as an access point to the social media posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat platforms.
This year, Mean Girls and SpongeBob Squarepants: The Musical lead the pack with a dozen nominations each! See below for the full list of nominations:
Best Leading Actor in a Play
Andrew Garfield, Angels in America
Tom Hollander, Travesties
Jamie Parker, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Mark Rylance, Farinelli and the King
Denzel Washington, The Iceman Cometh
Best Leading Actor in a Musical
Harry Hadden-Paton, My Fair Lady
Joshua Henry, Carousel
Tony Shalhoub, The Band’s Visit
Ethan Slater, SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Leading Actress in a Play
Glenda Jackson, Three Tall Women
Condola Rashad, Saint Joan
Lauren Ridloff, Children of a Lesser God
Amy Schumer, Meteor Shower
Best Leading Actress in a Musical
Lauren Ambrose, My Fair Lady
Hailey Kilgore, Once On This Island
LaChanze, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Katrina Lenk, The Band’s Visit
Taylor Louderman, Mean Girls
Jessie Mueller, Carousel
Best Revival of a Musical
Carousel
My Fair Lady
Once On This Island
Best Revival of a Play
Angels in America
The Iceman Cometh
Lobby Hero
Three Tall Women
Travesties
Best Play
The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
Farinelli and the King by Claire van Kampen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by Jack Thorne
Latin History for Morons by John Leguizamo
Junk by Ayad Akhtar
Best Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Book
Tina Fey, Mean Girls
Kyle Jarrow, SpongeBob SquarePants
Jennifer Lee, Frozen
Itamar Moses, The Band’s Visit
Best Score
Adrian Sutton, Angels in America
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, Frozen
Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, Mean Girls
David Yazbek, The Band’s Visit
Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alexander Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, the Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, Tom Kenny and Andy Paley, They Might Be Giants, T.I., David Bowie and Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, My Fair Lady
Christopher Gattelli, SpongeBob SquarePants
Steven Hoggett, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Justin Peck, Carousel
Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, Mean Girls
Tom Kitt, SpongeBob SquarePants
AnnMarie Milazzo and Michael Starobin, Once On This Island
Jamshied Sharifi, The Band’s Visit
Jonathan Tunick, Carousel
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, Once On This Island
Scott Pask, The Band’s Visit
Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young, Mean Girls
Michael Yeargan, My Fair Lady
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Three Tall Women
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and the King
Christine Jones, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Santo Loquasto, The Iceman Cometh
Ian MacNeil and Edward Pierce, Angels in America
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jonathan Fensom, Farinelli and the King
Nicky Gillibrand, Angels in America
Katrina Lindsay, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Ann Roth, The Iceman Cometh
Ann Roth, Three Tall Women
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Mean Girls
Clint Ramos, Once On This Island
Ann Roth, Carousel
David Zinn, SpongeBob SquarePants
Catherine Zuber, My Fair Lady
Best Sound Design of a Play
Adam Cork, Travesties
Ian Dickson and Autograph, Angels in America
Gareth Fry, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Tom Gibbons, 1984
Dan Moses Schreier, The Iceman Cometh
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, The Band’s Visit
Peter Hylenski, Once On This Island
Scott Lehrer, Carousel
Brian Ronan, Mean Girls
Walter Trarbach and Mike Dobson, SpongeBob SquarePants
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Paule Constable, Angels in America
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, The Iceman Cometh
Paul Russell, Farinelli and the King
Ben Stanton, Junk
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, SpongeBob SquarePants
Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, Once On This Island
Donald Holder, My Fair Lady
Brian MacDevitt, Carousel
Tyler Micoleau, The Band’s Visit
Best Direction of a Play
Marianne Elliott, Angels in America
Joe Mantello, Three Tall Women
Patrick Marber, Travesties
John Tiffany, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
George C. Wolfe, The Iceman Cometh
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Once On This Island
David Cromer, The Band’s Visit
Tina Landau, SpongeBob SquarePants
Casey Nicholaw, Mean Girls
Bartlett Sher, My Fair Lady
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Boyle, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Michael Cera, Lobby Hero
Brian Tyree Henry, Lobby Hero
Nathan Lane, Angels in America
David Morse, The Iceman Cometh
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Susan Brown, Angels in America
Noma Dumezweni, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Deborah Findlay, The Children
Denise Gough, Angels in America
Laurie Metcalf, Three Tall Women
Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Norbert Leo Butz, My Fair Lady
Alexander Gemignani, Carousel
Grey Henson, Mean Girls
Gavin Lee, SpongeBob SquarePants
Ari’el Stachel, The Band’s Visit
Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Ariana DeBose, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical
Renee Fleming, Carousel
Lindsay Mendez, Carousel
Ashley Park, Mean Girls
Diana Rigg, My Fair Lady
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Tony Nominations by Production
Mean Girls - 12
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical - 12
Angels in America - 11
The Band's Visit - 11
Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel - 11
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two - 10
My Fair Lady - 10
Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh - 8
Once On This Island - 8
Edward Albee's Three Tall Women - 6
Farinelli and The King - 5
Travesties - 4
Frozen - 3
Lobby Hero - 3
The Children - 2
Junk - 2
Summer: The Donna Summer Musical - 2
Children of a Lesser God - 1
Latin History for Morons - 1
Meteor Shower - 1
1984 - 1
Saint Joan - 1
Do you have a favorite star or show that was nominated? Let us know below!