Mean Girls leads Tony nominations ahead of Harry Potter and Angels in America

This year’s Tony Awards nominations are in, with Mean Girls, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical among the nominees for best plays and musicals.

Tina Fey with Disney’s OG Mean Girls (David Roark/Getty)

Mean Girls was nominated for best musical, as well as in 11 other categories, including best book of a Musical, best direction of a musical, best scenic, costume and sound design as well as best choreography for its brilliant adaptation of Tina Fey’s iconic script.

It took the SNL alumni-turned-30 Rock creator five years to complete the musical’s script. Jeff Richmond, whose work on the soundtrack earned him a Tony nomination, told Variety that Regina George’s anthems were designed to be James Bond villainness-worthy.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical is also among the most nominated musicals of the year, counting as many nominations as Mean Girls, including nods for best direction of a musical and best musical.

JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a contender for best play of the year and racks up nine other nominations, including best performances by an actor and actress for Anthony Boyle as Harry and Noma Dumezweni as Hermione Granger.

John Tiffany is among the five nominees for best direction of a play.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was also nominated for its breathtaking scenic, costume, lighting and sound design.

Back in 2017, the play took home a record nine Oliver Awards, including awards for best new play and best direction.

Marianne Elliott’s Angels in America, starring Andrew Garfield and Nathan Lane, was nominated in 11 categories, with Garfield earning a nomination for best actor in a leading role and Elliott being nominated for best direction of a play.

Angels in America is also nominated for best revival of a play. The Tony Kutchner AIDS epidemic saga took home two Oliver Awards in April 2018, for best revival and best supporting actress in a play for Denise Gough.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DinEV8NqKR0]

The ceremony, which will take place on June 10, will honour Broadway legend Chita Rivera and Andrew Lloyd Webber with the Special Tony Awards for lifetime achievement in theatre. Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban will be hosting.

Selected nominations below:

Best play
The Children — Lucy Kirkwood
Farinelli and The King — Claire van Kampen
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child — Jack Thorne
Junk — Ayad Akhtar
Latin History for Morons — John Leguizamo

Best Musical
The Band’s Visit
Frozen
Mean Girls
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical

Best Direction of a Play
Angels in America – Marianne Elliott
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women — Joe Mantello
Travesties — Patrick Marber
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two — John Tiffany
Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh — George C. Wolfe

Best Direction of a Musical
Once On This Island — Michael Arden
The Band’s Visit— David Cromer
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical — Tina Landau
Mean Girls — Casey Nicholaw
My Fair Lady — Bartlett Sher

Find out about all the nominations on the Tony Awards’ website.

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