The nominations for the 68th Tony Awards were announced Tuesday morning in Manhattan. “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder” led the Tony field with 10 nominations. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” received eight, including one for its star, Neil Patrick Harris.  Stay tuned for analysis of who’s in, who’s out, and who has the best shots of winning Tonys at the ceremony on June 8. Which Broadway shows were shut out? Who was robbed? Keep checking back here for updates, and weigh in with your own analysis in the comments section.  No “Cabaret” for Best Musical Revival  There were four musicals revivals on Broadway this season, but only three were nominated: “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Les Miserables,” and “Violet.”  Why was the fourth revival, “Cabaret,” left out? It didn’t get enough votes to pass a threshold in the Tony Awards rulebook to merit a nomination. The “Cabaret” leading actress, Oscar nominee Michelle Williams, was also passed over for her performance as Sally Bowles; the show received only two nominations, for theater veterans Danny Burstein and Linda Emond in the featured acting categories. The two front-runners for the musical revival Tony are “Hedwig” and “Violet,” thanks to strong reviews and Tony-nominated performances by their respective stars, Neil Patrick Harris and Sutton Foster (who are strong contenders themselves for acting Tonys).  The double-bill of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “Richard III” became the surprise event of the Broadway season. Featuring an all-male ensemble (with some actors playing women), the plays were not only critically acclaimed, but also a box office sensation, with the productions grossing a total of $14 million over 18 weeks. Now “Twelfth Night” has become a big winner in the Tony nominations — nabbing nods for best play revival, Samuel Barnett for best actor (as Viola), Mark Rylance for best featured actor (as Olivia), and four other nominations.  In the revival category, “Twelfth Night” will face off against “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” and “The Glass Menagerie.” The play revival category will be one of the most competitive, with “Raisin” and “Inishmaan” perhaps benefiting from being the only nominees that are still running. But “Twelfth Night” has upended expectations so far this season; how many wins will it have on Tonys night?  The best play category is a reminder that this Broadway season has been dominated by writers – as well as composers, directors, and lead producers – who are men.  None of the season’s 10 new plays were written by women, and the five nominees are familiar male faces. The nominees are “Act One” by James Lapine (a three-time Tony winner and a Pulitzer Prize winner, who adapted an autobiography by Moss Hart); “All the Way” by Robert Schenkkan (a Pulitzer winner for “The Kentucky Cycle”); “Casa Valentina” by Harvey Fierstein (a four-time Tony winner in writing and acting categories); “Mothers and Sons” by Terrence McNally (also a four-time Tony winner); and “Outside Mullingar” by John Patrick Shanley (a Tony and Pulitzer winner).  Early betting among several Tony voters slightly favors on “All the Way,” a nearly three-hour drama about the first years of the Johnson presidency, has admirers for its ambitious scope and Bryan Cranston’s central performance, but others have felt it lacks the intellectual sizzle of past historical play winners like “The Coast of Utopia” and “Copenhagen.” The performances by two best actor nominees, Mr. Cranston and Tony Shalhoub in “Act One,” may help those plays’ chances.  A Wide-Open Race for Best Musical  After months of speculation about the Tony nominees for best musical, the race is on. As widely predicted, “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” was nominated, and the three other nominees – “Aladdin,” “After Midnight” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” – were viewed as likely by some Broadway observers.  The surprise in Tuesday’s nominations was that there wasn’t a fifth nominee, a slot that had been made possible by an awards rules change this winter. As a result several musicals that received Tonys buzz but also had mixed reviews – “Bullets Over Broadway: The Musical,” “If/Then,” “The Bridges of Madison County” and “Rocky” were shut out of the category. Now the speculation turns to the real deal: Who will win? “Gentleman’s Guide” received the best reviews of the bunch, but it has never caught fire with audiences. “Aladdin” is a box office hit, and has good reviews, but its producer, Disney, has had mixed success with Tony voters: Its last best musical winner was “The Lion King” in 1998. (Before “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” was also the last Disney animated-movie-turned-musical to score a best musical nomination.) “After Midnight” earned strong reviews, but it’s a revue more than a book musical. “Beautiful” would be the relatively rare show to win even though it lacked an original score (given the roster of King songs from the 1960s and ‘70s).  As of now the winner is anyone’s guess. So what’s your guess?  A partial list of the nominees:  BEST MUSICAL “After Midnight” “Aladdin” “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical” “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder”  BEST PLAY “Act One” “All the Way” “Casa Valentina” “Mothers and Sons” “Outside Mullingar”  BEST REVIVAL — MUSICAL “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” “Les Misérables” “Violet”  BEST REVIVAL — PLAY “The Cripple of Inishmaan” “The Glass Menagerie” “A Raisin in the Sun” “Twelfth Night”
Nominations for the 68th annual Tony Awards were announced on Tuesday morning. Most of the major categories are up for grabs in this year’s awards race.