The nominations for the 68th annual Tony Awards were announced this morning and the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun has made a splash. The Lorraine Hansberry classic earned a total of five nominations, including Best Revival of a Play.
The show’s star LaTanya Richardson is nominated for Best Actress in a Play while her co-stars Anika Noni Rose and Sophie Okonedo are both nominated for Best Actress for a Featured Role. Kenny Leon is nominated for Best Director.
Actress-singer Audra McDonald goes up against Richardson in the Best Actress in a Play category for her ode to Billie Holiday, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill. If she were to win, McDonald would make history as the only woman to ever earn six Tony Awards.
The musical After Midnight—which has been lead by the likes of Fantasia, Toni Braxton and Babyface, and Vanessa Williams—earned seven nominations, including a Best Actress in a Musical nomination for Broadway veteran Adriane Lenox and Best Costume Design for designer Isabel Toledo.
Absent from the conversation was Denzel Washington who also stars in A Raisin in the Sun. Fans took to Twitter to wonder why Washington was not nominated. “Did the TONY folks forget Denzel Washington? How is that possible?” wrote @stepfredla. CBS This Morning contributor Jamie Wax, said it was “quite a surprise” that Washington wasn’t in the running for Best Actor.
The Tonys will air live on June 8 on CBS.