Maybe Happy Ending' leads Tony nominees

Broadway musicals Maybe Happy Ending, Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her led the tally of Tony Award nominations, each with 10, when they were announced on Thursday ahead of the June 8 awards ceremony.

The 78th annual Tony Award nominations, celebrating the best in Broadway theatre, reflect a season shaped by unique storytelling and genre experimentation with new works that push boundaries in form, subject and perspective.

Previous Tony Award winners Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce announced the awards.

Maybe Happy Ending is a story about obsolete robots in a futuristic Seoul; Buena Vista Social Club brings the iconic Cuban musical collective's story to the stage, and Death Becomes Her is based on a dark comedy film.

In the Best Play category, nominees include John Proctor Is the Villain, which draws on The Crucible to examine teenage self-discovery in the #MeToo era; Oh, Mary!, the much-talked-about satirical reimagining of Mary Todd Lincoln's personal life, by Cole Escola, who is also nominated as its star; and The Hills of California by Jez Butterworth, a family drama set in a declining British seaside town. Notable revivals nominated are Gypsy, Sunset Blvd., and Our Town.

Some of this season's Hollywood heavyweights were also nominated, including George Clooney in his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck, and Sarah Snook, who plays more than two dozen characters in the one-woman reimagination of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

But high-priced Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, was completely left out of the nominations.

Leading acting nominations in musicals include Jonathan Groff for his performance as Bobby Darin in Just in Time and six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald in the legendary role of Mama Rose in the revival of Gypsy.

The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Sunday, June 8, at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This year's awards will be hosted by Oscar-winner Wicked star Cynthia Erivo. Reuters