PinnedThe rollout of this year’s Tony Award nominations has just begun on CBS. For leading actor in a play: William Jackson Harper of “Uncle Vanya,” Leslie Odom Jr. of “Purlie Victorious,” Liev Schreiber of “Doubt,” Jeremy Strong of “An Enemy of the People” and Michael Stuhlbarg of “Patriots.”For leading actress in a play: Betsy Aidem of “Prayer for the French Republic,” Jessica Lange of “Mother Play,” Rachel McAdams of “Mary Jane,” Sarah Paulson of “Appropriate” and Amy Ryan of “Doubt.”For leading actor in a musical, the nominators chose: Brody Grant of “The Outsiders,” Jonathan Groff of “Merrily We Roll Along,” Dorian Harewood of “The Notebook,” Brian d’Arcy James of “Days of Wine and Roses” and Eddie Redmayne of “Cabaret.”For leading actress in a musical, the nominators chose: Eden Espinosa of “Lempicka,” Maleah Joi Moon of “Hell’s Kitchen,” Kelli O’Hara of “Days of Wine and Roses,” Maryann Plunkett of “The Notebook” and Gayle Rankin of “Cabaret.”The nominees for best musical, which is the most coveted prize because it often has the highest economic impact, are: “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Illinoise,” “The Outsiders,” “Suffs” and “Water for Elephants.”The nominations are being announced by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Those nominations not announced on CBS are to be announced on the Tony Awards YouTube channel at 9 a.m. The nominations were chosen by a group of 44 individuals, generally expert on theater (many of them are artists or arts administrators) but with no financial stake in any of the eligible shows. The nominators are required to see all eligible shows (there were 36 this season); the committee started with 60 people, but got smaller as members recused themselves because they missed a show or developed a conflict of interest.

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Persons: Tony, William Jackson Harper, “ Uncle Vanya, ” Leslie Odom Jr, “, ” Liev Schreiber, ” Jeremy Strong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Betsy Aidem, ” Jessica Lange, ” Rachel McAdams, “ Mary Jane, ” Sarah Paulson, Amy Ryan, Brody Grant, ” Jonathan Groff, ” Dorian Harewood, Brian d’Arcy James, Eddie Redmayne, Eden Espinosa, ” Maleah Joi, ” Kelli O’Hara, ” Maryann Plunkett, Gayle Rankin, ”, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Renée Elise Goldsberry Organizations: CBS, “ Patriots, ”, “, YouTube Locations: French Republic