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Broadway Stars Shine Brightest Amongst Emmy Nominees
Broadway Stars Shine Brightest Amongst Emmy Nominees

Broadway Stars Shine Brightest Amongst Emmy Nominees

The 69th Annual Primetime Emmy Award nominations have been announced, and once again the Broadway community has been well-represented. Across the board, in categories stretching from comedy to drama, from guest star to leading player, the New York City theatre community shined throughout the 2016-2017 season. Here is a closer look at the theatre artists who have been honored:

Tony-winner Viola Davis (King Hedley II, Fences) scored a nomination for her leading role in the television drama How to Get Away with Murder, as did Elizabeth Moss (The Heidi Chronicles) receive a nomination for her work in The Handmaid’s Tale. Liev Schreiber (Tony winner for Glengarry Glen Ross) and Kevin Spacey (Tony winner for Lost in Yonkers) are nominated in the Best Actor in a Drama Series category for Ray Donovan and House of Cards, respectively. Tony-Winner Lily Tomlin (The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in Universe) was nominated in the Lead Actress in a Comedy category for her work on the Netflix series Grace & Frankie, and Alison Janney (Six Degrees of Separation) for Mom.

Robert De Niro, currently represented on Broadway as the director of A Bronx Tale, was nominated in the Limited Series Actor category for The Wizard of Lies. Jessica Lange (Long Day’s Journey Into Night) and Susan Sarandon (Exit the King) are nominated for their roles in Feud, while Nicole Kidman (The Blue Room) was honored for her work in Big Little Lies, Felicity Huffman (Speed-the-Plow) was given a nod for her role in American Crime, and Carrie Coon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) was recognized for Fargo.

In supporting roles, Broadway mainstays John Lithgow (The Changing Room, The Sweet Smell of Successs) was honored with a nomination for The Crown, Mandy Patinkin (Evita, Sunday in the Park with George) received a nod for Homeland, and Jeffrey Wright (Angels in America, A Free Man of Color) was nominated for Westworld. For Supporting Actress, Uzu Aduba (Godspell, Coram Boy) received another nomination for her recurring role on Orange is the New Black. In the supporting comedy categories, Titus Burgess (The Little Mermaid) was nominated for The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Categories for Supporting Actress and Actor in a Comedy Series both feature Broadway talent amongst their nominees. Two-time Tony winner Judith Light (Other Desert Cities, The Assembled Parties) was, again, nominated for Transparent. Alec Baldwin (A Streetcar Named Desire, Orphans) was recognized for his hilarious impersonations of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live. Baldwin also received a nomination as the host of The Match Game. Supporting performances in the Limited Series or Movie category include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’s  Jackie Hoffman (Xanadu, The Addams Family), Alfred Molina (Art, Fiddler on the Roof), and Stanley Tucci (Lend Me a Tenor, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune), all for Feud: Bette and Joan.

Denis O’Hare (Assassins, Take Me Out), Hank Azaria (Spamalot, The Farnsworth Invention) and BD Wong (M. Butterfly, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown) were nominated in the category for Guest Actor in a Drama. Cicely Tyson (The Trip to Bountiful) was recognized for her guest spot How to Get Away with Murder. Hamilton and In the Heights composer and creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated for his guest spot on Saturday Night Live. Carrie Fisher (Wishful Drinking) was posthumously nominated for Catastrophe. Recent Tony-Winner Kevin Kline (Present Laughter) was nominated for his voiceover work on Bob’s Burgers.

Special mention should also be made for Hairspray- Live!  which received a total of 7 nominations, doing particularly well in production and design categories, as well as a nod for Outstanding Special Class Program.

A complete list of nominees can be found HERE.

Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals and maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.