BY NAVEEN KUMAR
The 69th annual Tony Awards will be handed out on Sunday, June 7, for a Broadway season that embraced romantic abandon, troubled youth, and (of course) fierce queens, in equal measure. Stage-and-screen vets Alan Cumming and Kristin Chenoweth will host the live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall, where you can expect to see at least one of the many A-list nominees nab top honors (hint: she’s among the queens), and maybe more than one young star have an epic breakout moment.
Despite honorable competition from fellow U.K. natives Ms. Mulligan and Ruth Wilson (Constellations), as well Elisabeth Moss (The Heidi Chronicles), Helen Mirren is sure to reign supreme for her return to the role of Queen Elizabeth, in Peter Morgan’s The Audience. Funny girl Anna Leigh Ashford’s spit-take inducing turn in You Can’t Take It with You is a favorite in the featured actress category, while Scott Ellis’ frothy-sweet production could mean competition for the more serious-minded Skylight.
Christopher Wheeldon, whose stunning ballet suffuses every aspect of the Gershwin-scored, Paris-set romance (which he also directed), is very likely to top Best Choreography, while the show’s leading man, Robert Fairchild, has a good shot at leading actor, and one of his two nominated co-stars, Max von Essen could join him with a featured actor win.
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Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar (photos: joan marcus, matthew murphy, paul kolnik)