"Billy Elliot, The Musical" leads the race for Broadway's top honors, receiving 15 Tony Award nominations on Tuesday. Popular stars up for an award include Geoffrey Rush, Angela Lansbury, James Gandolfini, and Jane Fonda.
"Billy Elliot" is based on Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry's 2000 film about a ballet dancing schoolboy in a northern England mining town. The musical has already won several Laurence Olivier Awards in London and played in Australia.
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The show is competing for best musical against "Shrek the Musical," "Next to Normal," and "Rock of Ages." Nominations for best play are "Dividing the Estate," "33 Variations," "God of Carnage," and "Reasons to be Pretty."
Stephen Daldry is up for best direction of a musical, while Sir Elton John, who wrote the music for "Billy Elliot," is up against Dolly Parton in the best original score category. She wrote the music and lyrics for "9 to 5: The Musical."
"Next to Normal," a musical about a suburban family coping with a crisis, has 11 nominations.
"Mary Stuart" and "The Norman Conquests" picked up the most nominations for a play, with seven each.
Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush is nominated for best performance by a leading actor in a play for his Broadway debut in "Exit the King."
Jane Fonda is nominated for best performance by a leading actress in a play for her role in "33 Variations," her first Broadway role in more than 40 years. She is up against "God of Carnage" co-stars Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis. Also nominated in that category are "Mary Stuart" co-stars Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter.
The Tony Awards are voted on by about 750 industry professionals. Winners will be announced on June 7th.
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