(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Minnesota connections to 'Great Comet' and other Tony nominees
Honorees include works by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwrights Lynn Nottage and Paula Vogel and director Rachel Chavkin.
May 2, 2017 at 2:13PM
The 2017 Tony Award nominees were announced Tuesday, and the musical "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812" led the pack with 12 nominations, including one for director Rachel Chavkin, who staged "The Royal Family" at the Guthrie Theater this winter.
Playwright Paula Vogel's "Indecent," which will be produced at the Guthrie next February, was nominated for three Tonys, including best play, where it competes against Lynn Nottage's "Sweat."
"Sweat" was nominated for three Tonys as well. Actors Michelle Wilson (pictured above left in photo by Joan Marcus) and Johanna Day (right) also got nods. Nottage's drama about the collision of race and class in contemporary America won the Pulitzer Prize a month ago, Nottage's second Pulitzer. She also won in 2009 for her unstinting and brilliant play "Ruined," which had a memorable production at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.
Nottage's play "Intimate Apparel" is currently prepping to open in the Twin Cities under director Austene Van for Ten Thousand Things theater. That production opens May 12 at Open Book.
The other main Twin Cities connection to the Tonys is the revival of August Wilson's "Jitney," which was nominated for six Tonys, including one for director Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
The complete list of Tony nominees is here.
Lefse-wrapped Swedish wontons, a soothing bowl of rice porridge and a gravy-laden commercial filled our week with comfort and warmth.
