Musicians Sara Bareilles  and Josh Groban will host the 72nd Annual Tony Awards, with the awards set to screen on live on Foxtel Arts on Monday 11th June. It will be both Bareilles and Groban’s first time hosting the show.

The awards, which are held in New York City’s Radio City Music Hall highlight the best plays and musicals appearing on Broadway in the last year.

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the awards were announced overnight. The musicals Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants come out on top with 12 nods each including Best Musical.

Also earning 11 nominations were the Broadway revivals of Angels in America (becoming the most-nominated play in Broadway Tony history) and Carousel, with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and My Fair Lady trailing closely behind with ten.

It was also announced that a Special Tony Award will be presented to both John Leguizamo and Bruce Springsteen.

Leguizamo will be recognised for his body of work and for his commitment to the theatre, bringing diverse stories and audiences to Broadway for three decades.

Springsteen is receiving a Special Tony Award for his ongoing engagement Springsteen on Broadway, a once-in-a-lifetime theatre going experience for the Broadway stage, allowing fans an intimate look at a music idol.

Two icons of the stage will be given a Lifetime Achievement award with the organisers acknowledging both Andrew Lloyd Webber and Chita Rivera.

Best Play nominations are The Children, by Lucy Kirkwood, Farinelli and The King, by Claire van Kampen, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two, by Jack Thorne, Junk, by Ayad Akhtar and Latin History for Morons, by John Leguizamo.

Best Musical nominations are The Band’s Visit, Frozen, Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical.

Best Revival of a Play nominations are Angels in America, Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh, Lobby Hero and Travesties.

Best Revival of a Musical nominations are My Fair Lady, Once On This Island and Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel.

Best performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play nominations are Andrew Garfield (Angels in America), Tom Hollander (Travesties), Jamie Parker (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two), Mark Rylance (Farinelli and The King) and Denzel Washington (Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh).

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nominations are Glenda Jackson (Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women), Condola Rashad (Saint Joan), Lauren Ridloff (Children of a Lesser God) and Amy Schumer (Meteor Shower).

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical nominations are Harry Hadden-Paton, (My Fair Lady) Joshua Henry (Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel), Tony Shalhoub, (The Band’s Visit) and Ethan Slater (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical).

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical nominations are Lauren Ambrose, (My Fair Lady) Hailey Kilgore, (Once On This Island), LaChanze, (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical), Katrina Lenk (The Band’s Visit), Taylor Louderman (Mean Girls) and Jessie Mueller (Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel).

The 72nd Annual Tony Awards will screen live on Foxtel Arts, Monday, 11th June from 8am (WA time).

Source: Media Release