Tony Nominations Snubs and Surprises: Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kieran Culkin, Idina Menzel Overlooked in Starry Season

It’s been a busy season on Broadway, crowded with big stars, boffo hits — and strong contenders for awards attention. This year’s Tony Awards nominations seemed particularly hard to predict, and when nominators revealed the full list, it did not disappoint with more than its fair share of unexpected twists. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises from this year’s Tony nominations:

SNUB: A TOTAL SHUTOUT FOR “OTHELLO”
The Broadway revival of “Othello” has gotten a lot of attention this spring — for its celeb-heavy cast (Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal), its record-breaking box office, and its sky-high premium ticket prices. But in perhaps the biggest snub of the morning, the show got no attention at all from Tony nominators, who ignored “Othello” for best play revival and left both Washington and Gyllenhaal out of the race for leading actor in a play. Critics were decidedly mixed on this one, so it’s not surprising the show wasn’t a favorite among nominators — but the complete shutout still comes as a shock.

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SNUB: KIERAN CULKIN’S TRIPLE CROWN WILL HAVE TO WAIT
Culkin arrived in the Broadway revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” fresh off his Academy Award win for “A Real Pain” — and the timing had awards pundits wondering whether the actor, who picked up an Emmy Award for “Succession” in January 2024, might score the “triple crown” of acting — Oscar, Emmy and Tony — in less than 18 months. But it was not to be, and nominators left Culkin out of the race for featured actor in a play (although they did give a nod to his “Glengarry” co-star, Bob Odenkirk).

SURPRISE: “OUR TOWN” SNEAKS IN
In a sparse year for the category, “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Othello” were expected to each get a nod for best revival of a play alongside well-liked productions of “Eureka Day” and “Yellow Face.” But neither “Othello” nor “Glengarry” made the cut, which opened up room for “Our Town” — also directed by Kenny Leon, who staged “Othello” — to claim a spot, alongside another of this season’s strong-selling Shakespeare revivals, “Romeo + Juliet.”

SNUB: IDINA MENZEL AND “REDWOOD” COME AWAY EMPTY-HANDED
Menzel is a Broadway favorite, and “Redwood” is a passion project that she co-conceived as well as headlines. The show’s notices were mixed so it didn’t look likely to be a major contender this season — and sure enough, the musical was shut out completely, not only from the ultra-packed leading actress in a musical category, but also from the design categories for which “Redwood” seemed a possibility, thanks to its technologically ambitious staging.

SURPRISE: JAMES MONROE IGLEHART GETS SOME LOVE
One of the strongest elements of the bio-musical “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” was Iglehart’s lead performance as Louis Armstrong — but that short-lived musical closed back in February and tended to get lost in awards-season prognostications. Nominators, however, remembered and tapped Iglehart (already a Tony winner for “Aladdin”) as one of the six contenders for best actor in a musical.

SNUB: GEORGE CLOONEY’S “GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK” MISSES BEST PLAY
Like “Othello,” Broadway’s “Good Night, and Good Luck” has gotten a lot of press this spring for its box office success and its starry cast. Adapted by Clooney and Grant Heslov from the 2005 film they co-wrote, “Good Night” benefited from a slick, impressive production (directed by David Cromer, who also staged “Dead Outlaw”) and a timely theme, both of which seemingly made the show a contender for best play. But in a crowded season for new plays, nominators left the show off the list. (Clooney, however, still has a chance to grace the podium: He’s up for best actor in a play.)

SURPRISE: “PURPOSE” SURPASSES HIGH EXPECTATIONS
“Purpose” — a new play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, writer of last year’s Tony-winning “Appropriate” — had always looked poised to do well with nominators. But it did even better than expected in some of this year’s crowded acting categories: Along with expected noms for Jon Michael Hill, LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Kara Young (a Tony winner last year for “Purlie Victorious”), castmate Harry Lennix joined Hill in the race for lead actor and Glenn Davis claimed a spot for featured actor.

SNUB: HELEN J. SHEN GETS SQUEEZED OUT OF TIGHT RACE
One of the buzziest debut performances of the season came from Shen, who stars alongside Darren Criss in “Maybe Happy Ending.” But of the 10 nominations racked up by that show, Shen wasn’t among them, left out of a crowded category of powerhouse performances that includes Audra McDonald (“Gypsy”), Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Boulevard”) and both of the leading ladies of “Death Becomes Her,” Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard. Another deserving debut, Jasmine Amy Rogers (“Boop”) made the cut — but with only five nominees in that category this year, Shen was left out.

SURPRISE: FINA STRAZZA TURNS HEADS IN “JOHN PROCTOR IS THE VILLAIN”
One of the season’s strongest play contenders, “John Proctor Is the Villain,” boasts a tight-knit acting ensemble, among whom most of the attention was focused on its lead, “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sink. She got a nom, as did co-star Gabriel Ebert (a Tony winner for “Matilda”) — and so did their co-star Fina Strazza, whose standout work in the show seemed likely to get lost in the shuffle. Nominators made sure it didn’t, tapping her to join the race for featured actress in play.

SNUB: “REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES” WON’T BE A PART OF THE NIGHT’S BIGGEST RACE
The top trophy of Tony night — and the only one that reliably moves the needle at the box office — is the award for best musical, and the attention that comes with the nomination is often a key part of building sales momentum. Every new musical of the season hopes for a spot on the list, and this year, four shows (“Maybe Happy Ending,” “Dead Outlaw,” “Death Becomes Her,” “Buena Vista Social Club”) were looking like locks, so the final spot was down to two shows that seemed to have a shot: “Operation Mincemeat” and “Real Women Have Curves.” In the end, nominators went with popular West End import “Operation Mincemeat” to round out the category; “Real Women” scored two noms, one for the score by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez and one for Justina Machado for featured actress in a musical.

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