Cate Blanchett has received a Tony Award nomination for her role in The Present. Her performance in the Sydney Theatre Company production marked Blanchett’s Broadway debut – although she has previously been seen in New York in several STC productions including A Streetcar Named Desire.

^{Cate Blanchett and Richard Roxburgh in Sydney Theatre Company’s The Present at the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway. Photograph © Joan Marcus}

Tim Minchin’s new musical Groundhog Day, written with Danny Rubin who wrote the original screenplay for the 1993 film on which it is based, has received eight nominations including Best Musical, as well as nods for its book and score. Andy Karl who stars as Phil Connors, the jaundiced weatherman caught in a time loop, also received a nomination as Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Last month, Groundhog Day – which received a five-star review in Limelight from Editor Clive Paget when it premiered in London – was named Best New Musical at London’s Olivier Awards.

^{Andy Karl in Groundhog Day. Photograph © Manuel Harlan}

Leading the pack at this year’s Tony Awards with 12 nominations is the musical Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, Dave Malloy’s adaptation of War and Peace, given a thrillingly immersive production by director Rachel Chavkin. Dear Evan Hansen, a musical about a withdrawn teenager with a score by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land), has received nine nominations, while Hello, Dolly! starring Bette Midler has landed eight.

The Present is an adaptation by Blanchett’s husband Andrew Upton of Chekhov’s sprawling, first, untitled play often called Platonov. It received rave reviews when it opened in Sydney including a four-star review in Limelight. However, the production of The Present and Blanchett’s co-star Richard Roxburgh missed out on nominations.

Speaking to Limelight, STC Artistic Director Kip Williams says: “We are so thrilled to see Cate’s incredible work in The Present be acknowledged in this way. Her performance of Anna Petrovna delighted audiences when the show played in Sydney and it is wonderful to see the New York industry respond in the same way. It is particularly special that Cate’s first Tony nomination comes for a role written for her by Andrew. As well as being a prodigiously gifted actor, Cate is a true ensemble player, and I know she’d be the first to acknowledge that The Present was a true ensemble work and that any accolade is a tribute to the work of each of the 13 Australian actors in the cast (all making their Broadway debut) alongside the wonderful STC creative team. Congratulations Cate!”

As announced last week, Blanchett is to return to the London stage in a new adaptation of the classic 1950 film All About Eve. She will play Broadway star Margo Channing – a character immortalised on screen by Bette Davis – in a production to be presented in the West End in 2018 by Sonia Friedman Productions (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) and Fox Stage Productions. Dates and a theatre are yet to be confirmed. Ivo van Hove, which recently directed Hedda Gabler at the National Theatre and Obsession at the Barbican, is to direct. Blanchett was last seen on the London stage in STC’s production of Big and Small (Gross und Klein) for which she received rave reviews.

The Tony Awards will be announced at a ceremony on June 11 to be hosted by Kevin Spacey.

FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS

Best Play

A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath

Indecent by Paula Vogel

Oslo by JT Rogers

Sweat by Lynn Nottage

Best Musical

Come from Away

Dear Evan Hansen

Groundhog Day the Musical

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Best Book of a Musical

Come from Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein

Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson

Groundhog Day the Musical by Danny Rubin

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy

Best Original Score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theatre

Come from Away by Irene Sankoff and David Hein

Dear Evan Hansen by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul

Groundhog Day the Musical by Tim Minchin

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy

Best Revival of a Play

August Wilson’s Jitney

Lillian Hellman’s the Little Foxes

Noel Coward’s Present Laughter

John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation

Best Revival of a Musical

Falsettos

Hello, Dolly!

Miss Saigon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Denis Arndt, Heisenberg

Chris Cooper, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Corey Hawkins, Six Degrees of Separation

Kevin Kline, Present Laughter

Jefferson Mays, Oslo

Best performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Cate Blanchett, The Present

Jennifer Ehle, Oslo

Sally Field, The Glass Menagerie

Laura Linney, The Little Foxes

Laurie Metcalf, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Christian Borle, Falsettos

Josh Groban, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Andy Karl, Groundhog Day the Musical

David Hyde Pierce, Hello, Dolly!

Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen

Best performance by an actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Denée Benton, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Christine Ebersole, War Paint

Patti LuPone, War Paint

Bette Midler, Hello, Dolly!

Eva Noblezada, Miss Saigon

Best performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Michael Aronov, Oslo

Danny DeVito, The Price

Nathan Lane, The Front Page

Richard Thomas, The Little Foxes

John Douglas Thompson, Jitney

Best performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Johanna Day, Sweat

Jayne Houdyshell, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Cynthia Nixon, The Little Foxes

Condola Rashad, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Michelle Wilson, Sweat

Best performance by an actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Gavin Creel, Hello, Dolly!

Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen

Andrew Rannells, Falsettos

Lucas Steele, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Brandon Uranowitz, Falsettos

Best performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Kate Baldwin, Hello, Dolly!

Stephanie J Block, Falsettos

Jenn Colella, Come from Away

Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen

Mary Beth Peil, Anastasia

Best scenic design of a play

David Gallo, Jitney

Nigel Hook, The Play That Goes Wrong

Douglas W Schmidt, The Front Page

Michael Yeargan, Oslo

Best scenic design of a musical

Rob Howell, Groundhog Day the Musical

David Korins, War Paint

Mimi Lien, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Best costume design of a play

Jane Greenwood, The Little Foxes

Susan Hilferty, Present Laughter

Toni-Leslie James, Jitney

David Zinn, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best costume design of a musical

Linda Cho, Anastasia

Santo Loquasto, Hello, Dolly!

Paloma Young, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Catherine Zuber, War Paint

Best lighting design of a play

Christopher Akerlind, Indecent

Jane Cox, Jitney

Donald Holder, Oslo

Jennifer Tipton, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Best lighting design of a musical

Howell Binkley, Come from Away

Natasha Katz, Hello, Dolly!

Bradley King, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Japhy Weideman, Dear Evan Hansen

Best direction of a play

Sam Gold, A Doll’s House, Part 2

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Jitney

Bartlett Sher, Oslo

Daniel Sullivan, The Little Foxes

Rebecca Taichman, Indecent

Best direction of a musical

Christopher Ashley, Come from Away

Rachel Chavkin, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen

Matthew Warchus, Groundhog Day the Musical

Jerry Zaks, Hello, Dolly!

Best choreography

Andy Blankenbuehler, Bandstand

Peter Darling and Ellen Kane, Groundhog Day the Musical

Kelly Devine, Come from Away

Denis Jones, Holiday Inn, the New Irving Berlin Musical

Sam Pinkleton, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Best orchestration

Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, Bandstand

Larry Hochman, Hello, Dolly!

Alex Lacamoire, Dear Evan Hansen

Dave Malloy, Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812

Special Tony award for lifetime achievement in the theatre

James Earl Jones

Special Tony award

Gareth Fry and Pete Malkin, sound designers for The Encounter

Regional theatre Tony Award

Dallas Theater Center, Dallas, Texas

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award

Baayork Lee

Tony honours for Excellence in the Theatre

Nina Lannan

Alan Wasser