Tony Award nominations whiff on ‘The Wiz’ but other Baltimore standouts earn nods

Gee “Wiz”!

When the 2024 Tony Award nominations were announced Tuesday, the Broadway revival of “The Wiz,” which launched its world premiere from Baltimore’s Hippodrome Theatre last fall, picked up exactly zero of the prestigious plaudits.

Audiences have been flocking to the much-anticipated revival of “the Wiz” which last week alone grossed $1.6 million, according to The Broadway League, filling the Marquis Theatre to 98% capacity. But the critics were cold, and no one involved with the production received a single Tony nod, including newcomer Nichelle Lewis as Dorothy and the Baltimore-born Melody Betts in the dual roles of Evillene and Auntie ‘Em.

Meanwhile, the musicals “Hell’s Kitchen” — produced by R&B star Alicia Keys and “Stereophonic” topped the Tonys by snapping up 13 nominations apiece.

In addition, a handful of performers and designers with Baltimore ties are in contention for 2024 Tony Awards, with winners to be announced June 24. We’ll identify some of those familiar faces below — with a preemptive apology to any local nominees we may have accidentally overlooked:

• David Byrne (yes, that David Byrne of Talking Heads fame) was nominated with Fatboy Slim for composing the disco-pop score of “Here Lies Love,” a musical based on the life of Imelda Marcos, former first lady of the Philippines. Byrne spent most of his childhood and teen years with his family in Arbutus.
• Amy Ryan was nominated as best lead actress in a play for her performance as the conservative and morally upright Sister Aloysius in John Patrick Shanley’s “Doubt: A Parable.” Baltimore audiences will remember Ryan for her performance as Officer Beatrice “Beadie” Russell in all five seasons of “The Wire” on HBO.
• Corey Stoll was nominated as featured actor in a play for his performance in “Appropriate” as one of three siblings in a dysfunctional family who return to their native Arkansas to settle their deceased father’s estate. Stoll appeared memorably in the first and fourth seasons of Netflix’s “House of Cards” as Peter Russo, an alcoholic Congressman who is murdered by the amoral politician Frank Underwood.
• Emilio Sosa was nominated for his costume designs for the play “Purlie Victorious.” Audiences nationwide know Sosa as the runner-up to Season 7 of “Project Runway.” But Maryland theater lovers have been accustomed to enjoying Sosa’s inventive costume designs in local productions from Baltimore Center Stage’s world premiere of “Marley” in 2015 to the Olney Theatre Center’s 2022 production of the musical “A.D. 16,” a comedy about the teenaged Mary Magdalene.