Tony nom question- Page 2

[gypsy101]

Posted: 8/2/15 at 10:20pm

Pinto, the OP had inquired specifically about actors appearing in multiple productions in one year and receiving Tony nominations for more than one role. Directors, choreographers, writers and production designers obviously have frequently been nominated for several awards in one year, since it's usually easier from them to work on separate productions at one time (less so for directors, but still, easier than actors).

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/2/15 at 10:53pm

The way things work nowadays, actors have limited opportunity to work on more that, at most, two shows in a year. We no longer have short runs like were common 50 years ago. A short run (whether commercial or non-profit) is typically a commitment of close to 6 months minimum. And shows don't even close as quickly very often. Directors have somewhat more availability sometimes so they can do 3-4 shows if they squeeze, and as you say, designers (who have real assistants) can do quite a lot in a single season. Another difference between now and a half century ago is that we have people working off-B, and also in the regions, and neither really existed back in those days. 

[mikem]

Posted: 8/3/15 at 12:36am

Nancy Marchand's nomination was actually for one show.  The evening consisted of two one-act plays, "Black Comedy" and "White Liars," and she appeared in both. Although recognized for two different plays, this was one nomination.

I think Donald Moffat also only got one nomination, because at that time, the standard was 4 nominations for each acting category, and there were 3 other people nominated in that category besides him.  If they counted the two roles as two separate nominations, they would have had only two other people nominated.  The New York Times article from that year that lists the nominees also makes it sound like it was one nomination.  Nowadays, the rules are different and he couldn't have been recognized for two different plays in the same category. 

Nevertheless, it is an achievement for both actors to be recognized for their work in two different plays in the same season.