Hamilton, the year's hottest ticket on Broadway, is now a record-setting Tony Awards contender. Announced on May 3, the production nabbed an unbelievable 16 nominations -- the most collected by a Broadway show in Tony history.
Picking up nominations for Best Musical and Best Original Score, among others, Hamilton has now outstripped previous Tonys nominations record-holders like The Producers. In 2001, The Producers seized 15 nominations, eventually winning 12.
Hamilton creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, spoke to the New York Times on the musical's groundbreaking nominations sweep. Reflecting on the uniqueness of the hit show's formula, the artist shared his enthusiasm for the inclusiveness of the Nominating Committee's selections:
"It's unbelievable -- it's absolutely humbling and incredible." [...] "When I had the idea, I did say to myself, 'I can't believe no one's done this yet,' because it felt to me like a good idea - Hamilton's life was uniquely suited to the things that are my strengths: hip-hop and musical-theater storytelling," he said. "What I'm really thrilled about is that the nominators spread the wealth among our amazing troupe of actors and our amazing design team."
Miranda's Hamilton, having already won this year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama, has proven to be a cultural phenomenon. The musical has received universal critical support and posted massive box office returns. The show reportedly nets nearly $105,000 in royalties per week.
Miranda, who was inspired by Ron Chernow's 2004 biography of Alexander Hamilton to conceive the hip-hop-historical play, shares the Founding Father's passion for inventiveness. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the playwright spoke of his creative similarity to the 18th century founder of the Federalist Party:
"What I share with Hamilton," Miranda acknowledges, "is that I want to get as many of the ideas out of my head as possible in the time I have."
As we previously reported, this year's Tonys will be hosted by James Corden. The English actor received the 2012 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his Broadway performance in One Man, Two Guvnors.
The 70th Annual Tony Awards takes place June 12, 2016 at New York City's Beacon Theatre. The ceremony will air live on CBS.
