“It is an honor to be nominated”, which is something that stars have been saying for years upon years for whatever performance they are up for. With honor though, comes celebration which is what happened today at the 2017 Tony Awards “Meet the Nominees” Press Junket. Sofitel New York played host to this fabulous event, which was attended by several of the top nominees this year, many of whom happen to be household names in and out of Manhattan.
This year’s Tony Awards is shaping up to be one of the best in recent years, as Broadway has seen some incredible performances in some new and returning shows, making it for one exciting evening. That excitement was felt throughout Sofitel today, as stars like Sally Field (The Glass Menagerie), Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen), Laurie Metcalf (A Doll’s House, Part Two), were all in attendance to not only talk about their nomination, but their love for the shows they were in.
Finding out that you are nominated for at the Tony Awards is quite an accomplishment for anyone, whether it is the first time or your 2nd or 3rd time round the merry go. For Falsettos star and first time nominee Stephanie J. Block, she was so nervous about finding out that she couldn’t even watch it live. “My husband wanted to watch the livestream, so I went into the other room. I don’t know if you guys were having the same trouble, the Livestream was not a great connection, so all I am hearing is “Oh no, that’s terrible!”, so I’m thinking it’s not going to be good news! Then I heard “WEEEEEE!” and then my phone starts ringing and ringing and ringing and you think “OK, I think things went my way”. It was a huge relief and celebration and all four of us are happy that the show was remembered”.
One of the shows with the most nominations on Tony Awards night is Come From Away, which is a musical based on how 38 planes with 6,579 passengers were stranded in a remote town in Newfoundland after September 11th, 2001, and how the locals opened their hearts and homes to all of these people. The producers of the show have just been thrilled with the feedback that the audience has given them since it opened. “We have been so heartened by the response of this show and people saying they want to bring back their mother or their best friend to experience this show together.” “Everybody walks into it with their own story, we all have a memory of where we were that day. So when they start, you think of where you were at that moment and makes it an even more personal experience as you are watching the show”.
Other stars (who just happen to be nominees) in attendance include Danny DeVito, David Hyde Pierce, Patti LuPone, Andrew Rannals and many more. Can’t wait to see what happens next month!
The Tony Awards air live on Sunday, June 11th at 8:00 PM EST on CBS. For more information, check out their official site.