• Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda nominated for acting, book, score
• Musical about U.S. treasury secretary sold out for months
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The Broadway hit “Hamilton” led the nominations for the Tony Awards, garnering a record 16 including Best Musical and Best Actor for creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Voters will choose the 70th annual Tony Awards among 24 categories, with winners to be announced in a ceremony June 12 on CBS. “Hamilton” will compete for Best Musical against Bright Star School of Rock,” “Shuffle Along” and “Waitress.”
“Hamilton,” a hip-hop musical about the first U.S. treasury secretary, is considered to be the favorite to win many of the prizes. Tickets to the show are sold out for months and going for thousands of dollars on the secondary market. Demand for seats is so high that more than 50,000 people recently tried to enter a lottery for $10 tickets and crashed the website. Miranda last month won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the show itself has won numerous other accolades over the past year.

The Tony Awards, which honor theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. “The Producers” and “Billy Elliot,” held the record for the most Tony nominations, with 15 apiece in 2001 and 2009, respectively.
The nominations for “Hamilton” included several for acting, including Miranda and Leslie Odom Jr. for lead actor; Phillipa Soo for lead actress; Daveed Diggs, Jonathan Groff and Christopher Jackson for featured actor and Renee Elise Goldsberry for featured actress.
Miranda, 36, was also nominated for Best Book and Best Original Score. His previous musical, “In the Heights,” was nominated for 13 Tonys and won four, including Best Musical. He was also nominated for Best Actor for the 2008 musical. Both works received Grammy Awards for Best Musical Edie Brickell Theater Album. Miranda, a New York native, got a MacArthur “Genius” Award last year.
In the other top Tonys category, Best Play, the nominees are “Eclipsed The FatherThe Humans” and “King Charles III.”