Tony Award winners you can see in 2016

The Tony nominations, 2016's biggest honor in the theater industry, reflect the Tony Awards nominating committee's opinions of the best Broadway shows of the 2015-16 season, from challenging new plays to inspiring Broadway musicals. 

By: David Cote & Adam Feldman This morning, Broadway-bound Bruce Willis and Mary-Louise Parker announced the nominees for the 2015 Tony Awards. 

In general, the gold went to the most deserving of the season: Few would carp about Bryan Cranston or Neil Patrick Harris nabbing top honors, and relative newcomers (Sophie Okenedo and Lena Hall) were recognized too, but prior to the ceremony, there was little consensus about what was a shoo-in for Best Musical.

The Tonys is a world in which Tracy Letts can beat Tom Hanks for Best Actor, and that's what they delivered best last night: an advertisement not just for individual Broadway shows but for a Broadway way of life.

The stars are out at the Tony Awards! In a year packed with marquee names on Broadway, many of the most famous were omitted from today’s just-announced Tony nominations.

"I'll understand if I'm not your kind of woman," sings Rachel Bay Jones as Catherine in Pippin. "Anyone can make one terrible mistake." Let us therefore, however grudgingly, give the same latitude to the Tony Awards this year for the single most egregious oversight in the 2012–13 nominations...

Every year, the race for Tony Awards in play-acting categories is always a fascinating study in contrasts. Is hard-hitting drama more deserving than daffy comedy? Does the size of the role matter? How much does celebrity—or lack therof—affect the contest?