'Spring Awakening' leads with 11 Tony nominations

NEW YORK, May 15 (Reuters) ''Spring Awakening,'' a dark musical about teen-age sexual angst, received 11 nominations today for this year's Tony Awards, making it the front-runner for Broadway's top honors.

British playwright Tom Stoppard's trilogy ''The Coast of Utopia'' about 19th century Russian revolutionaries and ''Grey Gardens,'' a critical hit about two reclusive, eccentric relatives of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, each received 10 nominations.

''Spring Awakening,'' an adaptation of Frank Wedekind's 1891 German play, took nominations for Jonathan Groff as best leading actor in a musical as well as for best score, orchestration, and choreography.

It will vie with ''Grey Gardens''; ''Curtains,'' a murder-mystery comedy musical; and Disney's ''Mary Poppins'' for the coveted best Broadway musical award.

''Legally Blonde,'' a musical adaptation of a Hollywood film about a girl going to law school to win back her boyfriend, missed out on the best musical nomination but received seven nominations including best original score and best leading actress for Laura Bell Bundy.

The Tonys, awarded by the League of American Theatres and Producers and the American Theatre Wing, are particularly important as a marketing tool for productions aiming to tour, so a shut-out from nominations is a blow.

Stoppard's ''The Coast of Utopia'' received nominations for best leading actor for Brian O'Byrne and best direction and scenic design.

It will battle for best play with ''Frost/Nixon'' about David Frost's interviews with Richard Nixon; ''The Little Dog Laughed'' about an agent trying to guide an upcoming actor through Hollywood's pitfalls; and ''Radio Golf,'' the story of an aspiring black politician struggling with his conscience.

The Tonys will be awarded on June 10.

REUTERS SLD VV2022