The Producers rakes in 15 Tony nominations

The Mel Brooks Broadway hit The Producers has been nominated for 15 Tony awards, according to E! Online. Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were both nominated for best leading actor in a musical, while Gary Beach and Roger Bart got best featured actor in a musical nominations for their broadly gay turns in the same show. Out performers Kevin Chamberlin (Seussical) and Andre de Shields (The Full Monty) were nominated for Leading Actor in a Musical and Featured Actor in a Musical, respectively. The Invention of Love, Tom Stoppard’s play about gay scholar A.E. Housman, got the nod for best play, best leading actor in a play (Richard Easton), best featured actor in a play (Robert Sean Leonard), and best director of a play (Jack O’Brien). Both Gore Vidal’s The Best Man and Jane Wagner’s The Search for Sings of Intelligent Life in the Universe, starring Lily Tomlin, were nominated for best revival. Writer and drag performer Charles Busch’s play The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife was nominated in the categories of best play, best leading actress in a play (Linda Lavin) and best featured actress in a play (Michelle Lee). The perennially popular The Rocky Horror Show was nominated as best musical revival, as was its director (David C. Wollard) and leading actor (Tom Hewitt). The award ceremony will be broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall on June 3 and will be hosted by nominees Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick. For a complete list of all the nominees, go to www.tonys.org.