Analysis: Tony nominations show love for Broadway's own

In selecting nominees for the 2014 Tony Awards, Broadway showered a lot of love on its own — and some on the Brits.

It's telling that the acting nominee most widely recognized and loved among mainstream audiences, Neil Patrick Harris — who earned a richly deserved nod for leading actor in a musical, for his electrifying turn in Hedwig and the Angry Inch — is known for his visibility in and devotion to the New York theater community, which includes hosting a number of previous Tonys ceremonies.

In contrast, while Denzel Washington and Daniel Radcliffe — whose stunning performances in, respectively, A Raisin In the Sun and The Cripple of Inishmaan, were overlooked (or at least didn't make the final cut) — have both demonstrated their dedication to and affinity for stage acting in several Main Stem productions, neither is as closely associated with that community. (Granted, Broadway newcomer Bryan Cranston was tapped for leading actor in play.)

Radcliffe's fellow Englishman Mark Rylance, of course, had no such problems. Worshiped among theater critics and insiders for his flamboyant virtuosity, the two-time Tony Award winner earned a pair of nominations this year, for U.K.-based productions performed in repertory. He's up for leading actor for the Shakespeare's Globe staging of Richard III, and for featured actor for its Twelfth Night, which collected seven nods in all — including one for co-star Samuel Barnett, for leading actor. (Alas, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, who received comparably effusive notices in another double bill, of No Man's Land and Waiting For Godot, were omitted.)

The Tonys' historic reverence for the British wasn't limited to productions based across the Atlantic: The musical that received more nominations than any other show this year, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, is set across the pond, and there is something distinctly English about its wry comedic sensibility.

Of course, plenty of homegrown stars were acknowledged. Nominees for best performance by a leading actress in a musical include some of Broadway's most accomplished and beloved leading ladies — Sutton Foster (Violet), Idina Menzel (If/Then) and Kelli O'Hara (The Bridges of Madison County) — as well as two rising stars who played American rock heroes in jukebox musicals: Mary Bridget Davies of A Night With Janis Joplin and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical's Jessie Mueller. (Another film star, Broadway newbie Michelle Williams, wasn't recognized for her impressive Sally Bowles in a revival of Cabaret.)

In the category of leading actress in a play, five-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald — who portrays another native music legend, Billie Holiday, in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill — will compete against other revered veterans, among them Cherry Jones, Estelle Parsons and Tyne Daly, as well as Washington's Raisin co-star LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Jones grabbed one of seven nominations for an acclaimed revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, a play for which Tony nods have been surprisingly elusive in the past.

The highly competitive field of play revival pits two American classics, Menagerie and Raisin, against Inishmaan, by the great Anglo-English playwright Martin McDonagh, and Twelfth Night, by, well, you know who. (Inishmaan is among three productions nominated in the revival categories that made their Broadway debuts this season; Hedwig and Violet both premiered off-Broadway in the '90s.)

But it's worth noting that the authors up for best play are all American, and include the duly treasured Broadway vets Harvey Fierstein, Terrence McNally and James Lapine; and the contest for best musical features, in addition to Gentleman's Guide and Beautiful, a delightful adaptation of the Disney animated film Aladdin and a gorgeous revue, After Midnight, inspired by and featuring the music of Duke Ellington.

Clearly, Broadway is finding plenty of inspiration and satisfaction in its roots and at home these days.