It's eight Tony Award nominations for “Memphis,” the musical born at the La Jolla Playhouse, including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Direction of a Musical for the theatre’s artistic director, Christopher Ashley.
Memphis originated during the 2008/09 Playhouse season before moving to New York. As with many award-winning productions at the popular venue, San Diegans saw the musical in its first performances as cast and crew finished fine-tuning Memphis for its Broadway debut.
Chad Kimball is nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical and his co-star Montego Glover is nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical.
“It has been an incredible journey to bring Memphis to audiences at La Jolla Playhouse, Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, and on Broadway,” Ashley said in a news release. “We are humbled by the response from Broadway audiences and deeply honored to be recognized with so many Tony Award nominations. It has been a rare privilege to work with this cast and creative team."
Ashley directed Memphis both at La Jolla Playhouse and on Broadway.
Also nominated Best Book of a Musical (Joe DiPietro), Best Original Score (music: David Bryan; lyrics: Joe DiPietro and David Bryan), Best Costume Design of a Musical (Paul Tazewell) and Best Orchestrations (Daryl Waters & David Bryan).
The Tony Awards will be announced June 13.
