The Tony Awards are like Christmas in June for theatre lovers, and that makes this year's nominees the reason for the season. 2017-18 was a year or variety, as audiences cheered on mean girls, tall women, and fair ladies alike. Our travel destinations ranged from Bet Hatikva to Bikini Bottom; Arendelle to the Antilles. We've contemplated redemption with Billy, pondered pipe dreams with Hickey, and reexamined the past with Harry- all from the the comfort of a seat on the aisle.
This year's Tony nominees transported us with the magic of theatre, and we're saluting their work by taking a closer look at their extraordinary accomplishments. Today we're studying up on Itamar Moses and David Yazbek!
Quick Facts About Itamar and David:
Their Nominations: Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
The Show: The Band's VisitUp Against: Frozen (Jennifer Lee), Mean Girls (Tina Fey), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical (Kyle Jarrow)
Angels in America (Music: Adrian Sutton), Frozen (Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez), Mean Girls (Music: Jeff Richmond, Lyrics: Nell Benjamin), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical (Music & Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum,Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani & Lil'C)
Did You Know?: Between the two of them, the duo has already won four major theatre awards for The Band's Visit's off-Broadway run last year.
Photos by Walter McBride
What Broadway show would they see tonight if they could? "You know, I already saw Angels in America, but I might see it again. It's just, I mean... the opportunity to see that play performed with a cast that good all the way through is few and far between," says Moses.
"I will see [Angels in America] again. I'd like to see Three Tall Women. That's what I would go see right now. Three great actresses, and it's a really good play," adds Yazbek.
watch as Itamar and David tell us all about want this nomination means to them, how they're preparing for the Tonys, and so much more!