With the recent announcement of the Tony Award nominations, Broadway fans can’t help but feel a profound sense of deja vu after the Best Leading Actor in a Musical category was revealed.
For context, the event occurred on May 2, when actress Lea Michele and actor Myles Frost unveiled some of the nominees live on CBS Mornings, including the listed group. The nominees that are featured in the Best Leading Actor in a Musical category were Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Josh Groban, Brian d’Arcy James, Ben Platt, and Colton Ryan.
What makes this particular nomination even more controversial is that Borle, Groban, and Platt were previously nominated in the same category in 2017, for their respective work in Falsettos, Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 and Dear Evan Henson. Borle would take home the award that year.
As the news about the Tony Award nominations began to circulate online, mainly on Twitter, many voiced their opinions on the three nominees and how they think the 2023 show will go.
One individual claimed the traumatic experience will end with Groban losing another Tony Award, this time to Ben Platt.
At the same time, another Twitter user expressed that they couldn’t go through that experience again as Borle, Groban, and Platt are nominated in the same category as they were six years ago.
A third person quipped that it felt like 2017 “all over again.”
While another social media user stated that seeing posts from those that “lived through the 2017 Tony’s” was funny.
The 75th annual of the Tony Awards is slated to debut on June 11.