'The Book of Mormon' leads Tony Award nominations

"I'm very happy. I'm thrilled for our show," said Kathleen Marshall, who picked up her career sixth and seventh nominations for directing "Anything Goes" and its high-kicking choreography. "'Anything Goes' is one of those shows that is there to delight and entertain and transport the audience."

"The Book of Mormon" won nominations for best direction, and Casey Nicholaw won a best choreography nomination and shared honors with Parker for best direction of a musical. "Mormon" also earned its two missionaries — Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells — acting nominations, as well as Nikki M. James for featured actress, best book of a musical and best original score.

"The show continues to surprise even me with how well received it is," said Gad. "This is dangerous in the best sense. People are excited when they sit down in those seats because they don't know what's going to happen," said Gad.

With 14 nominations, "The Book of Mormon" takes its place among Broadway musicals with the most Tony nominations, just below "The Producers" and "Billy Elliot," which each won 15 nominations.

"I never expect to be honored for anything, and it's extremely humbling to get so many nominations for this show," said Lopez. "The way it's been received has boggled my mind."

"Priscilla Queen of the Desert" earned two nominations — one for the lavish fantasy costumes by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, and one for Tony Sheldon, who won a nod for best leading actor in a musical. "I'm very proud to be an ambassador for 'Priscilla,'" said the Australian actor. "Just to be playing it on Broadway is reward enough without this sort of icing on the cake."

Of the 42 new productions this season, there were 14 musicals — 12 new ones and two revivals — and 25 plays, a whopping 16 of them brand new. The last time there were 16 new plays produced in a single season was 1986-87.

It is also shaping up to be a lucrative time for Broadway, with total box-office grosses already at more than $987,057,484, or 3.6 percent more than the same time last year. Attendance this season is at over 11.4 million, up 3 percent from this time last year.

The awards will be handed out June 12 at a new location: the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side of Manhattan after producers lost their long-term space at Radio City Music Hall. It will be broadcast live by CBS.

Online: http://www.tonyawards.com