The morning the Tony nominations are announced, phones start ringing off the hook for the happy few who get nods. As usual, Broadway.com is among the callers offering congratulations and getting responses. Here are the first reactions from 2010 Tony nominees. Congrats to all!
Katie Finneran
Nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, Promises, Promises
“This is a really fun day. I’m not an early riser, even on an exciting morning like this. My thought is that if you wake up early and you don’t get nominated, then you just lost several hours of sleep, so I always sleep in and figure I’ll find out when I wake up. My boyfriend Darren [Goldstein] called me and said, ‘You’re not up yet?! Look at your phone!’ There were like 12 messages, so I figured it was good news. I’m so happy that [co-star] Sean [Hayes] got nominated. He is my partner in the show and everything I do that’s funny is because of him. He’s the one who allows me to do what I’m doing. I’m also so excited to spend an awards season with [fellow nominee] Barbara Cook. That makes me want to cry. I have her album [Barbara Cook at Carnegie Hall]; it’s the first album I ever got on my record player when I was a girl. I bought it because I thought she looked like me, and she was really my introduction to Broadway, so this is very exciting for me. And [fellow nominee] Angela Lansbury is a great heroine of mine. I’m just really happy. I’m so proud of the show. I’m proud of [co-star] Kristin Chenoweth, who is just unbelievable in the show, and I’m disappointed that she wasn’t nominated. She’s doing a role that people don’t really expect her to do, and I wish she had been rewarded for it.”
For reactions from more of this year's Tony nominees, click here!