Broadway scores a clean sweep of the musical theater Grammy nominations for the second year in a row

For the second year in a row, Broadway cast albums scored a clean sweep in the Grammy nominations for Best Musical Theater Album, leaving out both the West End and Off Broadway.

It will be in competition for the 2023 Grammy Kimberly Akimbo, Parade, Shucked, Some Like It And Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Three of the five nominees are new shows, while two – march And Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – his revivals.

With today’s announcement, the Grammys repeat last summer’s Tony Awards, where all five productions had strong showings in both nominations and wins. At the Tonys, Kimberly Akimbo won top honors for Best Musical and Best Original Score march was named Best Musical Revival — three wins that are perhaps most relevant as a Grammy predictor.

But the Tonys also have shows through Some people like it hot (J. Harrison Ghee, lead actor) and Shocked (Alex Newell, lead actor) – Kimberly AkimboVictoria Clark and Bonnie Milligan won acting nominations in these categories – during marchMichael Arden was honored for his leadership. David Lindsay-Abaire won the award for best book Kimberly Akimbo.

Like last year, all five nominees are Broadway cast albums, bucking a previous nomination trend that included strong performances from both London and Off Broadway and even a concept album from a TikTok musical (the 2022 winner) . The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical).

Even in years when the nominations are more representative of the theater, both on Broadway and off, the Grammy winner is almost always a Broadway cast album, with Bridgerton being a notable exception. The winner of 2023 was the revival of in the forest, which Off Broadway as Encores! presentation, but won the Grammy for recording the subsequent Broadway production.

Also worth mentioning: Of the five nominees for 2024, one has already been confirmed (the limited participation of march with Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond), two will be finalized by the time the winners are announced on February 4 (Some people like it hot, Closing December 30 and Shocked, closes on January 14); and a – Sweeney Todd – will have lost its original main cast (Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford’s final appearances are January 14; Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster join starting February 9 for just 12 weeks).

The 2024 Best Musical Theater Album nominees listed by the Grammys:

Kimberly Akimbo – John Clancy, David Stone and Jeanine Tesori, producers; Jeanine Tesori, composer; David Lindsay-Abaire, Lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
march – Micaela Diamond, Alex Joseph Grayson, Jake Pedersen and Ben Platt, lead singers; Jason Robert Brown and Jeffrey Lesser, producers; Jason Robert Brown, composer and lyricist (Broadway cast 2023)
Shocked – Brandy Clark, Jason Howland, Shane McAnally and Billy Jay Stein, producers; Brandy Clark & ​​Shane McAnally, Composers/Lyricists (Original Broadway Cast)
Some people like it hot – Christian Borle, J. Harrison Ghee, Adrianna Hicks and NaTasha Yvette Williams, lead singers; Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Bryan Carter, Scott M. Riesett, Charlie Rosen and Marc Shaiman, producers; Scott Wittman, copywriter; Marc Shaiman, Composer and Lyricist (Original Broadway Cast)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban, lead singers; Thomas Kail & Alex Lacamoire, producers (Stephen Sondheim, composer and lyricist) (Broadway cast 2023)