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‘Parade’ and ‘Leopoldstadt’ each nab 6 Tony nominations in a big year for Jewish Broadway
(JTA) — Shows about the Holocaust and a notorious American antisemitic incident picked up several Tony Award nominations Tuesday morning, as Broadway’s biggest honors made room for a sizable Jewish presence.
Most notably, a revival of the 1998 musical “Parade,” starring Ben Platt as the early-20th-century Jewish lynching victim Leo Frank, scored six nominations, including best revival of a musical and a best actor nod for Platt. Jewish lead actress Micaela Diamond also scored a nomination for playing Leo’s wife Lucille, causing awards presenter Lea Michele to squeal with glee (pun intended) as she read Diamond’s name at the livestreamed nominations ceremony Tuesday morning.
Arriving during a heightened moment of national awareness about antisemitism, “Parade” attracted notice early in its Broadway run when a performance was picketed by neo-Nazis. That incident led to an outpouring of support from Broadway’s Jewish community. Platt himself arrived at last night’s Met Gala wearing a Star of David necklace, further driving home the show’s message.
A view of the cast of “Leopoldstadt,” which focuses on multiple generations of a Viennese Jewish family. (Joan Marcus)
“Leopoldstadt,” Tom Stoppard’s epic, highly personal play about multiple generations of a Jewish Viennese family before, during and after the Holocaust, also received six nominations, including an expected nod for best play. Brandon Uranowitz also earned a nod for best actor in a featured role in a play, and Patrick Marber scored a best direction nomination; both are Jewish.
Oscar Isaac plays the titular character in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” at the BAM Harvey Theater in Brooklyn, N.Y. (Julieta Cervantes)
Signs were more mixed for another high-profile Jewish production, “The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window,” which eked out two nominations, including best revival of a play. The show, first written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1964 shortly before her death, follows a Jewish bohemian grappling with political and social change in Greenwich Village. It had not been staged on Broadway since its initial run. Neither of its A-list stars, Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, earned acting nominations, though Miriam Silverman did receive the show’s lone other nomination for her featured role as Isaac’s character’s sister-in-law — who is casually antisemitic.
Besides “Parade,” the musical revival category was dominated by shows with Jewish roots. Also nominated was a new version of the 1960 classic “Camelot,” billed as “Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot” in recognition of the two Jewish Broadway scribes who crafted the initial production, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Written by Aaron Sorkin, who is Jewish, and directed by Bartlett Sher, who learned as a teenager that his father was Jewish, the new “Camelot” had five nominations in total.
Two reinterpretations of Stephen Sondheim standards, “Into The Woods” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” rounded out the category. The pop singer Josh Groban, whose father was Jewish before converting to his mother’s Christianity, was nominated for playing the lead role in “Sweeney Todd,” while Julia Lester, whose great-grandfather was part of a Yiddish theater in Poland, was nominated for her featured role in “Into the Woods.”
The play “Good Night, Oscar,” about the Jewish entertainer Oscar Levant’s struggles with mental illness, picked up three nominations, including for lead actors Sean Hayes and Rachel Hauck. “Death of a Salesman,” a new revival of the classic play by Jewish playwright Arthur Miller, also picked up two nominations.
Jewish actress Jessica Hecht picked up an acting nomination for her lead role in the play “Summer, 1976,” about a lifelong friendship between two women. Hecht is up against several star performers in the category, including Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer and Audra McDonald.
Among the other nominees was a modern-day musical reimagining of “Some Like It Hot,” the 1959 cross-dressing comedy. The original movie had plenty of Jewish talent: It was directed by Billy Wilder, co-starred Tony Curtis and Jewish convert Marilyn Monroe, and featured recently deceased Jewish character actor Nehemiah Persoff in a small role. The new musical, by Amber Ruffin and Matthew López, led the pack with 13 Tony nominations including best new musical. Veteran Jewish songwriter Marc Shaiman picked up a nomination for co-writing the show’s score.
Another new musical based on a movie, “New York, New York,” also built off of Jewish talent: the songwriting duo John Kander and Fred Ebb wrote the music for the original 1977 film, and Kander is co-credited with Lin-Manuel Miranda for additional music on the new film. “New York, New York” received nine nominations, including best new musical.
The prolific Jewish theater composer Jeanine Tesori had another Broadway hit this year with the musical “Kimberly Akimbo,” which received eight nominations, including one for her music.
The nominations were co-announced Tuesday morning by Michele, who has been the talk of Broadway since she replaced Beanie Feldstein as the lead of the “Funny Girl” revival. Feldstein was snubbed at the Tonys last year amid tepid reviews for her performance in the musical about Jewish comedienne Fanny Brice.
The Tonys will air on CBS and various Paramount-owned streaming services on June 11.
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Some Tankers Cross Strait of Hormuz Before Shots Fired, Ship-Tracking Data Shows
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
More than a dozen tankers, including three sanctioned vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz after a 50-day blockade was lifted on Friday, shipping data showed, before Iran reimposed restrictions on Saturday and fired at some vessels.
Reopening the strait is key for Gulf producers to resume full oil and gas supplies to the world, and end what the International Energy Agency has called the worst-ever supply disruption.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran had agreed to open the strait, while Iranian officials said they wanted the US to fully lift its blockade of Iranian tankers.
Western shipping companies cautiously welcomed the announcements but said more clarity was needed, including on the presence of sea mines, before their vessels could transit.
IRAN RESUMES RESTRICTIONS
The ships that passed through the strait on Friday and Saturday via Iranian waters south of Larak island were mainly older, non-Western-owned vessels and included four sanctioned ships, according to ship-tracking data.
Iran arranged passage for a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships following prior agreements in negotiations, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
Other ships have been seen approaching the strait and turning back as Iran said it would maintain strict controls as long as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports.
The UK Navy reported on Saturday that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships attempting to cross the strait.
Some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying the strait was shut again and that no ships were allowed to pass, shipping sources said on Saturday.
Ship-tracking data showed five vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Ras Laffan in Qatar approaching the strait on Saturday morning.
No LNG cargoes have transited the waterway since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.
Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the conflict started and Tehran closed the strait, forcing Gulf oil and gas producers to sharply cut production.
Top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need steady tanker flows and unrestricted passage through the strait to resume normal export operations.
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Trump Greenlights Russian Oil to Ease Strain on Global Markets After War with Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, DC, US, March 27, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
i24 News – The Trump administration has authorized a 30-day emergency waiver allowing the maritime purchase of Russian oil, reversing a hardline stance in an effort to stabilize skyrocketing global energy prices.
The Treasury Department announced Friday that the license for crude and petroleum products will remain in effect until May 16, 2026, responding to intense pressure from international partners struggling with the fallout of the war with Iran.
This policy pivot comes as a surprise after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested earlier this week that no further exemptions would be granted:
“As negotiations with Iran accelerate, the administration seeks to ensure oil availability for those who need it most. We must prevent a total price collapse for consumers while the geopolitical situation remains volatile.”
Ensuring global oil availability is paramount for the US as over 80 energy facilities in the Middle East have been damaged by recent war with Iran. With the November midterm elections approaching, record-high fuel prices at the pump remain a primary vulnerability for the Republican party. By allowing Russian oil back into the maritime flow, the administration hopes to neutralize “pain at the pump” before voters head to the polls.
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UK: Islamist Group Claims to Attack Israeli Embassy with ‘Drones Carrying Radioactive, Carcinogenic Materials’
A UK man has been arrested for allegedly threatening a group of Jews while wielding an ax on Rosh Hashanah. Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – British police officers in protective clothing were seen investigating a “security incident” near the Israeli embassy in London on Friday, after a jihadist group put out a video showing it launching two drones allegedly carrying radioactive and carcinogenic materials toward the embassy.
“There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items. As a precaution, some of the officers who have been deployed are wearing protective clothing. We recognize this may concern local residents and the wider public,” police said in a statement.
“Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of a video shared online overnight in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances,” the statement further read. “While we can confirm that the embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent inquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”
The incident comes amid a steep hike in antisemitic attacks in Britain targeting Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions.
The group that released the video was identified as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, a shadowy entity with suspected ties to Iran. It has already claimed seven attacks against Jewish institutions, including an arson attack in London where four ambulances owned by the Hatzolah charity were torched.