Audra McDonald & Norm Lewis Land Tony Nods, Angela Bassett Snubbed

Today the 2012 Tony nominations were announced and the cast of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess walked away with six nods.

Leading actress Audra McDonald, who plays the character Bess, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Her onstage counterpart, Norm Lewis, who gives a riveting performance as Porgy, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Fellow castmates Phillip Boykin, who played the play’s villain Crown, and David Allen Grier, who brought the town’s leading conman Sporting Life to life, picked up nominations in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical category. The director, Diane Paulus, was also recognized with a Best Directional of a Musical nomination.

Overall the play was nominated for a Best Revival of a Musical Tony. It originally debuted in 1935 at Boston’s Colonial Theater. It was then toured around the nation for several years before made its debut on the Great White Way.

In another notable nomination news, Condola Rashad picked up a nomination for her work in Alicia Keys’ Stick Fly and James Earl Jones earned a nomination for his work in Gore Vidal’s The Best Man.

There were several names noticeably absent from this year’s nomination list. Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson were snubbed for their performances as Coretta Scott-King and Martin Luther King Jr. in The Mountain Top. Likewise, A Street Car Named Desire‘s cast starring Nicole Ari Parker and Blair Underwood were also left unmentioned.

How do you feel about this year’s nominations? Who deserved to be recognized for their onstage performances?