Brief Thought on Best Featured Actor in a Musical

One of the more interesting aspects of yesterday's Tony nominations wasn't the exclusion of 9 to 5 from Best Musical, or the lack of [title of show], et al. It was in the Best Featured Actor in a Musical category, where David Bologna was nominated for his performance in Billy Elliot as Michael. Bologna alternates in the role with Frank Dolce, each doing four shows a the week. For the leading category, it was decided that all three actors would share the nomination, but it was certainly not the case here. I'm curious as to whether a joint nomination was even considered. Or perhaps it was an oversight made by the producers, unsuspecting that the character of Michael would garner Tony attention. Regardless, I do feel bad for Dolce who becomes the odd-man out of his cast mates in this horse race. It's gotta be tough to learn at such a young age that everything about it isn't appealing...

However, this isn't the most bizarre nomination involving child actors. That honor goes to the original Broadway production of The Sound of Music in 1960 where it was decided that all seven children (including William Snowden and Joseph Stewart) would share a joint nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Musical. They lost to co-star Patricia Neway.