‘Hell’s Kitchen’ and ‘Stereophonic’ Tie for Most Tony Nominations

A semi-autobiographical Alicia Keys musical and a play about a group of musicians struggling to record an album each got 13 Tony nominations on Tuesday, tying for the most nods in a packed Broadway season when shows need all the help they can get.

The musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” features some of Keys’s biggest hits as well as new songs by her. The play, “Stereophonic,” David Adjmi’s exploration of creativity and conflict inside a recording studio, is now the most-nominated play in Tony Awards history, besting a record set in 2021 by “Slave Play,” which had 12 nominations.

A star-studded production of “Merrily We Roll Along” that turned a storied Stephen Sondheim flop into one of the season’s biggest hits is favored to win the musical revival category. But it faces several other big revivals, including a lavish production of “Cabaret” starring Eddie Redmayne that got the most nominations of any show in the category, as well as a rollicking revival of “The Who’s Tommy” and a now-closed production of “Gutenberg! The Musical!” that found success with two appealing co-stars.

The two most nominated shows, “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Stereophonic,” opened 24 hours apart less than two weeks ago.

“Stereophonic,” which features songs by Will Butler, formerly of Arcade Fire, had an initial run last fall at the Off Broadway nonprofit Playwrights Horizons. It succeeded despite a three-hour running time and no high-wattage celebrities — powered by strong reviews and word-of-mouth.

“I’m just gobsmacked,” said Adjmi, a longtime downtown playwright whose work has never before made it to Broadway. “I started this play 11 years ago and didn’t know if it would ever even be produced — it was impractical and wildly demanding on every level and I just made it from a place of passion and obsession. To be rewarded at a platform like this is so mind-bogglingly incredible I don’t have words.”