In a statement e-mailed to Tony voters May 12, Tony Award Productions said that the Tony Administration Committee "determined that it would be the sole requirement of the Tony Nominating Committee to view a performance by each of the young gentlemen.

"If the Nominating Committee were to ultimately vote to nominate the joint eligibility, it would do so with the determination that the three performances mirrored each other, hence the joint eligibility decision.

"For Tony Voters, having viewed the show once (having seen any one of the three young men performing the role of 'Billy Elliot'), the voter will have fulfilled their obligation as it concerns that nominated actor in the category of 'Best Performance of a Leading Actor in a Musical.'"

It should be noted, however, that the producers of Billy Elliot — The Musical will make tickets available to Tony voters who wish to catch the performances of the other young actors.

David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish rotate in the musical's title role and were all jointly Tony-nominated this season.

The new Elton John-Lee Hall musical based on the film of the same name plays the Imperial Theatre and earned 15 Tony nominations, the most of any show of the season.