By Playbill Staff
30 Apr 2013

Pam MacKinnon, Best Direction of a Play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: I'm in Los Angeles right now, and so I woke up early, knowing what was happening on the East Coast, and tried to do some sort of lame attempt of a Google search on my phone to know what was going on, and while I was trying to sift through that, some dear friends started to text me—generic, but pretty clear things like, "Wow!" [Laughs.] So that's how I knew. It's so great. I mean, I was sort of at once relieved and so proud of everyone's work and just happy. I was nominated last year. To have back-to-back nominations on projects that are so close to my heart, written by true, true friends, who I'm marching through my career with. I've known Edward [Albee] for 13 years, I've known Bruce [Norris] for about 16 years. I will continue to do both of their plays. It's really fantastic and feels incredibly, incredibly gratifying to just keep on going to work and work with people that you adore.

Kristine Nielsen, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, (playing "Sonia"), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike: My good friend and agent called me this morning and woke me up. I just started crying and then laughing. [Laughs.] It's the two reactions you can have. It's wonderful, and it's terrifying at the same time. It just means so much to me because it's a recognition from the community, and I've certainly loved the theatre. It's where I put all my little eggs in a basket. And, I love it very much, and I'm very happy to have received any kind of recognition from it, so it's very nice…very nice.

	Bertie Carvel
	photo by Joan Marcus

Bertie Carvel, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (playing "Miss Trunchbull"), Matilda The Musical: I'm out of town up at Lake George staying with some friends, and I had been warned that this was the [day] and to be on the phone, so I [had to] stand in the only place in the mountains where I get reception on my phone, and waited for the phone to ring with good or bad news, and happily it was good news! [I feel] a mixture of joy and relief, I suppose. I mean, it would have been relief either way. It was a relief that I was nominated, but I mean all these things are such huge distractions from the job at hand—nice distractions! [Laughs.] But we've got to get out and make sure that everybody continues to get the show that we're passionate about and believe in and always have done… It's quite difficult not to get distracted by all the praise. It's nice to kind of have that moment done, and I'm really, really thrilled.

Keala Settle, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (playing "Norma Valverde"), Hands on a Hardbody: I knew it was going to happen today, but I didn't want to think about it. You don't want to set yourself up, so I kind of went to sleep. All of a sudden, my phone rang, and I picked it up, and I went, "Hello?" And, I heard, "Is this the Tony nominee?" And, I found out it was my agent. I was like, "Oh my God! Are you serious?" And then not even a second passed before my friends in the house came running past my door and saying, "Girl! Get up, girl! You just got nominated for a Tony!" And, that was it. I just got up, and it felt like Christmas Day, literally. Like, you wake up, I'm washing my eyes, and they're like, "Let's take a picture." I'm going, "Well, what time is it? I've got to go to the bathroom. What's happening?" It's amazing. It's kind of overwhelming... It's very humbling because I know that we're not open anymore. I also know that the show that we did had a message, and we worked our tail ends off, and just the fact that we got nominations for it—those three nominations that we got—it was just proof that we did have a piece of theatre that said something, that meant something... We're not open, but we told a story, and there are nominations to prove it. Just that alone is enough for me—just incredible. And, in such great company! I mean, Andrea Martin—come one! She's a genius. She's a comic female genius.

Carrie Coon, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (playing "Honey"), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: What a wonderful New York reception. I'm so proud of our production and looking forward to celebrating alongside my fellow nominees. I've received so many calls and texts and messages – especially from friends in my Chicago and Wisconsin communities – and my father in Ohio made a martini at 8:35 AM.

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