Out actors Gavin Creel, Christopher Sieber are among Tony nominees; Billy Elliot gets 15 nods

The Tony Award nominations were announced in New York this morning by the lovely Cynthia Nixon and I am so glad to see that Gavin Creel, the openly gay star of the revival of Hair, has been nominated for lead actor in a musical. He was previously a Tony nominee for Thoroughly Modern Millie and also starred in a revival of La Cage on Broadway.

I love what he told Brandon Voss on Advocate.com last month in his coming out interview: about a month and a half ago, I was like, ‘I’m too old for this shit. I love my life, I love my friends, and I love my family so I decided it didn’t really matter. … I also want to be able to get married legally, and it doesn’t make any sense for me to parade around trying to get marriage equality while not being open about who I am. It doesn’t inspire young men and women struggling with their own sexuality to be confident in who they are if i’m not confident in who I am. And if I whisper about it, then I give other people permission to whisper about it, and there’s nothing wrong with it. I definitely want to get louder.”

Gavin will face-off against David Alvarez, Trent Kowalk and Kiril Kulish for Billy Elliot: The Musical; Brian d-Arcy James for Shrek: The Musical; Constance Maroulis for Rock of Ages; and  J. Robert Spencer for Next to Normal.

In the featured actor in a musical category, out actor Christopher Sieber made the cut for his performance in Shrek: The Musical. Christopher has previously been nominated in the same category for Spamalot. His other Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, Triumph of Love, Chicago, and Into the Woods.

I became a huge fan of Christopher when he starred in the short-lived but wonderful ABC series It’s All Relative as part of a gay couple who were at often at odds with the family of their daughter’s fiancee. He also spent a few seasons playing the father of Ashley and Mary-Kate Olson on the series Two of a Kind.

A friend of mine on Facebook, Chris’ current status update reads: “It was a really great morning!”

In the actress in a musical category, how cool to see longtime gay fave Stockard Channing nominated for Pal Joey. Stockard, a Tony winner for Joe Egg and a nominee several other times, has done many LGBT projects including the mother of a lesbian in The Truth About Jane and in the sitcom Out of Practice, the wife of a gay man in Jack, and won an Emmy for her performance as Judy Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story. I’m rooting for Stockard who competes in a category that also includes Allision Janey (9 to 5: The Musical).

And how great to see that Jane Fonda, on the Broadway stage for the first time since the early 60s, is up for lead actress in a play for 33 Variations. A Tony would look great alongside her two Oscars (Klute, Coming Home) and her Emmy (The Dollmaker). Also nominated is Angela Lansbury, a four-time Tony winning Broadway legend who will compete for featured actress in a play for her performance in Blithe Spirit.

Leading the nominations with 15 nods was Billy Elliot: The Musical about a boy who trades in boxing gloves for ballet. The music was written by Elton John.

Here is a LINK to a full list of the 2009 Tony Award nominees!