‘Boulevard’ Can Count on Winning Two Tonys : Theater: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s show is the sole nominee for book and score, making it the most-honored play with 11 nods. Only ‘Sunset’ and ‘Cafe’ are up for best musical.

“Sunset Boulevard” and “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”--both of which played Los Angeles and then moved to Broadway, where they were the season’s only new musicals--on Monday became the only two nominees for this year’s Tony Award for best new Broadway musical.

Two awards--for book and score of “Sunset Boulevard”--were announced along with the nominations; there were no other nominees in those categories. “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” a revue, did not qualify because it had no book, and its score of old Leiber & Stoller pop tunes was not written for the theater.

This is the first time that regular Tony Awards have been announced along with the nominations since public announcements of nominations began in 1956. In 1985, however, no nominations were made in three musical categories because no one was deemed worthy.

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Counting its two already received awards and nine nominations, “Sunset Boulevard” was the most honored show at the Monday announcement ceremony. A revival of “Show Boat” received 10 nominations and a production of Jean Cocteau’s “Indiscretions” got nine. “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” garnered seven nominations, as did a revival of “The Heiress.”

The La Jolla Playhouse-bred revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” received four nominations, including one for best musical revival. The only other nominee in that category is “Show Boat.”

The category of best leading actress in a musical is also slimmer than the usual four nominees. The only candidates are Glenn Close for “Sunset Boulevard” and Rebecca Luker for “Show Boat.” No single actress was considered the lead in “Smokey Joe’s Cafe,” but three of the women in its cast received featured actress nominations.

One of the performances nominated for best leading actor in a play has already been seen in the Southland. Joe Sears was nominated for “A Tuna Christmas,” which played the Pasadena Playhouse and Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara in 1993.

Tony spokesman Keith Sherman put a positive spin on this year’s nominations by noting that although many have said that drama is dead on Broadway, this year’s drama competition is “a fabulous contest with no shoo-in at all.” He said the scarcity of musical nominations reflects “the cyclical nature” of the competition. “This is the year of the play,” Sherman said. “Next year it looks as if there will be a hell of a lot of musicals.”

The awards will be presented on June 4, to be broadcast live from the Minskoff Theatre. Co-hosts will be Close, Gregory Hines and Nathan Lane, who was conspicuously missing from the nominees for best leading actor in a play. Many expected Lane to be nominated for “Love! Valour! Compassion!,” which did produce three of the four nominees for best featured actor in a play, as well as two other nominations.

Special Tonys will go to Carol Channing, Harvey Sabinson and the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn. The ceremony also will include a Tony honor for the National Endowment for the Arts.

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The list of nominees and other honorees:

* Play: “Arcadia,” by Tom Stoppard; “Having Our Say,” by Emily Mann; “Indiscretions,” by Jean Cocteau; “Love! Valour! Compassion!” by Terrence McNally

* Musical: “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”; “Sunset Boulevard”

* Revival/Play: “Hamlet,” “The Heiress,” “The Moliere Comedies,” “The Rose Tattoo”

* Revival/Musical: “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Show Boat”

* Book of a Musical: (automatic winner) Don Black and Christopher Hampton, “Sunset Boulevard”

* Original Score: (automatic winner) Andrew Lloyd Webber (composer) and Don Black and Christopher Hampton (lyricists), “Sunset Boulevard”

* Director/Musical: Des McAnuff, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”; Trevor Nunn, “Sunset Boulevard”; Harold Prince, “Show Boat”; Jerry Zaks, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”

* Director/Play: Gerald Gutierrez, “The Heiress”; Emily Mann, “Having Our Say”; Joe Mantello, “Love! Valour! Compassion!”; Sean Mathias, “Indiscretions”

* Leading Actor/Play: Brian Bedford, “The Moliere Comedies”; Ralph Fiennes, “Hamlet”; Roger Rees, “Indiscretions”; Joe Sears, “A Tuna Christmas”

* Leading Actress/Play: Mary Alice, “Having Our Say”; Eileen Atkins, “Indiscretions”; Cherry Jones, “The Heiress”; Helen Mirren, “A Month in the Country”

* Leading Actor/Musical: Matthew Broderick, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”; Alan Campbell, “Sunset Boulevard”; Mark Jacoby and John McMartin, “Show Boat”

* Leading Actress/Musical: Glenn Close, “Sunset Boulevard”; Rebecca Luker, “Show Boat”

* Featured Actor/Play: Stephen Bogardus, John Glover, Anthony Heald, all for “Love! Valour! Compassion!”; Jude Law, “Indiscretions”

* Featured Actress/Play: Suzanne Bertish, “The Moliere Comedies”; Cynthia Nixon, “Indiscretions”; Mercedes Ruehl, “The Shadow Box”; Frances Sternhagen, “Indiscretions”

* Featured Actor/Musical: Michel Bell and Joel Blum, “Show Boat”; Victor Trent Cook, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”; George Hearn, “Sunset Boulevard”

* Featured Actress/Musical: Gretha Boston, “Show Boat”; Brenda Braxton, B.J. Crosby, DeLee Lively, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”

* Scenic Design: John Lee Beatty, “The Heiress”; Stephen Brimson Lewis, “Indiscretions”; John Napier, “Sunset Boulevard”; Mark Thompson, “Arcadia”

* Costume Design: Jane Greenwood, “The Heiress”; Florence Klotz, “Show Boat”; Stephen Brimson Lewis, “Indiscretions”; Anthony Powell, “Sunset Boulevard”

* Lighting Design: Andrew Bridge, “Sunset Boulevard”; Beverly Emmons, “The Heiress”; Mark Henderson, “Indiscretions”; Paul Pyant, “Arcadia”

* Choreography: Bob Avian, “Sunset Boulevard”; Wayne Cilento, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”; Joey McKneely, “Smokey Joe’s Cafe”; Susan Stroman, “Show Boat”

* Special Tonys: Goodspeed Opera House; Carol Channing; Harvey Sabinson