Tonys’ sleeper hit

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” a zany tribute to the rollicking musicals of the 1920s, received 13 Tony nominations Tuesday, including one for best musical, making it the surprise leader in the race for Broadway’s top honors. The Oprah Winfrey-produced musical “The Color Purple,” based on the Alice Walker novel, garnered 11 nods, and the revival of “The Pajama Game,” starring pop and jazz singer Harry Connick Jr., followed with nine nominations.

“This is so very exciting because our musical came out of nowhere, it’s original, and it’s wonderful that people are thirsty for productions like this,” said Kevin McCollum, one of the producers of “The Drowsy Chaperone,” which had its U.S. premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in November.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” will face off with “Jersey Boys,” another show that made its debut in Southern California. The musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, which premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in October 2004, received eight nominations, including best director.

La Jolla Playhouse’s artistic director, Des McAnuff, was roused from sleep at 6:30 a.m. by his 15-year-old daughter, who saw the news online.

“It’s a nice way to wake up,” said McAnuff, who staged “Jersey Boys” and previously won Tonys for “Big River” and “Tommy.”

Tuesday’s announcement included several notable omissions, particularly among the Hollywood set: Julia Roberts’ critically panned performance in Richard Greenberg’s “Three Days of Rain” was snubbed, as was David Schwimmer’s turn in “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.” Producers of that show announced it will close May 21 after 17 performances. The revival of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick failed to get any nominations. Two heavily promoted Broadway musicals -- “Tarzan,” based on the Walt Disney animated feature, and “Lestat,” a show based on the Anne Rice novels with songs by Elton John -- received only three nods between them.

“Awake and Sing!,” the well-received revival of Clifford Odet’s play about an American family during the Depression, led the drama field with eight nominations, followed by “The History Boys,” Alan Bennett’s highly praised British drama about rowdy teenagers hoping to get into Oxford or Cambridge, which received seven nods.

“This was a great year on Broadway,” said Jed Bernstein, president of the League of American Theatres and Producers, before the nominations were announced.

“Not only were grosses and attendance up, but early this spring we had 38 shows playing at the same time -- something that has not happened in over two decades.”

The nominees for the 60th annual Tony Awards, presented jointly by the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers, were announced early Tuesday by Phylicia Rashad, Natasha Richardson and Liev Schreiber -- all previous Tony winners -- at the New York Public Library for Performing Arts.

The winners will be announced on June 11 in a ceremony at Radio City Music Hall. For more Tony Award coverage, go to goldderby.latimes.com.

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Following is a list of nominees:

Best play

“The History Boys”

“The Lieutenant of Inishmore”

“Rabbit Hole”

“Shining City”

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Best musical

“The Color Purple”

“The Drowsy Chaperone”

“Jersey Boys”

“The Wedding Singer”

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Best book of a musical

“The Color Purple,” Marsha Norman

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” Bob Martin and Don McKellar

“Jersey Boys,” Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice

“The Wedding Singer,” Chad Beguelin and Tim Herlihy

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Best original score (music and/or

lyrics) written for the theater

“The Color Purple,” Brenda Russell, Allee Willis, Stephen Bray

“The Drowsy Chaperone,” Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison

“The Wedding Singer,” Matthew Sklar

(music), Chad Beguelin (lyrics)

“The Woman in White,” Andrew Lloyd

Webber (music), David Zippel (lyrics)

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Best revival of a play

“Awake and Sing!”

“The Constant Wife”

“Edward Albee’s Seascape”

“Faith Healer”

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Best revival of a musical

“The Pajama Game”

“Sweeney Todd”

“The Threepenny Opera”

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Best performance by

a leading actor in a play

Ralph Fiennes, “Faith Healer”

Richard Griffiths, “The History Boys”

Zheljko Ivanek, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”

Oliver Platt, “Shining City”

David Wilmot, “The Lieutenant of

Inishmore”

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Best performance by

a leading actress in a play

Kate Burton, “The Constant Wife”

Judy Kaye, “Souvenir”

Lisa Kron, “Well”

Cynthia Nixon, “Rabbit Hole”

Lynn Redgrave, “The Constant Wife”

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Best performance by

a leading actor in a musical

Michael Cerveris, “Sweeney Todd”

Harry Connick Jr., “The Pajama Game”

Stephen Lynch, “The Wedding Singer”

Bob Martin, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys”

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Best performance by

a leading actress in a musical

Sutton Foster, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

LaChanze, “The Color Purple”

Patti LuPone, “Sweeney Todd”

Kelli O’Hara, “The Pajama Game”

Chita Rivera, “Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life”

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Best performance by

a featured actor in a play

Samuel Barnett, “The History Boys”

Domhnall Gleeson, “The Lieutenant of

Inishmore”

Ian McDiarmid, “Faith Healer”

Mark Ruffalo, “Awake and Sing!”

Pablo Schreiber, “Awake and Sing!”

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Best performance by

a featured actress in a play

Tyne Daly, “Rabbit Hole”

Frances de la Tour, “The History Boys”

Jayne Houdyshell, “Well”

Alison Pill, “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”

Zoe Wanamaker, “Awake and Sing!”

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Best performance by

a featured actor in a musical

Danny Burstein, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Jim Dale, “The Threepenny Opera”

Brandon Victor Dixon, “The Color

Purple”

Manoel Felciano, “Sweeney Todd”

Christian Hoff, “Jersey Boys”

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Best performance by

a featured actress in a musical

Carolee Carmello, “Lestat”

Felicia P. Fields, “The Color Purple”

Megan Lawrence, “The Pajama Game”

Beth Leavel, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Elisabeth Withers-Mendes, “The Color

Purple”

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Best scenic design of a play

John Lee Beatty, “Rabbit Hole”

Bob Crowley, “The History Boys”

Santo Loquasto, “Three Days of Rain”

Michael Yeargan, “Awake and Sing!”

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Best scenic design of a musical

John Lee Beatty, “The Color Purple”

David Gallo, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Derek McLane, “The Pajama Game”

Klara Zieglerova, “Jersey Boys”

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Best costume design of a play

Michael Krass, “The Constant Wife”

Santo Loquasto, “A Touch of the Poet”

Catherine Zuber, “Awake and Sing!”

Catherine Zuber, “Edward Albee’s

Seascape”

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Best costume design of a musical

Gregg Barnes, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Susan Hilferty, “Lestat”

Martin Pakledinaz, “The Pajama Game”

Paul Tazewell, “The Color Purple”

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Best lighting design of a play

Christopher Akerlind, “Awake and Sing!”

Paul Gallo, “Three Days of Rain”

Mark Henderson, “Faith Healer”

Mark Henderson, “The History Boys”

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Best lighting design of a musical

Ken Billington and Brian Monahan, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Howell Binkley, “Jersey Boys”

Natasha Katz, “Tarzan”

Brian MacDevitt, “The Color Purple”

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Best direction of a play

Nicholas Hytner, “The History Boys”

Wilson Milam, “The Lieutenant of

Inishmore”

Bartlett Sher, “Awake and Sing!”

Daniel Sullivan, “Rabbit Hole”

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Best direction of a musical

John Doyle, “Sweeney Todd”

Kathleen Marshall, “The Pajama Game”

Des McAnuff, “Jersey Boys”

Casey Nicholaw, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

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Best choreography

Rob Ashford, “The Wedding Singer”

Donald Byrd, “The Color Purple”

Kathleen Marshall, “The Pajama Game”

Casey Nicholaw, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

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Best orchestrations

Larry Blank, “The Drowsy Chaperone”

Dick Lieb and Danny Troob, “The Pajama Game”

Steve Orich, “Jersey Boys”

Sarah Travis, “Sweeney Todd”

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Special Tony Award

Sarah Jones for “Bridge & Tunnel”

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Special Tony Award for lifetime achievement in the theater

Harold Prince

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Regional theater Tony Award

Intiman Theatre, Seattle