How many Tony statues can one household have? This Valentine鈥檚 Day, we take a look at a few couples where both parties have been nominated for Broadway's top honor.
Carrie Coon and Tracy Letts
Letts and Coon both earned Tony nominations for their roles as George and Honey, respectively, in the 2012 revival of Who鈥檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf? They were married the next year鈥�in a hospital. Letts was rushed into emergency gall bladder surgery the day before their marriage license was set to expire. In lieu of renewing it, they got married in hospital gowns.
Will Swenson and Audra McDonald
The couple met while working on Roundabout Theater Company鈥檚 2007 revival of 110 in the Shade. Swenson was already a Tony nominee for the 2009 revival of Hair. McDonald received the sixth of her nine nominations for her role in 110 in the Shade. (She has six wins in her pocket, the most of any individual.) They will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary later this year.
Terrence McNally and Tom Kirdahy
Hours after the Supreme Court鈥檚 2015 ruling legalizing gay marriage nationwide, Kirdahy and McNally in a ceremony officiated by former New York City mayor (and Kirdahy鈥檚 college roommate) Bill de Blasio. Kirdahy produced many of McNally鈥檚 plays and musicals, including Mothers and Sons, Ragtime, Master Class, The Visit, and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. They have 18 Tony nominations split evenly between them, as well as a special lifetime achievement Tony for McNally. The couple remained together until McNally鈥檚 death in 2020.
Fran and Barry Weissler
In 1964, Fran Weissler agreed to take over a friend鈥檚 box office shift for a touring production of The Taming of the Shrew produced and directed by Barry Weissler. 鈥淏arry was everything that I never thought I鈥檇 be interested in,鈥� Fran Weissler told 半岛体育. The couple is now a producing team with 16 Tony nominations for shows such as Waitress, Grease, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, and Gypsy.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
It was love at first Trekkie Monster. The husband-and-wife songwriting team met at a musical theatre workshop where Robert Lopez mesmerized his future wife with his performance of a few early Avenue Q songs. The couple would start working together on a stage adaptation of Finding Nemo for Disney鈥檚 Animal Kingdom in 2006 and later earn a Tony Award nomination for Best Original Score for the Frozen musical. They also collaborated on the original Frozen film, Frozen II, Coco, and WandaVision.
Rebecca Luker and Danny Burstein
Burstein is the most recent winner of the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in Moulin Rouge! The Musical. The award is in good company: Burstein has seven nominations overall. Luker was equally a Broadway powerhouse. She originated the part of Lily in The Secret Garden and starred as Marian in the 2000 revival of The Music Man, a role which earned her one of her three Tony nominations. The couple married in 2000 and remained together until Luker鈥檚 death in 2020.
Terrence Mann and Charlotte d鈥橝mboise
D鈥橝mboise met Mann in 1984, when she made her Broadway debut as a replacement in Cats. The duo now has five Tony nominations, two children, and a between them. Mann received nominations for Les Mis茅rables, Beauty and the Beast, and Pippin, the latter of which also featured d鈥橝mboise. D鈥橝mboise earned nominations for Jerome Robbins鈥� Broadway and A Chorus Line.
Orfeh and Andy Karl
In 1999, Karl made his Broadway debut in the show Orfeh was starring in. 鈥淏efore I was in Saturday Night Fever, I used to stare at her photos on [the show鈥檚鈥橾 marquee,鈥� Karl told 半岛体育. Since then, they鈥檝e also appeared together onstage in Legally Blonde and Pretty Woman: The Musical. Orfeh received a Tony nomination for her role in Legally Blonde, while Karl was nominated for Rocky, On the Twentieth Century, and Groundhog Day.
Roger Rees and Rick Elice
Actor-director Roger Rees and actor-writer Rick Elice both scored Tony nominations for their work on Peter and the Starcatcher. They have six nominations split evenly between them, including a Best Actor in a Play win for Rees for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. The two met at the dress rehearsal for Cats and were together for 37 years until Rees' death in 2015. Elice wrote Finding Roger: An Improbably Theatrical Love Story, a memoir about Rees' life and their partnership.
Kathleen Marshall and Scott Landis
Landis and Marshall met working on the 2006 revival of The Pajama Game. He was producing; she was directing and choreographing. By the time they won statuettes for that revival, the two were an item. They鈥檝e collectively been nominated for 14 Tony Awards. Landis has been honored for producing shows such as The Ferryman, Twelfth Night, and Nice Work If You Can Get It, the latter of which earned Marshall Tony nods for direction and choreography. Marshall was also nominated for her work on Wonderful Town, Anything Goes, and Kiss Me, Kate.
Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft
"We started talking, and we never stopped,鈥� Brooks says about Bancroft in his biography All About Me! Bancroft was already a two-time Tony winner known for originating the role of Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker when they met in 1961. Brooks would later pick up Tony Awards for Best Musical, Book of a Musical, and Original Score for The Producers. The two were married for more than 40 years, until Bancroft鈥檚 death in 2005.
