Witches of Oz - 2006 Broadway.com Audience Award Nominees Announced

The Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's The Color Purple led the list of 2006 Broadway.com Audience Award nominees, earning an impressive 13 nods. Also proving to be favorites with Broadway.com users were Sweeney Todd and The Drowsy Chaperone, earning nine and eight nominations, respectively. In categories honoring long-running shows, Wicked came out on top, earning six nominations.

The Color Purple earned nominations in the Favorite New Broadway Musical category and also received multiple nominations for stars LaChanze, Brandon Victor Dixon, Felicia P. Fields, Kingsley Leggs and Elisabeth Withers-Mendes. In addition, three selections from the Color Purple score by stage newcomers Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell and Allee Willis were honored in the Favorite New Broadway Song category: "The Color Purple," "Hell No!" and "Push Da Button."

Other notable nominees:

— Because of the unique nature of the Audience Awards, where a performer can be recognized for his or her individual work, his or her pairing with a co-star and for being part of an ensemble, many receive multiple nominations in one year. This year, Sweeney Todd's Patti LuPone was recognized in four categories: Favorite Leading Actress in a Broadway Musical, Favorite Diva Performance, Favorite Onstage Pair and Favorite Ensemble Cast. Following close behind with three nominations each were Sweeney Todd's Michael Cerveris and Manoel Felciano, The Color Purple's Felicia P. Fields and LaChanze, The Drowsy Chaperone's Sutton Foster and Bob Martin and, last but not least, Harry Connick, Jr. of The Pajama Game.

— In the categories honoring Broadway replacement stars, Wicked took five out of a possible 10 slots. Ben Vereen was nominated for his turn as The Wizard, but it was the ladies of the production that really ruled with nominators. In the category of Favorite Replacement (Female), four of the five nominees came from Wicked: Eden Espinosa's Elphaba, Megan Hilty's Glinda and two Madame Morribles: current star Carol Kane and predecessor Rue McClanahan.

— See What I Wanna See was the most honored off-Broadway show, earning nominations for Favorite New Off-Broadway Musical, Favorite Ensemble Cast (recognizing stars Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lohr, Idina Menzel, Henry Stram and Mary Testa) and Favorite Diva Performance for past Audience Award winner Menzel.

— The box office hit The Odd Couple had a strong showing, earning nominations for leads Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane (also nominated as Favorite Onstage Pair, a title they won in 2001 for The Producers, and featured players Rob Bartlett and Brad Garrett, in addition to a nomination for Favorite Broadway Play Revival.

— All three stars of the much talked-about Broadway staging of Richard Greenberg's Three Days of Rain—Bradley Cooper, Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd—received acting nominations in their respective categories, with the play being honored as Favorite Broadway Play Revival. No other production saw all of its stars honored.

The nominees for the 7th Annual Broadway.com Audience Awards were chosen by Broadway.com readers over a one-week period. Five nominees were chosen from each category from a list of candidates. Multiple submissions from the same computer were eliminated from the final tally.