Two Shows With Hudson Valley Ties Get Major Tony Nominations

You may have heard the story about how Hamilton--basically the biggest Broadway smash hit of the century--got its start right here in the Hudson Valley. Lin-Manuel Miranda used to do workshops of his future phenomenon at Vassar College. Now, this year's Tony nominations have come out, and they highlight a couple other shows with ties to Vassar's stage.

Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical got twelve nominations total, an impressive number punctuated by the Lead Actor in a Musical nomination for Ethan Slater, who graduated from Vassar in 2014. Slater plays Spongebob in the show, absorbent and yellow and porous is he.

The show Junk was also nominated for Best Play and Best Lighting Design. That show began life as a reading at Vassar & New York Stage And Film's Powerhouse Theater.

Have you seen either of these shows? Are you looking forward to this year's Tony Awards?