‘Matilda’ Quartet Will Get Special Tony But Won’t Be Eligible for Best Actress

The four child actresses who rotate in the title role of the Broadway musical “Matilda” will not be eligible for a joint Tony Award nomination for best actress in a musical this spring, the Tony administrative committee ruled on Friday. The decision, the most newsworthy result of a busy committee meeting, sets aside a controversial precedent from 2009 when the three teenage boys sharing the lead role in “Billy Elliot” were deemed eligible for a joint best actor nomination - and went on to win that June.

The producers of “Matilda,” itself a front-runner for the best musical Tony this year, had sought joint eligibility for the four girls - Sophia Gennusa, Oona Laurence, Bailey Ryon, and Milly Shapiro. Instead of granting that request, the Tony committee announced in a statement that the four actresses would receive a special award - Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater - “to recognize their outstanding performances this season.” As a result, none of the four girls will be eligible in the best actress category.

While the committee gave no reasons for its “Matilda” ruling, there had been discomfort among some theater producers and Tony Award voters with the “Billy Elliot” precedent, given that not all voters saw the three Billys - nor were likely to see all four Matildas. Tony voters - 868 this year - are expected to see all of the nominees in categories they vote on. In 2009, some Tony voters said they cast their ballots for the actors sharing the “Billy Elliot” role without seeing all three.

Other producers have said that Tonys should only go to actors who do a full slate of performances.

Asked for comment about the decision to deny eligibility, a spokeswoman for the musical said on Friday, “The ‘Matilda’ producers appreciate the decision of the Tony administration committee.”

In another consequential decision on Friday, the committee ruled that the British actor Bertie Carvel - who plays the sadistic headmistress Miss Trunchbull in “Matilda” - would be eligible for a best actor nomination, instead of best featured actor. The assessment of Miss Trunchbull could have gone either way; some producers have argued that the character is equivalent to the villainous Miss Hannigan in “Annie,” a role that was once deemed eligible for best actress but, for the current Broadway revival, has been judged as a featured role. (The producers of “Matilda” had asked that Mr. Carvel be deemed eligible as best actor; he won the Olivier Award, Britain’s Tony equivalent, as best actor in “Matilda” last year.)

With its decision, the Tony committee sets up a possible race for best actor in a musical between two men in drag: Mr. Carvel versus Billy Porter, who is playing the drag queen Lola in “Kinky Boots.” (Another actor who is also eligible for the same category is Mr. Porter’s co-star, Stark Sands, who is not doing drag.)

The Tony committee also placed Kristine Nielsen into contention for a best actress Tony nomination for the Christopher Durang play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.” Ms. Nielsen, a veteran New York theater actress, plays the forlorn sister Sonia, a performance that has drawn strong praise from critics. She had been regarded as a front-runner for best featured actress; the best actress category, for which there will be five nominations, has many eligible powerhouse performers, including Jessica Hecht (“The Assembled Parties”), Laurie Metcalf (“The Other Place”), Amy Morton (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”), Bette Midler (“I’ll Eat You Last”), Fiona Shaw (“The Testament of Mary”), Holland Taylor (“Ann”), and a href="http://theater.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/theater/cicely-tyson-at-horton-footes-home.html?pagewanted=all">Cicely Tyson (“The Trip to Bountiful”).

Another actress, Valisia LeKae, who plays Diana Ross in “Motown: The Musical,” was made eligible in the best actress in a musical category; some Tony-watchers had assumed she would be in the running for best featured actress. Yet without the four Matildas, that race is seen as wide open, with likely nominees including Patina Miller (“Pippin”) and Laura Osnes (“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella”).

The Tony nominations will be announced on Tuesday morning, and the eventual awards will be chosen in balloting by the 868 eligible voters; they are a mix of theater producers, directors, designers, actors, writers, and tour presenters â€" some of whom have commercial interests or personal connections at stake in the nominees. The Tony Awards ceremony will be held on June 9 and broadcast live on CBS. The awards are administrated jointly by two theater organizations, the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing.