A committee member, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the eligibility discussions are private, said the view among several on the panel was that the “One Man” producers had been trying to manipulate the categories and avoid the crowded field competing for best play nominations; the play revival category has fewer eligible shows, including “Death of a Salesman” and “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man.”

A spokeswoman for the “One Man” producers said on Friday that they had no comment on their eligibility request.

Among the interesting outcomes for possible acting nominations, James Earl Jones will be eligible in the category of best actor in a play (as opposed to featured actor) for “Gore Vidal’s The Best Man,” along with two other stars of the show, John Larroquette and Eric McCormack.

The producers of the play asked that only Mr. Larroquette be eligible as best actor, according to two members of the eligibility committee; however, when those same producers mounted the same play 12 years ago, they had asked for the three actors in those three roles to all be eligible for best actor (and not just the one in Mr. Larroquette’s part).

In other decisions, Ricky Martin and Michael Cerveris will both be eligible for featured actor in a musical for “Evita”; Christian Borle for featured actor in a play (rather than best actor), for “Peter and the Starcatcher”; Paul Nolan for best actor in a musical, and Josh Young for featured actor, as Jesus and Judas in “Jesus Christ Superstar”; and Linda Emond for best featured actress in a play for “Death of a Salesman.”