To no one’s surprise, the Broadway-and-beyond phenomenon “Hamilton” dominated the Tony nominations on Tuesday morning. But there were still plenty of surprises throughout, and the nominators are likely to have anointed a few stars-in-the-making. Charles Isherwood, a New York Times theater critic; Michael Paulson, the theater reporter; and Scott Heller, the theater editor, talk about how the awards derby shapes up from here.

SCOTT HELLER Hello, Charles. Hello, Michael. How do you think the nominations went this morning?

CHARLES ISHERWOOD Well, of course, “Hamilton” was nominated in virtually every possible category. It has the potential to win 13 Tonys out of its 16 nominations, because in two categories — leading actor and featured actor — more than one performer from the show was nominated. I do find it slightly puzzling that it was nominated in the book of a musical category, since the show is almost sung-through, but it’s the kind of juggernaut that we haven’t seen in years.

The one significant surprise in the acting categories was the absence of Audra McDonald from the list. Did they finally decide she had won too many? Her performance was wonderful, but it was a tight category this year.

And despite that omission, it was a remarkable year for nonwhite actors. The two shows with the most nominations — “Hamilton” and “Shuffle Along” — feature predominantly nonwhite casts.