MANILA, Philippines – Another exciting Tony Awards promises to keep theater lovers on their toes on June 9 (June 10 Manila time), the night of the famed awards ceremony.

Two productions look poised to dominate the night. “Kinky Boots,” written by pop icon Cindy Lauper leads with 13 nominations while “Matilda The Music” follows close behind with 12. Both are nominated for the coveted Best Musical award.

CBSNews.com reports that many are calling this race a “nail-biter.” 

Many are also curious to see how “Lucky Guy,” the last play written by the late great playwright Nora Ephron, will fare on awards night. Aside from being nominated for Best Play, its star,Tom Hanks, is nominated for Best Lead Actor in a Play.

Generating even more buzz for the 2013 Tony Awards is its host, “How I Met Your Mother” star Neil Patrick Harris who has also made a name for himself in theater.

READ: Neil Patrick Harris to host Tony Awards

Harris told CBS News to expect the opening of the show to be “pretty epic.”

What would the Tony Awards be without performances?

The 3-hour-long ceremony will be studded by performances from this year’s nominees including “Annie,” “Bring It On: The Musical,” “Kinky Boots,” “Matilda The Musical,” “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” and more.

Familiar faces from previous Tony-awarded musicals are set to appear like cast members of “Mamma Mia,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Lion King” and “Rock of Ages.”

A-list stars of theater and Hollywood are expected guests: Sally Field, Jesse Eisenberg, Scarlett Johansson, Anna Kendrick, Cuba Gooding Jr., Jake Gyllenhaal, Zachary Quinto, Sigourney Weaver, Andrew Lloyd Webber and more.

Here is the complete list of this year’s Tony Awards nominees:

Best Play

• “The Assembled Parties” written by Richard Greenberg
• “Lucky Guy” written by Nora Ephron
• “The Testament of Mary” written by Colm Tolbin
• “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” written by Christopher Durang

Best Musical

• “Bring It On: The Musical”
• “A Christmas Story, The Musical”
• “Kinky Boots”
• “Matilda The Musical”

Best Book of a Musical

• “A Christmas Story, The Musical” by Joseph Robinette
• “Kinky Boots” by Harvey Fierstein
• “Matilda The Musical” by Dennis Kelly
• “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella” by Doughlas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theater

• “A Christmas Story, The Musical,” music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
• “Hands on a Hardbody,” music by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, lyrics by Amanda Green
• “Kinky Boots,” music and lyrics by Cindy Lauper
• “Matilda The Musical,” music and lyrics by Tim Minchin

Best Revival of a Play

• “Golden Boy”
• “Orphans”
• “The Trip to Bountiful”
• “Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf?”

Best Revival of a Musical

• “Annie”
• “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
• “Pippin”
• “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

• Tom Hanks, “Lucky Guy”
• Nathan Lane, “The Nance”
• Tracy Letts, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• David Hyde Pierce, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
• Tom Sturridge, “Orphans”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

• Laurie Metcalf, “The Other Place”
• Amy Morton, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• Kristine Nielsen, “Vania and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
• Holland Taylor, “Ann”
• Cicely Tyson, “The Trip to Bountiful”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Bertie Carvel, “Matilda The Musical”
• Santino Fontana, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
• Rob McClure, “Chaplin”
• Billy Porter, “Kinky Boots”
• Stark Sands, “Kinky Boots”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Stephanie J. Block, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
• Carolee Carmello, “Scandalous”
• Valisia LeKae, “Motown the Musical”
• Patina Miller, “Pippin”
• Laura Osnes, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

• Danny Burstein, “Golden Boy”
• Richard Kind, “The Big Knife”
• Billy Magnussen, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
• Tony Shalhoub, “Golden Boy”
• Courtney B. Vance, “Lucky Guy”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

• Carrie Coon, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• Shalita Grant, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
• Judith Ivey, “The Heiress”
• Judith Light, “The Assembled Parties”
• Condola Rashad, “The Trip to Bountiful”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Charl Brown, “Motown the Musical”
• Keith Carradine, “Hands on a Hardbody”
• Will Chase, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
• Gabriel Ebert, “Matilda The Musical”
• Terrence Mann, “Pippin”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Annaleigh Ashford, “Kinky Boots”
• Victoria Clark, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
• Andrea Martin, “Pippin”
• Keala Settle, “Hands on a Hardbody”
• Lauren Ward, “Matilda The Musical”

Best Direction of a Play

• Pam MacKinnon, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
• Nicholas Martin, “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”
• Bartlett Sher, “Golden Boy”
• George C. Wolfe, “Lucky Guy”

Best Direction of a Musical

• Scott Ellis, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
• Jerry Mitchell, “Kinky Boots”
• Diane Paulus, “Pippin”
• Matthew Warchus, “Matilda The Musical”

Best Choreography

• Andy Blankenbuehler, “Bring It On: The Musical”
• Peter Darling, “Matilda The Musical”
• Jerry Mitchell, “Kinky Boots”
• Chet Walker, “Pippin”

Best Orchestrations

• Chris Nightingale, “Matilda The Musical”
• Stephen Oremus, “Kinky Boots”
• Ethan Popp & Bryan Crook, “Motown The Musical”
• Danny Troob, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

Best Scenic Design of a Play

• John Lee Beatty, “The Nance”
• Santo Loquasto, “The Assembled Parties”
• David Rockwell, “Lucky Guy”
• Michael Yeargan, “Golden Boy”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

• Rob Howell, “Matilda The Musical”
• Anna Louizos, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood”
• Scott Pask, “Pippin”
• David Rockwell, “Kinky Boots”

Best Costume Design of a Play

• Gregg Barnes, “Kinky Boots”
• Rob Howell, “Matilda The Musical”
• Dominique Lemieux. “Pippin”
• William Ivey Long, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

Best Lighting Design of a Play

• Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, “Lucky Guy”
• Donald Holder, “Golden Boy”
• Jennifer Tipton, “The Testament of Mary”
• Japhy Weideman, “The Nance”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

• Kenneth Posner, “Kinky Boots”
• Kenneth Posner, “Pippin”
• Kenneth Posner, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”
• Hugh Vanstone, “Matilda The Musical”

Best Sound Design of a Play

• John Gromada, “The Trip to Bountiful”
• Mel Mercier, “The Testament of Mary”
• Leon Rothenberg, “The Nance”
• Peter John Still & Marc Salzberg, “Golden Boy”

Best Sound Design of a Musical

• Jonathan Deans & Garth Helm, “Pippin”
• Peter Hylenski, “Motown The Musical”
• John Shivers, “Kinky Boots”
• Nevin Steinberg, “Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella”

Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theater

• Bernard Gersten
• Paul Libin
• Ming Cho Lee

Regional Theater Award

• Huntington Theatre Company

Isabelle Stevenson Award

• Larry Kramer

Tony Honors for Excellence in Theater

• Career Transition For Dancers
• William Craver
• Peter Lawrence
• “The Lost Colony”
• Sophia Genussa, Oona Lawrence, Bailey Ryon and Milly Shapiro (the 4 actresses who created the title role of “Matilda The Musical” on Broadway)

– Rappler.com

Rappler will be liveblogging the 67th Tony Awards on June 10, 2013 at 8 a.m. For more information on the nominees, visit www.tonyawards.com.