SALT LAKE CITY -- There are some who follow musicals, Broadway and the Tony Awards religiously. But for the rest of us all we really know about the awards show is that it has something to do with plays and a couple of years ago it almost killed Poison frontman Bret Michaels. This year however, the awards have a bit more to offer to those of us who just thought Tony was the guy who lived down the street.

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Broadway debut "The Book of Mormon Musical" has the most nominations, 14. The nominations include Best Musical, Best Book, Best Score and Best Direction. The musical has obviously received harsh criticism and calls from some saying it is bigoted, but Ben Brantley with the New York Times had something different to say.

"Now you should probably know that this collaboration between the creators of television's 'South Park' (Trey Parker and Matt Stone) and the composer of 'Avenue Q' (Robert Lopez) is also blasphemous, scurrilous and more foul-mouthed than David Mamet on a blue streak," wrote Brantley in his review "Missionary Men With Confidence in Sunshine." He continued, "But trust me when I tell you that its heart is as pure as that of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show."

The Book of Mormon Musical isn't the only familiar thing associated with this year's Tony's. The web has been saturated with stories about the snubs of many Hollywood actors. The list includes: Daniel Radcliffe, Keifer Sutherland, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, James Earl Jones, Ben Stiller and others.

Related:

Book of Mormon musical popularity may not be all bad for LDS church

The controversial Book Of Mormon musical grabbed fourteen Tony Nominations, that's just one short of the all-time record, and the press for the LDS church may not be all bad.

Many are surprised by the snubs, especially for Radcliffe, but The Huffington Post gives a possibility as to why these A-list stars were left off the nomination ballot.

"Perhaps the Tony committee is responding to the backlash stemming from last year's acting awards for movie stars Scarlett Johanssen and Catherine Zeta-Jones, whose surprising Tony victories turned heads," wrote Lucas Kavner in his piece, "2011 Tony Nominations Announced, Hollywood Stars Snubbed."

Not all of Hollywood's heavy hitters were left out however. "Ocean's 13" co-stars Al Pacino and Ellen Barkin both received nominations for their respective roles in "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Normal Heart." Francis McDormand also received a nod for her work in "Good People."

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney had this to say about Pacino's portrayal as the Jewish moneylender Shylock, "Pacino gives as good as he gets. He refuses to soft-pedal the character's abrasiveness, adopting a weary self-righteousness as he defends his merciless decision to extract a pound of flesh from the merchant Antonio (Byron Jennings) for a forfeited debt."

Maybe you still have no interest in the Tony Awards this year. That's fair, but I have a feeling pretty much every single one of us will hop online June 13th, the day after the awards, to see if "The Book of Mormon Musical" converted Tony and if Pacino has found a friend for Oscar.

E-mail: jclyde@ksl.com

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