George Clooney, Mia Farrow, Sarah Snook and Sadie Sink all picked up Tony nominations on Thursday as Broadway began its celebration of an unusually starry season.

But a bevy of big stars did not get nods from the nominators, including Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nick Jonas, Jim Parsons, Idina Menzel and Kit Connor.

Audra McDonald, a much-honored stage veteran now starring in a revival of “Gypsy,” and Nicole Scherzinger, a former Pussycat Doll making her Broadway debut in “Sunset Boulevard,” were among five women nominated for best leading actress in a musical, and they are considered the front-runners in that talent-rich category.

In a robust season with 14 new musicals, the Tony nominators set up a five-way race for the coveted best new musical prize. The contenders are “Buena Vista Social Club,” about a group of beloved Cuban musicians; “Dead Outlaw,” which tells the strange story of a train robber whose corpse became an attraction; “Death Becomes Her,” a stage adaptation of the film about two frenemies who take an immortality potion; “Maybe Happy Ending,” about a relationship between two robots; and “Operation Mincemeat,” about a bizarre World War II British intelligence operation.

Oddly enough, three of the best musical contenders center on dead people — “Dead Outlaw” and “Operation Mincemeat” are both about corpses, and “Death Becomes Her” is about two undead women.

The race for best play also features five contenders: “English,” a Pulitzer-winning drama about a group of Iranians struggling to learn a new language; “The Hills of California,” about singing British sisters reuniting as their mother dies; “John Proctor Is the Villain,” about Georgia high school students reading “The Crucible” and seeing parallels in their own lives; “Oh, Mary!” a hit comedy ahistorically spoofing Mary Todd Lincoln, and “Purpose,” a family drama about a politically active Black family in Chicago.