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# 5 minutes with a Tony nominee: ‘The Balusters’’ David Lindsay-Abaire
- URL: https://www.broadwaynews.com/5-minutes-with-a-tony-nominee-the-balusters-david-lindsay-abaire/
- Published: 2026-06-01T17:58:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-01T17:58:15.000Z
- Description: The writer has earned his seventh Tony Award nomination.
- Author: Ruthie Fierberg
- Tags: Podcast, David Lindsay-Abaire, News, The Balusters, Manhattan Theatre Club, 2026 Tony Awards Spotlight, 5 minutes with a Tony nominee

Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire made his Broadway debut with “Rabbit Hole” in 2006\. The play was Tony Award-nominated for Best Play and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. Since then, Lindsay-Abaire has penned the books for Broadway musicals and continued to write straight plays for the Main Stem. He earned Tony nominations for his lyrics and book for “Shrek the Musical” and for his play “Good People.” In 2023, Lindsay-Abaire took home two Tony trophies for the musical version of “Kimberly Akimbo”: Best Original Score Written for the Theatre, winning for his lyrics alongside Jeanine Tesori’s music, and Best Book of a Musical. 

This year, Lindsay-Abaire is nominated for Best Play for the world-premiere production of “The Balusters.” Here, the playwright reveals his process for writing 10 characters with a variety of backgrounds and his strategy for finding the comedy in sensitive territory.

![audio-thumbnail](https://storage.ghost.io/c/79/db/79db42b7-f4e9-42b6-8d81-14cee7d2a3d1/content/media/2026/06/5min_David_Lindsay_Abaire---6-1-26--1.14---PM_thumb.png)

5 minutes with a Tony nominee: David Lindsay-Abaire

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“The Balusters” is [nominated](https://www.broadwaynews.com/2026-tony-award-nominations-the-complete-list/) for five Tony Awards.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/79/db/79db42b7-f4e9-42b6-8d81-14cee7d2a3d1/content/images/2026/06/Kayli-Carter--Carl-Clemons-Hopkins--Anika-Noni-Rose-and-Jeena-Yi-in-MTC_s-The-Balusters--a-new-play-by-David-Lindsay-Abaire--directed-by-Kenny-Leon---Jeremy-Daniel.jpg)

(L-R) Kayli Carter, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Anika Noni Rose and Jeena Yi in “The Balusters” on Broadway, 2026 (Credit: Jeremy Daniel)

The 2026 Tony Awards will take place on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall. [P!NK will host](https://www.broadwaynews.com/p-nk-will-host-the-79th-annual-tony-awards/) the ceremony, which will be broadcast live on CBS and livestreamed on Paramount+ Premium (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT). CBS and Pluto TV will present the Tony Awards: Act One, with additional details to follow.

See the full list of nominations [here](https://www.broadwaynews.com/2026-tony-award-nominations-the-complete-list/).

[How David Lindsay-Abaire renders the ‘committee play’ uncomfortably and refreshingly real in ‘The Balusters’With no easy labels, the playwright reinvents a familiar dramatic construct — turning HOA minutiae into a relevant, nuanced portrait of people behaving badly for the “right” reasons.![](https://static.ghost.org/v5.0.0/images/link-icon.svg)Broadway NewsRuthie Fierberg![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/79/db/79db42b7-f4e9-42b6-8d81-14cee7d2a3d1/content/images/thumbnail/Richard-Thomas-and-Anika-Noni-Rose-in-MTC_s-The-Balusters--a-new-play-by-David-Lindsay-Abaire--directed-by-Kenny-Leon---Jeremy-Daniel-072382a52f6187f4ee2c43ea911b5fb6b1a455f051eb2d3f4502ff822fecc5cd.jpg)](https://www.broadwaynews.com/tk-2/)