WATCH NOW! Zooming in on the Tony Nominees: Nell Benjamin

The Tony Awards are like Christmas in June for theatre lovers, and that makes this year's nominees the reason for the season. 2017-18 was a year or variety, as audiences cheered on Mean Girls, tall women, and fair ladies alike. Our travel destinations ranged from Bet Hatikva to Bikini Bottom; Arendelle to the Antilles. We've contemplated redemption with Billy, pondered pipe dreams with Hickey, and reexamined the past with Harry- all from the the comfort of a seat on the aisle.

This year's Tony nominees transported us with the magic of theatre, and we're saluting their work by taking a closer look at their extraordinary accomplishments. Today we're studying up on Nell Benjamin!

Quick Facts About Nell:

Her Nomination: Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Up Against: Angels in America (Music: Adrian Sutton), The Band's Visit(Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek), Frozen (Music & Lyrics: Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez), SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical (Music & Lyrics: Yolanda Adams, Steven Tyler & Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Sara Bareilles, Jonathan Coulton, Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, The Flaming Lips, Lady Antebellum,Cyndi Lauper & Rob Hyman, John Legend, Panic! at the Disco, Plain White T's, They Might Be Giants, T.I., Domani & Lil'C)

Did You Know?: Nell's last Broadway show was also based on a cult-classic film, Legally Blonde.

Photos by Walter McBride

Nell on her first Broadway show: "I remember The King and I. We were very young then and all of my friends were obsessed with the polka. I guess we were in kindergarten, maybe? And we all wanted to learn the polka and someone said she knew how and she took erasers - when we still had blackboards, that's how long ago this was - and dusted the chalk like footprints on a carpet in our school and we were all footprinting, like, to learn the polka because we all wanted that big, golden dress and polka with kings. Now my dreams are a little different, but at the time, the idea of polka-ing with the King in a big, golden dress seemed very aspirational."