The three boys — David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish — who rotate in the demanding title role of the Broadway musical "Billy Elliot" will be competing as one if they are nominated at this year's Tony Awards. The two dozen theater professionals who sit on the administration committee of the Tony Awards made this decision Thursday when they met for the third of five times this season to determine eligibility and category placement for the rialto's highest honors. This is not the first time in Tony Awards history that more than one performer could potentially share a single nomination. However, it would be the first time in the race for best lead actor in a musical.

The first instance of spreading the wealth around is also the oddest. In 1960, Lauri Peters — playing Liesl in "The Sound of Music" — shared her supporting actress nod with the other six Von Trapp children, including the two boys! This singing septet lost to costar Patricia Neway, who played the Reverend Mother and trilled the show-stopping "Climb Every Mountain." (By the way, that role was played in the 1965 Oscar winning best picture by Peggy Wood, who lost her supporting actress bid to Shelley Winters for "A Patch of Blue.")

The other three times that a nom was shared were just between a pair of performers. In 1966, Donal Donnelly and Patrick Bedford — who played the private and public Gar in "Philadelphia Here I Come" — lost their joint best actor in a play bid to Hal Holbrook for his one-man show "Mark Twain Tonight." In 1975, John Kani and Winston Ntshona won best actor in a play for "Sizwe Banzi Is Dead" and "The Island," two one-acts in which they appeared together. And in 1998, Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley earned a best actress in a musical nod for playing real-life Siamese twins Daisy and Violet Hilton in "Side Show" but lost to Natasha Richardson for the revival of "Cabaret."

Beyond deciding who competes where and what is eligible, the administration committee members also select the 30 people who do the nominating. This theater season ends on April 30, and the nominating committee will meet on the weekend of May 2 to decide on the contenders. Nominations will be announced May 5, and the 63rd annual Tony Awards will take place June 7, with the three-hour live kudocast airing on CBS.

Visit the official Tony Awards website: for the full lists of administration committee members and nominating committee members .

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Photos: BillyElliotBroadway.com, American Theatre Wing