Broadway’s big night brought the house down Sunday, and there were an abundance of hot races on the telecast.
The biggest? Best Actress in a Musical ladies Nicole Scherzinger in “Sunset Blvd.” vs. Audra McDonald in “Gypsy,” and the biggest diva showdown in recent memory ended up in victory for the former Pussycat Doll frontwoman, denying McDonald a seventh Tony for acting, which would have increased her own existing record.
Cynthia Erivo emceed, and started with a fun number poking fun at all the TV and film folks in Broadway shows this season, and also landed an especially fun joke about “Just in Time” star Jonathan Groff’s projectile spittle reputation.
Pulitzer Prize winner “Purpose” won Best Play, despite many predictors thinking Cole Escola’s “Oh, Mary!” might have had the buzzier edge. But Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ powerful family drama has been a stealth contender since it began life at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre last year.
Darren Criss can now add a Tony to his mantle for his endearing performance in “Maybe Happy Ending,” which also led the night as the show with the most wins, totaling six, including Best Musical.
The show began with a big category — Leading Actress in a Play — where “Succession” Emmy winner Sarah Snook expectedly took home the Tony for her breathless, multi-character triumph “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” making her the second winner from the HBO drama in recent years, as co-star Jeremy Strong won the Leading Actor category for “An Enemy of the People” just last year.
Escola made Tonys history by becoming the first-ever nonbinary winner for Best Actor in a Play for their riotous work as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!”
Beloved theater vet Francis Jue won his first Tony for Featured Actor in a Play for the David Henry Hwang revival “Yellow Face,” which recently aired on PBS. Scene stealer Jak Malone won featured actor in a musical for “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” and Natalie Venetia Belcon won her first Tony as featured actress in a musical for “Buena Vista Social Club.”
Kara Young won her second Tony in a row in the same category — Best Featured Actress in a Play — for her performance in “Purpose,” becoming the first Black actress to ever do so two years consecutively.
The high-tech revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Blvd.” bested “Gypsy” for Best Revival of a Musical. The timely school-set play “Eureka Day” won Best Revival of a Play (a relatively new work that has had many pre-Broadway runs). Director of a Play went to first-time winner Sam Pinkleton for “Oh, Mary!,” in the show’s first win of the evening. “Maybe Happy Ending” helmer Michael Arden won his second Tony in three years for Best Direction of a Musical.
Costume designer Paul Tazewell won for costuming “Death Becomes Her,” making him only the second person in history to win an Oscar (for “Wicked”) and a Tony in the same year for costume design, after “My Fair Lady” and “Gigi” designer Cecile Beaton did so in 1958. (Tazewell also has a previous Tony for dressing “Hamilton.”)
The 10th anniversary reunion of the original cast of “Hamilton” rejoined for a celebration of the international behemoth, and included all of the principals, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. (who returns to the show on Broadway this fall), Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry and a then little-known, eventual Oscar winner named Ariana DeBose (who hosted the last three Tony Awards).
The musicians of “Buena Vista Social Club” received a special Tony, as did the effects team of “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.” Harvey Fierstein earned the 2025 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, while Tony winning actor Celia Keenan-Bolger (“To Kill a Mockingbird”) was recognized with the 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award for her extensive advocacy work.
Below, the complete list of winners. Winners are indicated with *WINNER.
Best Musical
“Buena Vista Social Club”
“Dead Outlaw”
“Death Becomes Her”
“Maybe Happy Ending”*WINNER
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Best Play
“English”
“The Hills of California”
“John Proctor is the Villain”
“Oh, Mary!”
“Purpose”*WINNER
Best Revival of a Musical
“Floyd Collins”
“Gypsy”
“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
“Sunset Blvd.”*WINNER
Best Revival of a Play
“Eureka Day”*WINNER
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”
“Yellow Face”
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
“Dead Outlaw”
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
“Death Becomes Her”
Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
“Maybe Happy Ending”*WINNER
Music: Will Aronson
Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Music & Lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
“Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”
Music & Lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
George Clooney, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”*WINNER
Jon Michael Hill, “Purpose”
Daniel Dae Kim, “Yellow Face”
Harry Lennix, “Purpose”
Louis McCartney, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laura Donnelly, “The Hills of California”
Mia Farrow, “The Roommate”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, “Purpose”
Sadie Sink, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Sarah Snook, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”*WINNER
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Darren Criss, “Maybe Happy Ending”*WINNER
Andrew Durand, “Dead Outlaw”
Tom Francis, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jonathan Groff, “Just in Time”
James Monroe Iglehart, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical”
Jeremy Jordan, “Floyd Collins”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Megan Hilty, “Death Becomes Her”
Audra McDonald, “Gypsy”
Jasmine Amy Rogers, “BOOP! The Musical”
Nicole Scherzinger, “Sunset Blvd.”*WINNER
Jennifer Simard, “Death Becomes Her”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Glenn Davis, “Purpose”
Gabriel Ebert, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Francis Jue, “Yellow Face”*WINNER
Bob Odenkirk, “Glengarry Glen Ross”
Conrad Ricamora, “Oh, Mary!”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Tala Ashe, “English”
Jessica Hecht, “Eureka Day”
Marjan Neshat, “English”
Fina Strazza, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Kara Young, “Purpose”*WINNER
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, “Smash”
Jeb Brown, “Dead Outlaw”
Danny Burstein, “Gypsy”
Jak Malone, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”*WINNER
Taylor Trensch, “Floyd Collins”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Natalie Venetia Belcon, “Buena Vista Social Club”*WINNER
Julia Knitel, “Dead Outlaw”
Gracie Lawrence, “Just in Time”
Justina Machado, “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”
Joy Woods, “Gypsy”
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Marsha Ginsberg, “English”
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Marg Horwell and David Bergman, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Miriam Buether and 59 Studio, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”*WINNER
Scott Pask, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rachel Hauck, “Swept Away”
Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, “Maybe Happy Ending”*WINNER
Arnulfo Maldonado, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Derek McLane, “Death Becomes Her”
Derek McLane, “Just in Time”
Best Costume Design of a Play
Brenda Abbandandolo, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Marg Horwell, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”*WINNER
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Holly Pierson, “Oh, Mary!”
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Dede Ayite, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Gregg Barnes, “BOOP! The Musical”
Clint Ramos, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Paul Tazewell, “Death Becomes Her”*WINNER
Catherine Zuber, “Just in Time”
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Chivers, “The Hills of California”
Jon Clark, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”*WINNER
Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Nick Schlieper, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Jack Knowles, “Sunset Blvd.”*WINNER
Tyler Micoleau, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, “Floyd Collins”
Ben Stanton, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Justin Townsend, “Death Becomes Her”
Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”*WINNER
Palmer Hefferan, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Daniel Kluger, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Nick Powell, “The Hills of California”
Clemence Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Jonathan Deans, “Buena Vista Social Club”*WINNER
Adam Fisher, “Sunset Blvd.”
Peter Hylenski, “Just in Time”
Peter Hylenski, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Dan Moses Schreier, “Floyd Collins”
Best Direction of a Play
Knud Adams, “English”
Sam Mendes, “The Hills of California”
Sam Pinkleton, “Oh, Mary!”*WINNER
Danya Taymor, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Kip Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Best Direction of a Musical
Saheem Ali, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Michael Arden, “Maybe Happy Ending”*WINNER
David Cromer, “Dead Outlaw”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jamie Lloyd, “Sunset Blvd.”
Best Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, “Smash”
Camille A. Brown, “Gypsy”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jerry Mitchell, “BOOP! The Musical”
Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, “Buena Vista Social Club”*WINNER
Best Orchestrations
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, “Just in Time”
Will Aronson, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Bruce Coughlin, “Floyd Collins”
Marco Paguia, “Buena Vista Social Club”*WINNER
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Sunset Blvd.”
Best Book of a Musical
“Buena Vista Social Club,” Marco Ramirez
“Dead Outlaw,” Itamar Moses
“Death Becomes Her,” Marco Pennette
“Maybe Happy Ending,” Will Aronson and Hue Park*WINNER
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical,” David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
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