At the 78th Tony Awards on Sunday, “Maybe Happy Ending,” a love story involving two abandoned robots, was named best musical, while “Purpose,” a blisteringly funny look at a Civil Rights icon’s dysfunctional family, won best play. The prize for best musical revival went to a stripped-down reimagining of “Sunset Boulevard,” while “Eureka Day,” a comedy about vaccine mandates, nabbed best play revival.
In one of the most closely watched races, “Sunset Boulevard” star Nicole Scherzinger edged out “Gypsy‘s” Audra McDonald to be named best leading actress in a musical. Playing a Hollywood icon prematurely put out to pasture was a career-redefining role for the “Pussycats Doll” singer, who publicly admitted that she had experienced ageism in an entertainment business that didn’t always know what to do with her talent.
Sarah Snook was named best leading actress in a play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” a one-woman tour de force that finds her playing 26 different roles. Best leading actor in a play winner Cole Escola only played one role in “Oh, Mary!” — that of an alcoholic first lady and aspiring cabaret singer. But Escola did double duty by writing the show, in addition to starring in it.
Sam Pinkleton, who helped Escola turn “Oh, Mary!” from Off-Broadway hit into an unlikely Broadway smash, won the award for best director of a play.
“Maybe Happy Ending,” which struggled at the box office initially until word-of-mouth and rave reviews made it a commercial winner, picked up a leading six Tony Awards, including prizes for Darren Criss’ leading performance and for Michael Arden’s direction. It was followed closely by “Buena Vista Social Club,” which brought a legendary album of Cuban music to the stage. The show won four prizes, including the best featured actress in a musical award for Natalie Venetia Belcon.
There was plenty to celebrate for the theater business, which seems to have recaptured its stride after a long and painful post-pandemic recovery. Ticket sales for the season topped out at a record $1.89 billion.
“Broadway is officially back, provided we don’t run out of cast members from ‘Succession,’” Cynthia Erivo, who served as Tony host for the first time, joked. Snook’s “Succession” castmates Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong and Peter Friedman have all recently appeared on the Great White Way.
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It was a ceremony filled with milestones. With his win for “Purpose,” Brendan Jacobs-Jenkins became only the third playwright to win Tonys in consecutive years (he was awarded the best play revival prize in 2024 for “Appropriate”). With her award for best featured actress in a play, Kara Young (“Purpose) became the first Black performer to win a Tony two years in a row. And “Death Becomes Her” costume designer Paul Tazewell picked up a Tony months after he won an Oscar for “Wicked.” “The Black, queer, little boy, in Akron, Ohio, had no idea that in 2025, he would have the year that he had,” Tazewell said in his acceptance speech.
The theater community is a liberal one, and many winners used their time on stage to criticize the Trump administration.
“To those who don’t feel seen, to those who are being targeted in these authoritarian times, I see you,” said Francis Jue, winner of best featured actor in a play for “Yellow Face.” “At its best, this community sees you, and I hope that encourages you to be brave, to dream and to dream big.”
Jak Malone was named best featured actor in a musical for “Operation Mincemeat,” which sees him play a female member of the intelligence services staff named Hester. In his speech, Malone referenced the discrimination facing the trans community.
“If you watched our show and found yourself believing in Hester, well then I am so glad to tell you that intentionally or otherwise, you might have just bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated ideas, to that rotten old binary and opened yourself up to a world that is already out there in glorious technical and isn’t going away anytime soon.”
The Tonys also recognized the 10th anniversary of “Hamilton,” bringing back its creator Lin Manuel-Miranda and original cast members like Phillipa Soo, Leslie Odom Jr. and Renée Elise Goldsberry to perform a medley of the show’s greatest hits. As Erivo noted, when “Hamilton” opened, Barack Obama was president. It was a reminder of the tectonic shifts in American politics that have taken place over the ensuing decade.
“It changed not just Broadway, but how Americans view their own history,” Erivo said, while introducing the “Hamilton” reunion. “Or so I’m told.”
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
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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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, Music: Will Aronson; Lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park (WINNER)
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 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, 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.
From Variety US