The 78th Annual Tony Awards Winners

© CBS

Following Broadway's most financially successful year ever, the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards were handed out on June 8 in a ceremony hosted by Cynthia Erivo from the iconic Radio City Music Hall. The ceremony was filled with amazing performances from the nominated musicals, but the highlight of the evening had to be the reunion of the original cast of Hamilton performing a 'live mix tape', as it was billed, of songs from the show which is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

The awards themselves weren't without drama with sure things, surprises, snubs and a sly dig at Patti LuPone from Oprah Winfrey when it came time to announce the Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical award ... which itself provided one of the biggest shocks of the night as the race basically came down to two of the nominees: Nicole Scherzinger (Sunset Blvd.) and Audra McDonald (Gypsy). Scherzinger was the early favorite when her show opened on Broadway, but McDonald seemed to have snatched the lead after Gypsy opened, completely overshadowing Scherzinger. Scherzinger's win will surely be debated for some time.

Another big upset, to some, came with the Lead Actor in a Play award as many expected George Clooney, in his Broadway debut, to take the award for his record breaking stage adaptation of his movie Good Night, and Good Luck. Instead, the award went to another debut performer, Cole Escola for their role as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! (the play also won for Direction). In fact, both Clooney's play and McDonald's musical went zero-for-five each, perhaps one of the night's biggest surprises. Not far behind was the failure of hit musical Death Becomes Her to take home any more than one of its ten nominations, with Maybe Happy Ending taking the big award of the night, Best Musical. Leading Actor in a Musical was also a showdown between Jonathan Groff, hoping for his second award, and Darrn Criss looking to work some magic with his first nomination. The magic worked and Criss won for his performance in Maybe Happy Ending as a loveable robot.

Best Play was also an upset as Oh, Mary! seemed to be on track to win after snagging the Director and Actor awards -- although it was odd for the Tonys to announce Best Play before Leading Actor in a Play -- but Purpose came out of nowhere to take the award, giving playwrite Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins an historic back-to-back win (he won last year for Best Revival of a Play for Appropriate), only the third playwrite to make this achievement, and the first time in 38 years that a Black playwrite has won the Best Play award. Purpose's Featured Actress in a Play, Kara Young, also made history winning her second award from four career nominations, the first Black actress to win in two consecutive years.

Best Revival of a Play went to Eureka Day, which was supposed to transfer to the Kennedy Center until the new regime decided to cancel it for 'financial reasons'. Seems having a Tony winner at your venue would more than make up for the cost. Of the awards presented on the streaming pre-show, Paul Tazewell, Oscar winner for his costume design for Wicked, picked up the Tony Award for Best Costume Design for a Musical for Death Becomes Her (the show's single win). Harvey Fierstein was also awards the Lifetime Achievement Award on the pre-broadcast ceremony that streamed in Pluto TV. The awards ceremony was the perfect cap to an amazing year that saw Broadway finally bounce back from the pandemic closures that devastated the industry. Let's hope they can keep the momentum rolling into next year's 79th awards ceremony.

© CBS

The 2025 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards:
Winners highlighted in bold and yellow.

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
• 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
• 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!
• 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

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

• Darren Criss - Maybe Happy Ending
• 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.
• 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
• 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

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
• Taylor Trensch - Floyd Collins

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

• Natalie Venetia Belcon - Buena Vista Social Club
• 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 - Stranger Things: The First Shadow
• 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
• 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
• 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
• Catherine Zuber - Just in Time

Best Lighting Design of a Play

• Natasha Chivers - The Hills of California
• Jon Clark - Stranger Things: The First Shadow
• 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.
• 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
• 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
• 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!
• 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
• 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

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
• David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber - Sunset Blvd.

Best Play

• English
• The Hills of California
• John Proctor Is the Villain
• Oh, Mary!
• Purpose

Best Musical

• Buena Vista Social Club
• Dead Outlaw
• Death Becomes Her
• Maybe Happy Ending
• Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical

Best Revival of a Play

• Eureka Day
• Romeo + Juliet
• Thornton Wilder's Our Town
• Yellow Face

Best Revival of a Musical

• Floyd Collins
• Gypsy
• Pirates! The Penzance Musical
• Sunset Blvd.