After a fantastic opening number from host Cynthia Erivo, the 2025 Tony Awards were a fast-paced awards ceremony that featured some fan-favorite winners, a “Hamilton” reunion performance, and Hollywood cameos. Among the big winners was “Purpose,” which took Best Play. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama last month. Cole Escola won best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for “Oh, Mary!”, accepting in Bernadette Peters drag when she won a Tony in 1999.
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“Maybe Happy Ending” dominated the proceedings, taking Best Musical, Darren Criss won Best Actor in a Musical, and Michael Arden for Direction of a Musical. It also took Music & Lyrics, Best Book, and Scenic Design of a Musical.
Despite a lot of “talking” as Oprah Winfrey dished, Nicole Sherzinger won Best Actress in a Musical for “Sunset Blvd.” It also won Best Revival of a Musical. It also took Best Lighting Design for a Musical.
“Eurka Day” won Best Revival of a Play. Sam Pinkleton won Best Direction of a play for “Oh, Mary!”
Sarah Snook followed up her Olivier Award win with a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray.“ That production, which originated in Australia before transferring to the West End and then Broadway, also won Best Costume Design for a Musical.
Francis Jue won Best Featured Actor in a Play for “Yellow Face.” Jak Malone took Best Featured Actor in a Musical for “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical.” Kara Young won her second win in a row in the Featured Actress in a Play category for “Purpose.” Natalie Venetia Belcon took Featured Actress in a Musical for “Buena Vista Social Club.” The latter also took Best Choreography, Best Sound Design, and Best Orchestrations for a musical.
“Stranger Things: The First Shadow” took Best Scenic Design, Best Sound Design, and Best Lighting Design for a Play.
Paul Tazewell won his second Tony Award for Best Costume Design for a Musical for “Death Becomes Her.” He becomes the first person to win a Tony Award and an Academy Award in the same year. He won an Oscar in March for “Wicked.”
This year’s nominees and winners are as follows:
Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play

Sadie Sink, “John Proctor Is the Villain” 
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, “Purpose” 
Laura Donnelly, “The Hills of California” 
Sarah Snook, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” – ***WINNER***
Mia Farrow, “The Roommate” 

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play

Henry Lennix, “Purpose” 
Jon Michael Hill, “Purpose” 
George Clooney, “Good Night, and Good Luck” 
Louis McCartney, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Daniel Dae Kim, “Yellow Face” 
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!” – ***WINNER***

Best play

“Purpose” – ***WINNER***
“John Proctor Is the Villain” 
“English” 
“Oh, Mary!”
“The Hills of California” 

Best musical

“Maybe Happy Ending” – ***WINNER***
“Dead Outlaw”
“Death Becomes Her” 
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” 
“The Buena Vista Social Club” 

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical

Audra McDonald, “Gypsy” 
Nicole Scherzinger, “Sunset Boulevard” – ***WINNER***
Megan Hilty, “Death Becomes Her” 
Jennifer Simard, “Death Becomes Her” 
Jasmine Amy Rogers, “BOOP! The Musical” 

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical

Tom Francis, “Sunset Boulevard” 
James Monroe Iglehart, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical” 
Andrew Durand, “Dead Outlaw” 
Darren Criss, “Maybe Happy Ending” – ***WINNER***
Jeremy Jordan, “Floyd Collins” 
Jonathan Groff, “Just in Time” 

Best book of a musical

Marco Ramirez, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Itamar Moses, “Dead Outlaw”
Marco Pennette, “Death Becomes Her”
Will Aronson and Hue Park, “Maybe Happy Ending” – ***WINNER***
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”

Best original score written for the theatre

Music and lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, “Dead Outlaw”
Music and lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, “Death Becomes Her”
Music: Will Aronson, lyrics: Will Aronson and Hue Park, “Maybe Happy Ending” – ***WINNER***
Music and lyrics: David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoe Roberts, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Music and lyrics: Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”

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 Boulevard” – ***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 Boulevard”
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 Boulevard”

 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 Boulevard”  

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 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 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 musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, “Smash”
Jeb Brown, “Dead Outlaw”
Danny Burstein, “Gypsy”
Jak Malone, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” – ***WINNER***
Taylor Trensch, “Floyd Collins”  

Best revival of a play

“Eureka Day,” author: Jonathan Spector – ***WINNER***
“Romeo + Juliet”
Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town”
“Yellow Face,” author: David Henry Hwang

Best revival of a musical

“Floyd Collins”
“Gypsy”
“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
“Sunset Boulevard” – ***WINNER***

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