2025 Tony Awards: ‘Maybe Happy Ending' dominates with 6 wins, Nicole Scherzinger shocks with Best Actress win over Audra McDonald
Edge-of-seat drama. Stunning twists. Musical performances that brought down the house. The 2025 Tony Awards followed a script that any Broadway aficionado would appreciate.
While the crowd-pleasing Maybe Happy Ending dominated the night with six wins — including Best Musical, Best Musical Actor (Darren Criss), Best Musical Director, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, and Best Scenic Design for a Musical — there were some shocking moments.
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In one of the night's most highly anticipated matchups, Nicole Scherzinger took home the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Sunset Boulevard, edging out Broadway's most celebrated star, Audra McDonald. McDonald, earning her record-extending 11th nomination for her portrayal of Mama Rose in Gypsy, had been favored to win following her recent Drama Desk Award victory and surveys of Tony voters that showed her holding a narrow lead (likely due to the recent Patti LuPone controversy).
In the other major surprise of the night, Purpose triumphed over Oh, Mary! to win Best Play, even though its director, Phylicia Rashad, was notably absent from the list of nominees. The Best Director of a Play award went to Sam Pinkleton for Oh, Mary!, which also picked up a win for its star, Cole Escola, who won Best Actor in a Play for their hilarious portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln reimagined as a wannabe cabaret performer.
Best Actress in a Play went to Sarah Snook for her Broadway debut in The Picture of Dorian Gray. She played 26 different characters in the production directed by Kip Williams. The Picture of Dorian Gray also prevailed for Best Costume Design earlier in the day.
SEE 'Every beat is meticulously crafted': 6 'Purpose' Tony nominees offer an oral history of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama
Both Featured Actor winners were first-time nominees: Francis Jue, who won for his performance in the play Yellow Face, and Jak Malone, who took home the musical prize for Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical. The Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play went to Kara Young for Purpose. This marks her fourth consecutive year as a nominee; she previously won in the same category last year for Purlie Victorious. Best Featured Actress in a Musical went to Natalie Venetia Belcon for Buena Vista Social Club, making her a first-time nominee and winner.
Performances featuring many of this year's nominees also dazzled. Tony winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo, who hosted the event from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, set the stage with a jaw-dropping performance of "Sometimes All You Need Is a Song" to open the festivies.
The nominated productions sounded off, with Buena Vista Social Club, Dead Outlaw, Death Becomes Her, Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Maybe Happy Ending, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Sunset Boulevard, Just in Time, and Real Women Have Curves all providing standout musical moments. And 10 years after it dominated the Tonys, Hamilton brought back its original cast and stole the show with a quick-fire "mixtape" of its greatest hits.
The 78th Tonys aired live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+ with Showtime. Early winners were announced during the Tony Awards: Act One, hosted by Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry on Pluto TV.
Here's the full list of 2025 Tony Awards winners.
BEST MUSICAL Buena Vista Social Club Dead Outlaw Death Becomes Her [WINNER] — Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
BEST MUSICAL REVIVAL Floyd Collins Gypsy Pirates! The Penzance Musical [WINNER] — Sunset Boulevard
BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her Audra McDonald, Gypsy Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical [WINNER] — Nicole Scherzinger, Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL [WINNER] — Darren Criss, Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard Jonathan Groff, Just in Time James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL [WINNER] — 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 FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw Danny Burstein, Gypsy [WINNER] — Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club [WINNER] — Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending David Cromer, Dead Outlaw Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Boulevard
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Dead Outlaw, Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna Death Becomes Her, Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey [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 BOOK OF A MUSICAL Marco Ramirez, Buena Vista Social Club Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her [WINNER] — Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
BEST CHOREOGRAPHY Joshua Bergasse, Smash Camille A. Brown, Gypsy Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical [WINNER] — 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 [WINNER] — Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Boulevard
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A MUSICAL Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending [WINNER] — Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her Catherine Zuber, Just in Time BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL [WINNER] — Jack Knowles, Sunset Boulevard 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 SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL Rachel Hauck, Swept Away [WINNER] — 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 SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL [WINNER] — Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club Adam Fisher, Sunset Boulevard Peter Hylenski, Just in Time Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins
SEE 'Every beat is meticulously crafted': 6 'Purpose' Tony nominees offer an oral history of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama
BEST PLAY English The Hills of California John Proctor Is the Villain Oh, Mary! [WINNER]
BEST PLAY REVIVAL [WINNER] — Eureka Day Romeo + Juliet Thornton Wilder's Our Town Yellow Face
BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California Mia Farrow, The Roommate LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose Sadie Sink, John Proctor Is the Villain [WINNER] — Sarah Snook,
BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck [WINNER] — Cole Escola, Jon Michael Hill, Purpose Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face Harry Lennix, Purpose Louise McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY Tala Ashe, English Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day Marjan Neshat, English Fina Strazza, John Proctor Is the Villain [WINNER] — Kara Young,
BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY Glenn Davis, Purpose Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor Is the Villain [WINNER] — Francis Jue, Yellow Face Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY Knud Adams, English Sam Mendes, The Hills of California [WINNER] — Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary! Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck [WINNER] — 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 LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California [WINNER] — 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 SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY Marsha Ginsberg, English Rob Howell, The Hills of California Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray [WINNER] — Miriam Buether and 59 Studio, Stranger Things: The First Shadow Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck
BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY [WINNER] — 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
SPECIAL TONY AWARDS
The musicians who make up the band of Buena Vista Social Club
The illusions and technical effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow
SPECIAL TONY AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN THE THEATER: Harvey Fierstein
TONY HONORS FOR EXCELLENCE IN THEATER:
Great Performances, PBS
Michael Price
New 42
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
THE ISABELLE STEVENSON TONY AWARD (FOR PHILANTHROPY): Celia Keenan-Bolger
Best of GoldDerby
'Maybe Happy Ending' star Darren Criss on his Tony nomination for playing a robot: 'Getting to do this is the true win'
Who Needs a Tony to Reach EGOT?
Sadie Sink on her character's 'emotional rage' in 'John Proctor Is the Villain' and her reaction to 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow'
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