Tony Awards 2025 recap: Darren Criss, Cole Escola, Sarah Snook and Nicole Scherzinger among first-time winners
That included Darren Criss, who won his first Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending, and Wicked star Cynthia Erivo, who dazzled as a first-time Tony Awards host.
Before her opening number, Erivo, who won a Tony Award in 2016 for her role in The Color Purple, received advice backstage from Oprah Winfrey, who told her, 'The only thing you need to do is be yourself.'
Onstage, Erivo poked fun at the nominees, including George Clooney, whom she described as 'an up-and-comer that I think you're going to be hearing a lot about.'
Clooney was nominated for a Tony Award in his Broadway debut for his portrayal of Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck but did not win.
Escola was the first openly nonbinary person to win Best Leading Actor in a Play for their portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh Mary!, beating out Clooney, among others, for the award.
Escola accepted the award in a silvery-blue gown inspired by Bernadette Peters's look at the 1999 ceremony.
Actor Kara Young made history as the first Black person to win two Tonys consecutively for 'Purpose,' which also won Best New Play.
'Theater is a sacred space that we have to honor and treasure,' Young said in her acceptance speech. 'And it makes us united.'
Snook, best known for her TV work on HBO's Succession, won the Tony Award for Leading Actress in a Play for The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which she plays all 26 roles.
'I don't feel alone any night that I do this show,' Snook said in her acceptance speech. 'There are so many people onstage making it work and behind the stage making it work.'
Snook is the latest Succession actor to star on Broadway, with Jeremy Strong (An Enemy of the People), Kieran Culkin (Glengarry Glen Ross), Juliana Canfield (Stereophonic) and Molly Griggs (John Proctor Is the Villain) taking stage turns.
Snook said they all participate in 'a special group chat.'
'It's a really special group of people,' she said. 'We're all theater nerds deep down.'
Scherzinger won Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her Broadway debut role in Sunset Blvd., beating out Broadway legend Audra McDonald, who shares the record for most Tony Awards ever for a performer, six.
In her acceptance speech, the former Pussycat Dolls singer said Broadway's welcome has made her feel at home.
'Growing up, I always felt like I didn't belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong and I have come home at last,' Scherzinger said. 'So if there's anyone out there who feels like they don't belong or your time hasn't come, don't give up. Just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever.'
The original cast of Hamilton also reunited onstage to mark the show's 10-year anniversary.
The cast, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr. and Daveed Diggs, wore all black while performing a 'mixtape' medley of some of the musical's greatest hits, including 'My Shot,' 'You'll Be Back,' 'The Room Where It Happens' and 'History Has Its Eyes On You.'
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