Tony Talk: Dissecting those shocking wins for ‘Purpose,' Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss, and more
Welcome to Tony Talk, a column in which Gold Derby contributors Sam Eckmann and David Buchanan offer Tony Awards analysis. Mere hours after the 2025 Tonys, we reconvene to dissect the shocking wins, highlight our favorite victors, and discuss the musical performances.
David Buchanan: After a truly sensational Broadway season, last night's Tony Awards didn't disappoint with some surprises, did it? If folks have been reading our weekly column, they probably did pretty well with their predictions and would've seen some of these upsets coming — I shockingly tied for first place worldwide! — but there were still some wins that were hard to call correctly in the moment but were predictable in hindsight. One of those categories was Best Play. We knew that this would be a squeaker between frontrunner Oh, Mary! and challengers Purpose and John Proctor Is the Villain, but very few Gold Derby users correctly called the win for the Pulitzer victor. Do you think the fact that voters recognized performer and playwright Cole Escola with a Best Actor win led them to go with the drama with more gravitas for the top prize?
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Sam Eckmann: Congratulations on your top score! There were so many insanely close races last night, so picking the correct choice in each coin toss was tough. Part of the victory for Purpose came down to the strength of the entire Best Play field. Voters were fans of all of these plays, so a full sweep for Oh, Mary! wasn't in the cards. The classic trope of wanting to reward a script that feels 'important' helped push Purpose over the edge in the top race. Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is also the 'it' writer of the moment in New York. Couple these points with the fact that Escola has a guaranteed win in Lead Actor, and it does make sense that a different production squeaked past Mary Todd Lincoln in the top race. Speaking of performers, I'm kicking myself for dropping Darren Criss at the last minute for Jonathan Groff in Lead Actor in a Musical. Clearly voters were head over heels for Maybe Happy Ending. Is it safe to say the overall enthusiasm for that musical is what tipped the scales for Criss?
SEE 'Every beat is meticulously crafted': An oral history of the Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning play 'Purpose'
Buchanan: I think so! In such an incredibly strong season for new musicals, it was not a guarantee that Maybe Happy Ending would sweep the pivotal categories of Director, Book, and Score on its way to its likely Best Musical victory. But once it started cleaning up during the ceremony, it would have been shocking if Criss — the sole acting nominee and thus the face of the show – ultimately lost. We both predicted Criss all season long, but The New York Times Tony voter survey led many folks astray by claiming Groff had the lead for playing Bobby Darin in Just in Time. He would have made for a great winner, as you can glimpse from the Tony performance last night just how high energy and charismatic he is throughout that show. But at the end of the day, Criss is also giving a strong performance in what is clearly a better-written musical. Do you think a similar dynamic tipped the scales for Nicole Scherzinger over Audra McDonald? I think most folks would say that Gypsy is one of if not the best musical of all time, but voters were clearly more taken by Jamie Lloyd's radical reinterpretation of Sunset Boulevard than George C. Wolfe's version of Gypsy.
Eckmann: I admit that I was definitely swayed for the first time (in the wrong direction) by the voter survey in The New York Times. It's normally the best barometer for the Tony Awards, so the fact that it wasn't totally accurate points to how fiercely close so many of these votes were. This was definitely the case in the McDonald-vs.-Scherzinger battle. I think that once again, the victory went to the performer in the production that was more popular with voters. McDonald was the only potential win for this revival of Gypsy, whereas Sunset Boulevard was strong enough to win Lighting Design and Musical Revival. Were there any other wins during the night that had you cheering? As a huge Purpose fan I'm sure you enjoyed Kara Young prevailing for the second year in a row.
SEE 2025 Tony Awards first-timers club: Half of this year's acting winners triumphed for their Broadway debuts
Buchanan: Yes, the two wins for Purpose were by far my favorites of the night! I predicted Young, but it was by no means a guarantee that she would win in that incredible field which included Jessica Hecht and Fina Strazza. But there is just no denying that Young is a generational talent and so supremely kind and charismatic to boot, so it is absolutely fitting and thrilling that she is one of the very few performers to win back-to-back at the Tonys and the first Black performer to do so, too. I will remember her performance as Aziza and her growing disillusionment over her night with the Jasper family for a very long time. I'm also delighted that Tony voters found a way to acknowledge Jacobs-Jenkins' brilliant, Pulitzer-winning play and Cole Escola in the same ceremony. While I'm sure Escola would have loved to win both prizes, I think the way they split the trophies — plus giving Oh, Mary! the directing prize for Sam Pinkleton — was very "appropriate," Jacobs-Jenkins pun intended. As a champion of the show since its off-Broadway days, were the two Oh, Mary! wins your favorites of the night? And what were some of the snubs or complete shut-outs that stung the most?
Eckmann: I was so thrilled for Pinkleton! Oh, Mary! simply would not work the way it does without his guiding hand. In our current political moment, it's truly powerful to see that this radically queer work of bizarre genius can be a financial smash on Broadway and win mainstream awards. I was similarly ecstatic for Francis Jue, who managed to win Featured Actor even though Yellow Face lost Play Revival. He was truly one of the breakout stars of the campaign trail, and this was a wonderful way to honor not only his moving performance, but also his incredible career in the theater. It's hard to be mad at any of these wins because the season was just so strong. But I will continue to say that Real Women Have Curves should have been a Best Musical nominee. I wish there were more places for it to be rewarded last night. Alas, its only real shot was for Justina Machado, but Natalie Venetia Belcon has long had Featured Actress in a Musical sewn up. At least Real Women managed to secure a performance on the telecast, and I hope folks are inspired to buy tickets. The show has a gigantic heart that deserves to be celebrated. Speaking of performances, I think I was most moved by the host Cynthia Erivo and Sara Bareilles duetting on 'Tomorrow' from Annie during the In Memoriam segment. The image of them holding each other as they looked back at the image of the late Gavin Creel had me at a puddle of tears, and reinforced the theme of community which seemed to dominate this telecast. In a world where we constantly analyze winners and losers of the industry's biggest award, it was a needed reminder that everyone in attendance is truly a winner just for the opportunity to be in that room.
SEE 2025 Tony Awards: 'Maybe Happy Ending' dominates with 6 wins, Nicole Scherzinger shocks with Best Actress win over Audra McDonald
Buchanan: Beautifully said, and I agree seeing Bareilles' reaction at the end of the In Memoriam was incredibly powerful! I also loved Harvey Fierstein's Lifetime Achievement Award speech on the Tony Awards: Act One telecast and his message that he feels like he accidentally fell into his exceptional career in the theater after finding his community while painting show posters as an adolescent. It is hard to have too many gripes about the winners this year, but I will confess that I am a bit heartbroken that three of my favorite productions from this sensational Broadway season — Dead Outlaw, Gypsy, and The Hills of California — all went home empty-handed. Victories for David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna in Best Score, Audra McDonald in Best Actress of a Musical, and Laura Donnelly for Best Actress in a Play, respectively, would've made this Tony Awards an all-timer for me, personally. I am glad that Dead Outlaw, Gypsy, and the also-snubbed Just in Time acquitted themselves exceptionally well in their performances; I couldn't be more pleased that McDonald's otherworldly "Rose's Turn" has been recorded on video in an accessible form for posterity, and I'm sure Sunset Boulevard fans feel exactly the same way about Scherzinger's moving "As If We Never Said Goodbye." While we're on the subject of Best Actress in a Musical again, you and I foreshadowed this year's exceptionally close contest exactly one year ago last June when we offered our extremely early 2025 Tony predictions; I can't wait to do that guesswork for the 2026 Tonys with you again any day now, so stay tuned, Broadway fans!
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