Tony Awards offer many intriguing matchups in a star-studded season
A pair of singing androids. Two Pulitzer Prize-winning plays. A drunken Mary Todd Lincoln. A musical with a corpse as its hero. Romeo, Juliet and teddy bears with rave music. Not to mention George Clooney.
Broadway has had a stuffed season with seemingly something for everyone and now it's time to recognize the best with the Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo, set for Sunday night on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
Broadway buzz is usually reserved for musicals but this year the plays — powered by A-list talent — have driven the conversation. There's Clooney in 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in 'Othello,' Sarah Snook in a one-woman version of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and her 'Succession' co-star Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in 'Glengarry Glen Ross.' (Clooney, Snook and Odenkirk are nominated for Tonys.)
There were two Pulitzer winners — 2024 awardee 'English' and 'Purpose' from 2025 — but perhaps one of the season's biggest surprises was 'Oh, Mary!,' Cole Escola's irreverent, raunchy, gleefully deranged revisionist history centered on Mary Todd Lincoln. All three are nominated for best play, along with 'John Proctor is the Villain' and 'The Hills of California.'
On the musical side, three options seem to be in the mix for the top prize: 'Maybe Happy Ending,' a rom-com about a pair of androids; 'Dead Outlaw,' about an alcoholic drifter whose embalmed body becomes a prized possession for half a century; and 'Death Becomes Her,' the musical satire about longtime frenemies who drink a magic potion for eternal youth and beauty. 'Maybe Happy Ending,' 'Death Becomes Her' and another musical nominee, 'Buena Vista Social Club,' lead nominations with 10 apiece.
The 2024-2025 season took in $1.9 billion, making it the highest-grossing season ever and signaling that Broadway has finally emerged from the COVID-19 blues, having overtaken the previous high of $1.8 billion during the 2018-2019 season.
'We're going through this strange period, which I would think someday we can draw the line from COVID to this, as you can draw the line from the early 1980s with AIDS to the explosion of big musicals again,' says Harvey Fierstein, who will get a special Tony for lifetime achievement.
Audra McDonald, the most recognized performer in the theater awards' history, could possibly extend her Tony lead. Already the record holder for most acting wins with six Tonys, McDonald could add to that thanks to her leading turn in an acclaimed revival of 'Gypsy.' She has to get past Nicole Scherzinger, who has been wowing audiences in 'Sunset Blvd.'
And Kara Young — the first Black female actor to be nominated for a Tony Award in four consecutive years — could become the first Black person to win two Tonys consecutively, should she win for her role in the play 'Purpose.'
Other possible back-to-back winners include director Danya Taymor, hoping to follow up her 2024 win with 'The Outsiders' with another for 'John Proctor Is the Villain,' and 'Purpose' playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who won last year with 'Appropriate.'
Other possible firsts include Daniel Dae Kim, who could become the first Asian winner in the category of best leading actor in a play for his work in a revival of 'Yellow Face.' And Marjan Neshat and her 'English' co-star Tala Ashe could become the first female actors of Iranian descent to win a Tony.
Broadway this season saw a burst in alt-rock and the emergence of stories of young people for young people, including 'John Proctor is the Villain' and a 'Romeo + Juliet' pitched to Generation Z and millennials.
Sunday's telecast, as usual, will have a musical number for each of the shows vying for the best new musical crown, as well as some that didn't make the cut, like 'Just in Time,' a musical about Bobby Darin, and 'Real Women Have Curves.' This year, there's also room for 'Hamilton,' celebrating its 10th year on Broadway. But the musicals 'BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical' and 'SMASH' didn't get slots.
___
For more coverage of the 2025 Tony Awards, visit https://apnews.com/hub/tony-awards.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
16 minutes ago
- Reuters
Tony Awards cap a record-breaking post-pandemic Broadway season
NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - Broadway caps a record-breaking season when the New York theater community bestows its annual Tony Awards during a gala ceremony on Sunday night with an array of nominees that leans into originality, diversity and artistic invention. Buoyed by a post-pandemic rebound, the 2024-25 season grossed a record $1.89 billion in revenue and drew 14.7 million attendees, the Broadway League said. Best musical nominees like 'Dead Outlaw,' 'Maybe Happy Ending' and 'Operation Mincemeat' tell unique and untested stories. On the play side, 'Oh, Mary!' and 'Purpose' offer vastly different takes on belief, identity and power. The "Wicked" film star, Tony winner Cynthia Erivo, will host the 8 p.m. ET (midnight GMT) show from Radio City Music Hall. Alongside the creative highs are economic realities plaguing producers and audiences alike. Premium seats for some productions run upwards from $400, prompting concern that Broadway is increasingly out of reach for casual and younger theater lovers. Even with lotteries and rush ticket programs, demand-driven pricing has become the norm. 'Every show is its own little startup,' said Rashad Chambers, a Tony Award-winning producer whose recent credits include 'Music Man,' 'TopDog/Underdog,' and this season's Tony-nominated 'Purpose.' 'We have to create shows in a way that's affordable. Not just from the ticket-buying standpoint. The budgets are really ballooning out of control, and in my opinion, it's not always warranted,' Chambers told Reuters. Jason Laks, president of The Broadway League, said in a statement that rising costs have affected every facet of production, making it harder and harder to bring live theater to the stage. The Broadway League presents the awards along with the American Theatre Wing. This season showcased a wide range of voices and perspectives, with many shows being led by Asian American, Black, Middle Eastern and Hispanic actors and resulting in some historic nominations. Daniel Dae Kim, who starred in the revival of 'Yellow Face' this season, is the first Asian American to be nominated in the category of best leading actor in a play. 'To know that I'm the first is a little curious,' Dae Kim told Reuters, 'but above all it makes me happy and I'm really honored.' Dae Kim said representation on Broadway has been an evolution, not just for the Asian American community but many communities of color, pointing to such shows as 'Purpose,' which centers on a Black family struggling with identity and ambition. 'I look forward to the time where there's so much representation that it's no longer talked about because it's just understood and assumed,' he said. Chambers, the producer, said audiences, too, seemed to be more diverse. 'I feel like I'm seeing more people of color,' he said. 'I'm seeing diverse age ranges. I've seen men and women. We have a lot of plays that are appealing to men this season. And I think that that's really powerful. And so yes, I do think it's getting better.'
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rita Ora works the camera in hot pants and bralette before taking to the stage at World Pride in Washington DC
Rita Ora turned heads at the World Pride event in Washington DC on Friday. The 34-year-old singer showcased her jaw-dropping figure ahead of her performance at the festival in a sheer leopard-print bralette and matching panties. Rita completed her look with a black bra, striped hot pants, and accessorized with knee-high socks, silver trainers, and leather cut-out gloves. Roar: Rita looked sensational in a leopard-print bralette and matching panties as she worked the camera Rita captioned the post: 'PRIDE BABY! I LOVE YOU!' Taking to the stage Rita performed her biggest hits for the crowd after releasing her latest song Heat on Friday. Heat is expected to feature on her upcoming fourth album, which will be her first album release since her 2023 You & I.
The Guardian
33 minutes ago
- The Guardian
This is how we do it: ‘We live in a tiny flat with our kids, so we have sex in the woods at night'
I'd had orgasms with previous partners, but I'd never tried to give myself one – I felt too ashamed When I met David three years ago, my marriage was breaking down and I'd just had a baby. It was a very low moment. My husband was a shut-down, cold man. Part of what finally motivated me to leave was he seemed incapable of caring for me, or even really talking to me after our daughter was born. What first struck me about David was his warmth. He is a father and had also been through a difficult separation, so could understand what I was experiencing. David is very funny and free-spirited. What I love most about him is his spontaneity. His brain is wired in a completely different way to mine. I can be quite rigid, but he encourages me to loosen up. He makes me feel interesting, which I'd never felt in my marriage. I was unhappy in my body after having a child – but David really built my confidence up. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I didn't even really know much about my own anatomy before I met him. I'd had orgasms with previous partners, but I'd never tried to give myself one – I'd always felt too ashamed. In my previous relationships, after the initial excitement had worn off, I would stop being able to climax, but felt too shy to ever tell any of my partners. I convinced myself that sex didn't really matter in a relationship – and that I could do without it. When David found out I'd never used a sex toy, he gently encouraged me to buy a few. Now we have quite a collection, and use them together. We live with my young child and his two teenagers in a small flat, so sex can be tricky, logistically. But David has come up with some inventive solutions. We live in the countryside, so sometimes we drive the car down the lane to a wooded area and have sex on the back seats. Sometimes we even have sex on the ground in the actual wood. There's more space that way. David is so comfortable in his own skin and that makes sex fun and joyful. If you had told me three years ago I would feel this free, I would never have believed you. Anook had never used a vibrator before we met and now we have an enormous box of toys that we hide under our bed I remember the first time I saw Anook, in the car park at work. I was stopped dead in my tracks by the look on her face. She was beautiful, of course, but she looked so lost. I had just gone through a terrible divorce, so I recognised something of what I was feeling in her expression. We started talking and I invited her for a coffee. I immediately felt close to her. The sex has always been very loving between us, but when we first got together, Anook was really lacking in confidence. I think she felt sex was dirty or wrong. I would tell her how stunning she is and she wouldn't believe me. So I'd spend a lot of time reassuring her that sex isn't bad, it's fun and she should enjoy it. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion She's come out of her shell a lot. I'm a speaker in sex. I don't claim to be any kind of Adonis, but I can do a pretty good job with my words. So we set the mood that way, and then we also use sex toys. Anook had never used a vibrator before we met but now we have an enormous box of toys that we hide under our bed. Sometimes when we're hanging out with friends, and sex comes up in conversation, I see Anook's eyes completely light up and I think about how much she has changed. She used to be so shy that she'd look at the floor at any mention of the subject. She's helped my confidence a lot, too. I was broken when I met her, but now I'm loud and boisterous. She has built me up so much. We've actually transferred some of our toys to the back of my car, so we can drive out to the woods and have a bit of time away from the children now and then. We live in a tiny flat with our kids, and it's very difficult to find an opportunity to really let our hair down. Outside at night when there's no one around, we get to make a bit of noise.
