The 2025 Tony Awards ceremony—hosted by Cynthia Erivo—sparked plenty of surprises and cheers this year. Maybe Happy Ending claimed Best Musical, Purpose took the Best Play prize (caught many by surprise), Sunset Blvd. triumphed in Best Musical Revival, and Eureka Day snagged Best Play Revival.
At center stage, the acting awards shone just as brightly: Sarah Snook won Best Actress in a Play for The Picture of Dorian Gray, web sensation Cole Escola took Best Actor in a Play for Oh, Mary!, and on the musical side, Darren Criss scored Best Actor in a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending, while Nicole Scherzinger won Best Actress in a Musical for Sunset Blvd.
Maybe Happy Ending was the story of the night, sweeping up six trophies. It had entered the evening tied with Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her, each boasting 10 nominations. The former ended with four wins, and Death Becomes Her took home just the one award—Best Costume Design for Paul Tazewell, handed out during the Act One preshow.
Performances lit up the night, featuring numbers from Maybe Happy Ending, Dead Outlaw, Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Just in Time, and Real Women Have Curves. A special appearance from 2019 Tony honoree Broadway Inspirational Voices added a soaring gospel moment, a highlight that forestalled anything too predictable.
Star-studded presenters added glamour, with appearances by Lin‑Manuel Miranda, Oprah, Keanu Reeves, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Allison Janney, Jean Smart, Ben Stiller, Carrie Preston, Sara Bareilles, Sarah Paulson, Kelli O’Hara, Maggie Lee, Charli D’Amelio, and the shining Cynthia Erivo herself.
The evening kicked off with The Tony Awards: Act One, a preshow hosted by Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry on Pluto TV. Criss not only hosted but also won his first Tony for Maybe Happy Ending, and Goldsberry celebrated a heartfelt win for originating Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton—even performing with the original cast in honor of Hamilton’s 10th anniversary.
Legendary playwright Harvey Fierstein received a Lifetime Achievement Tony, and Celia Keenan-Bolger accepted the Isabelle Stevenson Tony for advocacy. The Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre spotlighted Great Performances, Michael Price, New 42, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Special Tonys also went to the musicians of Buena Vista Social Club and the illusions & technical team behind Stranger Things: The First Shadow.
Best Play
English
Author: Sanaz Toossi
The Hills of California
Author: Jez Butterworth
John Proctor Is the Villain
Author: Kimberly Belflower
Oh, Mary!
Author: Cole Escola
Purpose (WINNER)
Author: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Best Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending (WINNER)
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Best Revival of a Play
Eureka Day (WINNER)
Author: Jonathan Spector
Romeo + Juliet
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town
Yellow Face
Author: David Henry Hwang
Best Revival of a Musical
Floyd Collins
Book/Additional Lyrics: Tina Landau
Music & Lyrics: Adam Guettel
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Blvd. (WINNER)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Cole Escola, Oh, Mary! (WINNER)
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face
Harry Lennix, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor Is the Villain
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray (WINNER)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending (WINNER)
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Tom Francis, Sunset Blvd.
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd. (WINNER)
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
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 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 Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical (WINNER)
Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
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 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 Blvd.
Best Book of a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club, Marco Ramirez
Dead Outlaw, Itamar Moses
Death Becomes Her, Marco Pennette
Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park (WINNER)
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Dead Outlaw
Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
Death Becomes Her
Music & Lyrics: Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
Maybe Happy Ending (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 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 Blvd. (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 Blvd.
Peter Hylenski, Just in Time
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins
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 Blvd.
