‘Maybe Happy Ending’ and Nicole Scherzinger Lead the 2025 Tony Awards with Emotion, Diversity, and Big Wins
With six awards, Maybe Happy Ending reigned supreme at the 2025 Tonys, earning Best Musical and Best Direction for Michael Arden, who called empathy “our shared responsibility.” Darren Criss also won his first Tony for the lead role.
Nicole Scherzinger delivered an emotional victory in the highly watched Best Leading Actress category, taking the prize for her powerhouse performance in Sunset Boulevard. The revival also nabbed wins for lighting and best revival, continuing Scherzinger’s award-winning run from London to Broadway.
Cole Escola made history as the first non-binary performer to win the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play, recognized for their portrayal of an alcoholic Mary Todd Lincoln in the offbeat historical comedy Oh, Mary!, which they also wrote. Escola triumphed over George Clooney, whose Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck garnered five nominations but failed to secure any wins. Oh, Mary!’s director, Sam Pinkleton, also claimed victory in the Best Direction of a Play category, surpassing acclaimed filmmaker Sam Mendes.
The award for Best Play went to Purpose, a Pulitzer Prize-winning family drama by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whose previous work Appropriate won three Tonys last year.
Kara Young earned the award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Purpose, becoming the first Black actor to win the category two years in a row. This marks her fourth consecutive nomination. In her acceptance speech, Young described the theatre as “a sacred space that we have to honour and treasure,” especially in challenging times.
Sarah Snook added a Tony Award to her recent Olivier win for The Picture of Dorian Gray, earning Best Leading Actress in a Play for her Broadway debut in the same role. She triumphed over fellow nominees Mia Farrow and Sadie Sink. The production also won for Best Costume Design.
Buena Vista Social Club, the musical inspired by the iconic 1997 album and documentary, walked away with four awards. Eureka Day, a sharply relevant satire set in a school, was named Best Revival of a Play, while Stranger Things: The First Shadow earned three awards in technical categories.
Francis Jue became only the second Asian-American actor to win Best Featured Actor in a Play, honored for his performance in Yellow Face. In his acceptance speech, Jue offered a message of solidarity: “To those who don’t feel seen and those who are feeling targeted during these authoritarian times, I see you.”
Jak Malone of Operation Mincemeat followed his Olivier win with a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical. Malone, who plays a female character in the show, used his platform to advocate for trans rights, telling the audience that anyone who experienced the production had been welcomed into “a world of glorious Technicolor that isn’t going away anytime soon.”
The ceremony was hosted by Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo, who opened the night with a powerful musical performance featuring the Broadway Inspirational Voices and a surprise appearance by Oprah Winfrey.
“Broadway is officially back,” Erivo declared in her opening remarks, celebrating a record-breaking season that saw box office earnings reach $1.89 billion. Despite the season’s success, one of its most high-profile productions—Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal—was notably shut out, receiving no nominations.
Erivo later returned to the stage alongside Sara Bareilles for a moving rendition of Tomorrow from Annie during the in memoriam segment, honoring the lives and legacies of stage legends such as Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, and Gavin Creel.
The evening also featured a special reunion of the original Hamilton cast, who performed a “mix tape” medley to commemorate the blockbuster musical’s 10th anniversary.
Several productions left the ceremony without any wins, including Gypsy, John Proctor is the Villain, English, Just in Time, Smash, Dead Outlaw, and The Hills of California.
In contrast, last year’s Tony Awards were dominated by the 1970s-set play Stereophonic and the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along.
