Tony Thoughts

Cynthia Erivo closes the Tonys.
Producers of Maybe Happy Ending in the
background.

This year's Tonys were a ratings high with a 38 percent increase in viewership from last year. That's a great sign. When I was working at Back Stage from the 1990s into the early 2010s, the ratings would drop every year. Cynthia Erivo did a great job as hostess, delivering a socko opening and closing specialty number. Including the pre-show on Pluto TV, the ceremony clocked in at just under four and a half hours, and they STILL didn't include the recipients of the Tony Honors (Great Performances, the New York Library for the Performing Arts, New 42 and Michael P. Price, executive director of Goodspeed Musicals) or two special Tonys (the band for Buena Vista Social Club and the special effects team for Stranger Things: The First Shadow). They could have at least mentioned them, it would only taken a few seconds. Also, apart from Edwin Robinson of Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, the winner of the Theater Educator Tony, they didn't mention the winners from the Pluto TV segment for those who couldn't find it on their Smart TVs.  

I did pretty well with my predictions, getting 19 out of 26 right. The biggest surprise was Nicole Scherzinger winning for Best Musical Actress over Audra McDonald for Gypsy. Though I voted for Scherzinger, I expected McDonald to win her record-breaking 7th Tony because she was served a side of shade by Patti LuPone in a New Yorker interview which set the Internet afire. (LuPone said McDonald was "not a friend" and remained silent when asked about her performance as Mama Rose. LuPone has since apologized profusely to McDonald and Kecia Lewis who accused LuPone of "microaggressions" when the former complained Lewis' show Hell's Kitchen was too loud.) Scherzinger is now next in line to play Rose in about ten years, maybe after Lady Gaga.

Some All That Chat posters were upset that Scherzinger won because she is allegedly a Trump supporter. This accusation surfaced when the former Pussycat Doll liked a picture of Russell Brand wearing a red hat resembling Trump's MAGA logo. Even if she did vote for Trump and supports him, that has nothing to do with her outstanding performance as Norma Desmond. Those who would deny her recognition because of her political beliefs are no better than Trumpers who would punish anti-Trumpers for their views.

The musical numbers were mostly entertaining but the sound was awful, garbling the lyrics. Death Becomes Her and Just in Time probably came off the best, while the numbers from Operation Mincemeat and Dead Outlaw didn't work well out of context. (I still don't understand why Just in Time and Real Women Have Curves were given numbers since neither was nominated for Best Musical.) The first casualty of the Tony aftermath has announced its imminent closing. Smash which only received one nomination for Brooks Ashmankas' featured performance (he won a Drama Desk in a three-way tie with Tony and OCC winner Jak Malone of Mincemeat and Michael Urie for Once Upon a Mattress), will close on June 22. 

2025 Tony Award Winners:

Best Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
WINNER Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical

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
WINNER Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
WINNER Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
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 Revival of a Musical

Floyd Collins, Tina Landau (book, additional lyrics) and Adam Guettel (music and lyrics)
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
WINNER Sunset Blvd.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
WINNER Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face
Harry Lennix, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Direction of a Musical
Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club
WINNER Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.

Best Direction of a Play

Knud Adams, English
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
WINNER Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain
Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Revival of a Play
WINNER Eureka Day, Jonathan Spector
Romeo + Juliet
Thornton Wilder's Our Town
Yellow Face, David Henry Hwang

Best Play
English
The Hills of California
John Proctor is the Villain
Oh, Mary!
WINNER Purpose

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
WINNER Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw
Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
Joy Woods, Gypsy

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
WINNER Kara Young, Purpose

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, SMASH
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
WINNER Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Glenn Davis, Purpose
Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain
WINNER Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross
Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!

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
WINNER Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Dead Outlaw, David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna
Death Becomes Her, Julia Mattison and Noel Carey
WINNER Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson (music and lyrics) and Hue Park (lyrics)
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts
Real Women Have Curves: The Musical, Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club
Gregg Barnes, BOOP! The Musical
Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending
WINNER Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her
Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

Best Costume Design of a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck
WINNER Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary!
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Rachel Hauck, Swept Away
WINNER Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending
Arnulfo Maldonado, Buena Vista Social Club
Derek McLane, Death Becomes Her
Derek McLane, Just in Time

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
WINNER Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Scott Pask, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
WINNER Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
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 Lighting Design of a Play
Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
WINNER Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
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 Choreography
Joshua Bergasse, SMASH
Camille A. Brown, Gypsy
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jerry Mitchell, BOOP! The Musical
WINNER Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club

Best Orchestrations
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins
WINNER Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sunset Blvd.

Best Sound Design of a Musical
WINNER Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club
Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.
Peter Hylenski, Just in Time
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins

Best Book of a Musical
Buena Vista Social Club, Marco Ramirez
Dead Outlaw, Itamar Moses
Death Becomes Her, Marco Pennette
WINNER Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts

Best Sound Design of a Play
WINNER Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
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

Special Tony Awards
The musicians who make up the band of Buena Vista Social Club—Marco Paguia (music director, conductor/piano); David Oquendo (associate music director, guitar); Renesito Avich (tres); Gustavo Schartz (bass); Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera (percussion); Jesus Ricardo (trumpet); Eddie Venegas (trombone); Hery Paz (woodwinds); Leonardo Reyna (piano)

The Illusions & Technical Effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow (Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce)

Lifetime Achievement

Harvey Fierstein

Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award
Celia Keenan-Bolger

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Great Performances
Michael Price
New 42
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

Regional Theater

MUNY, St. Louis

Theater Educator

Edwin Robinson, Boys and Girls High School, Brooklyn, NY