Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Linda Emond Among Equity Award Winners

Justin Boone and Ruben Santiago-Hudson
in Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Just when you thought we were running out of theater awards, here comes another batch. The Actors' Equity Foundation Award winners have been announced. Presented by the stage actors' union, the accolades honor newcomers, veteran performers, and actors tackling classical roles. The 2026 Clarence Derwent Awards go to McKenzie Kurtz (Schmigadoon, Heathers) and Ali Louis Boutzgui (The Lost Boys). Established in 1945, the Derwent Awards are for the outstanding performances by those at the beginning of their careers.

The 2026 Richard Seff Awards will be presented to Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Joe Turner's Come and Gone) and Linda Emond (Becky Shaw). Established in 2004, the Seff Awards are for outstanding performers over 50 who have been in Equity for at least 25 years. 

The Joseph Calloway Award, established in 1989, for the best performances in a classic play goes to McKinley Belcher III (Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus) and Olivia Reis (Oedipus, Titus Andronicus).

The Judges Panel for the 2025-2026 seasonal performance awards included Joe Dziemianowicz, New York Theatre Guide; Adam Feldman, Time Out New York; Elysa Gardner, New York Sun, New York Stage Review; Kobi Kassal, Theatrely; and Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter, New York Stage Review. The awards will be presented on June 22 at the Green Fig in Manhattan in a ceremony hosted by Julie Halston.

Off-B'way/B'way Review: Animal Wisdom; The Emporium; Celebrity Autobiography

Kenita R. Miller in Animal Wisdom.
Credit: Ben Arons

The composer-theater artist Heather Christian has made a big splash with her previous work Oratorio for Living Things, garnering a shelfful of accolades including special New York Drama Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards. She is also a recipient of a MacArthur Genius grant. Though the music was lovely, I found the abstract choral piece vague and pretentious in its 2022 Ars Nova production. Her autobiographical Animal Wisdom now at Signature Theater after a run at Bushwick Star in 2017, is somewhat more satisfying, giving the audience more to hang onto. There are still long stretches of incomprehensible vocalizing, but there’s a stronger narrative arc here than in Oratorio. 

A note from the author-composer handed out before the Animal performance explains “It’s my life story, as clearly as I can tell it (which is not very clearly at all). It is a requiem within a requiem.” Audience members enter scenic designer Emmie Finckel’s fascinating environment—a combination of lush country garden and cosy antique store. Colorful flowers and plants alternate with shelves of knickknacks and curios, as well as a functioning soda dispenser and what appears to be an old-fashioned slot machine. The main performer “H” (incredibly talented Kenita R. Miller) explains the stories we are about to hear are from Heather, not her.

Then the piece begins. With the aide of a delightfully lively six-piece band, H unfolds her tale of growing up in Natchez, Mississippi where the invasive vegetation known as kudzu and catfish the size of buses proliferate. Spirits are also in abundance as H informs us two of her closest companions were the playful ghosts Victor and Johanna. Her late grandfather is now inhabiting her car and her grandmother is reincarnated as a red bird. The libretto doesn’t really fit into a neat, linear narrative. We get stories of H’s supernatural encounters and the eccentric characters who populate her childhood, but her attitudes towards them is fuzzy. Christian’s beautiful lyrical songs which Miller skillfully and movingly sings are sad and melodic, but the source of H’s sorrow and conflict is not clearly defined.

Schmigadoon! Dances Away With Chita Rivera Awards

The dance ensemble of Schmigadoon!
Credit: Matthew Murphy and
Evan Zimmerman

Schmigadoon! dances away with the most Chita Rivera Awards, honoring excellence in dance in NYC theater and film, presented May 18 at NYU Skirball (after having won Outstanding Musical and Choreography at the Drama Desks the night before). The musical parody of Golden Age tuners based on the Apple TV + series won for Christopher Gattelli's Choreography, Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Dancers. Max Clayton and Isabella McCalla of Schmigadoon! shared the award with Robert "Silk" Mason of Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Show-biz legend Ann-Margret (Bye Bye Birdie, Carnal Knowledge) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by Leslie Uggams) and the revue Gotta Dance! won the Douglas and Ethel Watt Critics Choice Award.

This year's awarding committee was chaired by Sylviane Gold, and also included Gary Chryst, Peter Filichia, Robert LaFosse, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, and Lee Roy Reams.

Broadway and film categories have a separate nominating committee that oversees the nominations. This year's Broadway nominating committee included Caitlin Carter, Gary Chryst, Don Correia, Sandy Duncan, Peter Filichia, Dr. Louis Galli, Sylviane Gold, Jonathan Herzog, Robert La Fosse, Joe Lanteri, Michael Milton, Mary Beth O'Connor, Wendy Perron, Stephanie Pope, Lee Roy Reams, Andy Sandberg, and Randy Skinner. The Film nominating committee, chaired by Jonathan C. Herzog, comprised Steven Caras, Wilhelmina Frankfurt, Mary Beth O’Connor, and Andy Sandberg.

List of winners:

Outstanding Choreography in a Broadway Show
WINNER - Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Lorin Latarro, Chess
Ellenore Scott, Ragtime
Ellenore Scott, Titaníque
Ani Taj, The Rocky Horror Show
Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Outstanding Dancer in a Broadway Show
Jonathan Burke, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Baby Byrne, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
WINNER - Max Clayton, Schmigadoon!
Zachary Downer, Schmigadoon!
Sydney James Harcourt, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Dava Huesca, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
WINNER - Robert “Silk” Mason, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
WINNER - Isabelle McCalla, Schmigadoon!
Sarah Meahl, Chess
Constantine Rousouli, Titaníque
Layton Williams, Titaníque
Lyrica Woodruff, Schmigadoon!

Outstanding Ensemble in a Broadway Show
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Chess
Ragtime
WINNER - Schmigadoon!
The Rocky Horror Show
Titaníque

70th Drama Desks Spread the Wealth

Nygel D. Robinson and Brian
Quijada of Mexodus, won 
for Outstanding Book and Music
at the Drama Desk Awards.

Two Broadway shows, The Balusters and Schmigadoon, won the top awards of Outstanding Play and Musical at the 70th annual Drama Desk Awards, presented on May 17 at Town Hall in a three-hour ceremony. The remainder of the 36 awards and seven special awards were distributed among 18 other productions both on and Off-Broadway. Unlike the Broadway-only Tonys, the DDs include on, Off and Off-Off-Broadway in each of its multiple categories. The revival of Ragtime took home the most awards with five including Outstanding Revival of a Musical, Director (Lear de Bessonet), two for Lead Musical Performance (Joshua Henry and Caissie Levy) and Featured Musical Performance (Ben Levi Ross). Death of a Salesman won four including Outstanding Revival of a Play, Director of a Play (Joe Mantello, winning his fourth DD), Lighting and Set Design for a Play. This places Balusters, Schmigadoon, Salesman and Ragtime in the frontrunner positions of the upcoming Tony Awards on June 7.

The show was hosted by Marla Mindelle, star and co-author of Titanique now on Broadway which received DD nominations for its Off-Broadway run. Mindelle joked that the awards were named for Andromeda Desk, an obscure actress, and performed a brief musical number with two dancers from Death Becomes Her. She also performed an introductory comedy monologue, quipping that We'll I Let You Go was what her agent said after a bad audition for In Transit.

Presenters included Beth Leavel, Bryce Pinkham, Constance Wu, Norbert Leo Butz, Christopher Fitzgerald, Donna McKechnie, BD Wong, Doug Wright, Bess Wohl, Jenn Colella, Ethan Slater, Javier Muñoz, Nikiya Mathis, Daniel Breaker, Helen J Shen, Whitney White, Alex Brightman, Ann Harada, Hunter Foster, Lea DeLaria, Zhailon Levingston, John Ortiz, Whitney Leavitt, Jasmine Cephas-Hones, Ali Louis Bourzgui, Liisi LaFontaine, Solea Pfeiffer, David Zayas, Liza Colon Zayas, Jon Cryer, Paul Tazewell, Rafael Espinal of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, Qween Jean, Mark Strong, and Zhailon Levingston. 

The presenter banter by Kevin Zak was brief and witty. Lea DeLaria did ad-lib brilliantly as John Lithgow, winner of Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play for Giant, made his way to the stage by improvising a song "Take your time, John Lithgow." Lithgow hugged co-presenter BD Wong and revealed he had lost a Drama Desk Award when he co-starred with Wong in M. Butterfly in 1988. Lithgow said he did some research and found out this was his fifth Drama Desk Award. He also revealed his co-winner in the category, Lesley Manville for Oedipus, also won with him last year when they both were victorious at the Olivier Awards when both shows were in London. They might repeat theirs wins at the Tonys. Four years ago, the DDs made all performance categories non-gendered, doubled the number of nominees, and changed the rules so the top two voter-getters both win. Sometimes, two men win, sometimes two women, sometimes one of each gender. In the case of ties, there have been three winners. The only tie this year was for choreography which was shared by Schmigadoon and Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

The most memorable acceptance gesture was provided by Christopher Lowell of the Marjorie Prime outstanding ensemble who set offer a series of confetti canons on his way to the stage.

Cynthia Nixon, Christopher Lowell,
and Danny Burstein
accept Outstanding Ensemble for
Marjorie Prime.

Entertainment was provided by Liz Callaway singing "The Story Goes On" from Baby by David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr, honorees for the William Wolf Award. The songwriting team whose About Time was named Outstanding Revue earlier in the evening, gave their acceptance speeches from the audience. There was also a medley of songs from Disney musicals performed by Rodney Ingram, Kissy Simmons, Sierra Boggess, Ainsley Melham, and Zachary Noah Piser in tribute to Thomas Schumacher, former president of Disney Theatrical Productions who was receiving the Harold S. Prince Award. 

A video presentation hosted by Drama Desk Historian Leslie Hoban Blake documented the history of the Drama Desks and featured interviews with six Drama Desk icons--Gretchen Cryer, Andre De Shields, Richard Maltby Jr., Austin Pendleton, Jennifer Tipton, and Maury Yeston. The icons then come on stage to receive bouquets of flowers and a standing ovation. There was also an announcement that the following year's ceremony with take place at the Shed.

This year’s awards were produced by Drama Desk Awards Productions, a venture of Scene Partners in partnership with the Season. Chaired by the Martha Wade Steketee (UrbanExcavations.com), the 2026 nominating committee which saw and considered 270 productions this season includes Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), Daniel Dinero (Theater Is Easy), Peter Filichia (Broadway Radio), Kenji Fujishima (freelance, Theatermania), Margaret Hall (Playbill.com) and Raven Snook (TDF).  Charles Wright and David Barbour are co-presidents. The Drama Desk considers Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway in each of its multiple categories. 

Here is a list of the 2025-26 Drama Desk nominees and winners:

Outstanding Play
Caroline, by Preston Max Allen
Cold War Choir Practice, by Ro Reddick
Meet the Cartozians, by Talene Monahon
Prince Faggot, by Jordan Tannahill
WINNER - The Balusters, by David Lindsay-Abaire
The Porch on Windy Hill, by Sherry Stregack Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse, and David M. Lutken
Well, I’ll Let You Go, by Bubba Weiler

Outstanding Musical
Beau the Musical
Mexodus
WINNER - Schmigadoon!
The Seat of Our Pants
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Off-B'way Review: Kenrex; Masquerade

Jack Holden in Kenrex.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

It’s hard to believe that Jack Holden is British since the solo star and co-writer of Kenrex, the one-man thriller at the Lortel Theater after an Olivier-winning run in London, so convincingly recreates an entire American Midwestern town in the midst of a crisis. Based on an actual case, this true-crime narrative focuses on the tiny municipality of Skidmore, Missouri where the title character bullied and dominated everyone around him until the law-abiding citizens could take no more. Kenneth Rex McElroy stole cattle, committed arson and rape, and even attempted murder, but got away with each of his numerous offenses thanks to a slick attorney. Feeling betrayed by the legal system, the Skidmoreans finally took the law into their own hands. Holden and co-author Ed Stambollouian, who also directs with imagination, tells this grim story through the eyes of a disillusioned prosecutor. It’s a chilling cautionary tale leaving this viewer severely shaken and unsure of what he would have done had he been there in Skidmore that day in 1981 when Kenrex met his fate.

Augmented by the symphonic, immersive sound design by Giles Thomas and John Patrick Elliott’s pulsating score combining rock and country idioms, the tale unfolds with hypnotic intensity, starting with the frantic 911 call by Kenrex’s hysterical teenage bride and then progressing through interviews with the prosecutor and the FBI to flashbacks of Kenrex’s decades-long reign of terror. 

Drama League Awards to Josh Henry, Mexodus, Liberation

Joshua Henry of Ragtime won
the Drama League Award for 
Outstanding Performance.

The 92nd Drama League Awards were presented on May 15 at the Ziegfeld Ballroom to Joshua Henry (Outstanding Performance) of Ragtime (which was named Outstanding Revival of a Musical), Mexodus (Outstanding Production of a Musical), and Liberation (Outstanding Production of a Play). Additional winners included Death of a Salesman (Revival of a Play) and its director Joe Mantello (Director of a Play). Lear de Besonnet was voted Outstanding Director of a Musical for Ragtime. Frank DiLella of NY-1 hosted the ceremony. Presenters included Bryan Cranston, Bebe Neuwirth, Nathan Lane, Brian Stokes Mitchell, John Lithgow, Christopher Ashley and Whitney White. Even though Liberation was presented Off-Broadway last season, Drama League rules permit for transfers from Off-Broadway to on to be considered in both years. Joshua Henry has already won the Outer Critics Circle Award and is nominated for the Drama Desk and Tony.

The previously announced Special Honorees were presented as follows: Tony Award-winning producer David Stone presented the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater award to the Olivier and Grammy-nominated actress Caissie Levy; Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning actor and playwright Tracy Letts presented the Founders Award for Excellence in Directing to Tony Award-winning director David Cromer; Tony Award winning actor and director Ruben Santiago-Hudson presented the Contribution to the Theater Award to Executive Producer of the Apollo Theater Kamilah Forbes; and Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Rockwell presented the Gratitude Award to Tony nominee and Olivier Award winner Scott Ellis.

A complete list of winners follows:

Book Review: Too Much Money

(Bought at the Center for Fiction bookstore in Brooklyn for $5): After having read the memoirs of Dominick Dunne and his son Griffin, I picked up this last novel of Dunne's on a cart of discounts in Brooklyn. It's like eating an entire box of chocolates. You know it's not good for you, but the treats are so sweet and yummy, you keep munching on them. At barely over 260 pages, the story flies by. Dunne's stand-in Gus Bailey, an intrepid high-society journalist faces twin crises--a slander lawsuit and the wraith of a wealthy widow who may or may not have engineered her husband's death in a fire. Meanwhile, a disgraced financier and his ambitious wife plot to regain a foothold in New York Page Six land after his release from prison. They made numerous philanthropic contributions (Now I know why the NY Public Library was renamed.) 

I suppose part of the fun of Dunne's books is guessing who his ultra-rich, entitled characters are based on. Brooke Astor, Klaus von Bulow, Barbara Walters, Larry King make appearances. I'm not familiar enough with the upper echelons of Gotham grandeur to recognize all of the dramatis personae, but it's great deal of juicy fun to follow their vicious doings. It appears Dunne worked on this final tell-all as he was dying and wanted to get some final licks in. 

I imagine this is what Truman Capote's Answered Prayers would have been like if he ever finished it. I needed a quick light read and this was it. There's too much repetition of events as if we're watching a soap opera and may have forgotten the events of yesterday's episode. But that's a minor quibble. Perhaps I'll try some of Dunne's earlier, longer works.

B'way Update: Paranormal Activity; Celebrity Autobiography; Etc.

Melissa James and Patrick Heusinger in
Paranormal Activity in London.
Credit: Johan Persson

As the 2025-26 theatrical season draws to a close, there's lots of news about the 2026-27 schedule. Two new off-beat productions have been announced, a Shakespeare revival from London finds a home and dates, an Off-Broadway revival with a rotating star-filled cast is coming, and Weird Al Yankovic is working on a show.

Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live on Broadway (in case you think it's a movie), a new play inspired by the popular film franchise, will begin previews at the August Wilson Theater on Aug. 14 prior to a Sept. 15 opening. Written by Levi Holloway (Grey House) and directed by Felix Barrett (Sleep No More), the production will come to Broadway directly from its run in Boston, following stands in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and San Francisco as well as an Oliver-nominated edition in London's West End.

The plot follows James and Lou who have relocated from Chicago to London in hopes of escaping their past, but they discover "place aren't haunted, people are."

Meanwhile, the first show of the 2026-27 season will open soon. Celebrity Autobiography, the revue featuring actors reading from the memoirs of famous people, will return to the New York stage for a summer run. The show which will feature a rotating cast starts previews at the Shubert Theater May 16, opens May 18 and runs througb Aug. 16. Autobiography played the Triad Theater Off-Broadway in 2008-09 and won a Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

The opening night cast includes Scott Adsit, Mario Cantone, Jeff Hiller, Jackie Hoffman, Gayle King, Andrea Martin, Bobby Moynihan, Ben Mankiewicz (of TCM), Kenan Thompson, Nia Vardalos, and Rita Wilson.

Speaking of rotating all-star casts, Eric Bentley's Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, about the 1950s House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings, will also have a limited summer run and feature a revolving company. Tony winner Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County) directs. The cast(s) have yet to be announced. Performances at New York City Center Stage I begin June 2. The play which features transcripts from the HUAC testimony of Jerome Robbins, Lillian Hellman, Arthur Miller, Sterling Hayden and many others played Off-Broadway in the 1970s. There was a brief Broadway run in 1979.

Book Review: The Little Friend

(Borrowed from the 40th St. NYPL)  I enjoyed Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch and The Secret History, so I thought I'd give this second novel of hers a try. It was certainly involving and absorbing and kept me interested for over 600 pages. The characters were portrayed with detail and compassion, even the slimy criminals. It reminded me of To Kill a Mocking Bird. Twelve-year-old Harriet spends a summer in the 1970s in her small Mississippi town searching for the killer of her brother who has found strung up on a tree ten years ago. The town of Alexandria comes alive in Tartt's fascinating descriptions. I loved Harriet's no-nonsense grandmother Edie and the put-upon yet determined black housekeeper Ida Rhew. Edie's many sisters and the downtrodden Ratcliffe clan also are vibrantly portrayed.

The exact time period was a little unclear. The many TV, movie and music references ring true, but they are not consistent. Ida and Harriet's sister Allison are obsessed with Dark Shadows, the supernatural TV soap opera, which ended in 1971 yet a child has a Star Wars figure which didn't come to theaters until 1977.  

Without revealing any spoilers, the ending left me confused and unsatisfied, but I relished the entire book. Tartt is a major talent.

Ragtime and Schmigadoon Tie for Most OCC Awards

Ragtime won 5 OCC Awards.
Credit: Matthew Murphy

Ragtime and Schmigadoon have tied for the most awards bestowed by the Outer Critics Circle, receiving five each. Ragtime was voted Outstanding Musical Revival and Schmigadoon won for Outstanding Broadway Musical. The OCC, founded during the 1949-50 Broadway season, is composed of about 85 writers on theater for national, out-of-town, and digital media, and divides between Broadway and Off-Broadway in some categories and combines them in others. The awards will be presented on May 21 at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. Mexodus was named Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical. David Lindsay-Abaire's The Balusters won for Outstanding Broadway Play and Talene Monahan's Meet the Cartozians was voted Outstanding Off-Broadway Play. The John Gassner Award for a new play preferably by a new playwright will be shared by Ro Reddick's Cold War Choir Practice and Bubba Weiller's Well, I'll Let You Go, since the two plays received an equal number of votes.

Read the full list of nominees and winners below:

Outstanding New Broadway Musical
The Lost Boys
WINNER - Schmigadoon!
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical
Beau the Musical
Goddess
WINNER - Mexodus
Oratorio for Living Things
Saturday Church

Outstanding New Broadway Play
WINNERS - The Balusters
Giant
Little Bear Ridge Road
Oedipus
Punch

Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play
Angry Alan
WINNER - Meet the Cartozians
The Monsters
Prince Faggot
The Reservoir

John Gassner Award (for a new American play preferably by a new playwright)
Call Me Izzy, Jamie Wax
Caroline, Preston Max Allen
WINNER - Cold War Choir Practice, Ro Reddick (tie)
Data, Matthew Libby
WINNER - Well, I'll Let You Go, Bubba Weiler (tie)

Off-B'way Review: Hamlet at BAM

Hiran Abeysekera in Hamlet.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Is Hamlet actually mad? That’s a question that has bedeviled scholars since the first performance of Shakespeare’s greatest play and is rarely addressed in modern productions. Most stagings I have seen (at least 20 on stage, film or TV that I can recall) assume that the Melancholy Dane’s antic disposition is a put-on job to distract from his investigation of his uncle Claudius murdering the king, Hamlet’s father. Robert Hastie’s elegant, somewhat flawed production imported from the National Theater to BAM’s Harvey stage, leaves the question of the hero’s sanity open and thus delivers an intriguing and challenging interpretation of one of the world’s most produced classics. 

Set in an opulent ballroom (Ben Stones designed the majestic sets and smart costumes, creatively lit by Jessica Hung Han Yun) and starring a youthful, frenetic lead (vibrant Hiran Abeysekera), this Hamlet takes a fresh, different approach to a familiar classic and finds new insights. 

Hiran Abeysekera and Matthew Cottle in
Hamlet. Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Take for example the closet scene wherein Hamlet murders the elderly advisor Polonius mistaking him for the treacherous Claudius. Without revealing any spoilers, Hastie’s staging is truly shocking and surprising, causing the audience to doubt Hamlet’s sanity…and perhaps their own. Hastie then has the Dane address empty air rather than the actor playing the ghost of his father (as per usual), further complicating our perceptions. Was the ghost an illusion the whole time, a figment of Hamlet’s fevered imagination? 

Theater World Awards

Elliot Levey, Rachael Stirling and
John Lithgow in Giant.

Theater awards just keep pouring in. The winners and location of the 80th Theater World Awards for outstanding Broadway and Off-Broadway debut performances have been announced. The awards will be presented on June 2 at the Longacre Theater, home of Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). Theater journalist Peter Filichia will host. Rachael Stirling of Giant will receive the 17th annual Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in Theater. 

2026 Theatre World Award Honorees
For Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance
during the 2025-2026 theatrical season

Ben Ahlers, Death of a Salesman
LJ Benet, The Lost Boys
Madeline Brewer, Becky Shaw
Adrien Brody, The Fear of 13
Ayo Edebiri, Proof
Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Luke Evans, The Rocky Horror Show
Will Harrison, Punch
River Lipe-Smith, Caroline
Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Robert "Silk" Mason, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

The Theatre World Award honorees are chosen by the Theatre World Awards Committee which is comprised of Linda Armstrong (Amsterdam News), David Cote (The Observer), Joe Dziemianowicz (New York Daily News, Emeritus), Peter Filichia (The Newark Star-Ledger, Emeritus), David Finkle (New York Stage Review), Elysa Gardner (USA Today, Emeritus), Cary Wong (Freelance), and Frank Scheck (The Hollywood Reporter).

Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! Lead Tony Noms; Liberation Wins Pulitzer

Schmigadoon! received 10 Tony noms.
Credit: Matthew Murphy and 
Evan Zimmerman.

The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! tied for the most Tony nominations with 12 each including Best Musical. The nominations were announced on May 5 by Uzo Aduba and Darren Criss on CBS Good Morning and then on the Tony Awards's YouTube channel from the Sofitel Hotel. The awards presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing will be presented on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall and broadcast by CBS. CBS and Pluto TV will present The Tony Awards: Act One, a pre-show of live, exclusive content leading into the 79th Annual Tony Awards. Additional details will be available at a future date.

The Tonys are strikingly different this year from the Drama Desks which include Off-Broadway in all their categories. The DDs gave two Off-Broadway musicals Mexodus and Beau: The Musicals the most noms with ten each. The Lost Boys received only five DD noms in design categories and Schmigadoon! got 4. The Outer Critics Circle, on the other hand, were more generous with Lost Boys, nominating the vampire musical for 11 awards, their highest amount.

Bess Wohl's Liberation won the Pulitzer
and is nominated for the Best Play Tony.
Credit: Joan Marcus

The other Tony nominees for Best Musical are Titanique and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York). The nominees for Best Play are The Balusters, Giant, Liberation and Little Bear Ridge Road. Liberation won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the day before and Little Bear Ridge Road was named Best Play of the season by the New York Drama Critics Circle last week. (Runners-up for the Pulitzer were Bowl EP and Meet the Cartozians.) Musical pickings were so slim this year two dramatic plays (Death of a Salesman and Joe Turner's Come and Gone) received nominations for Best Original Score.

There were a number of surprises and omissions. Art, Beaches, Proof, and The Queen of Versailles were totally ignored and The Fear of 13 only garnered two nods in the design categories. Prominent names who received no Tony love include Adrien Brody, Lea Michele, Ayo Edebrini, Jean Smart, Don Cheadle, and Keanu Reeves. Chess was left out of the Best Musical Revival category, though there are only three shows in that slot.

If Schmigadoon! wins Best Musical
we will get Schmicago on Broadway?

The big battle will probably be for the top Tony prize of Best Musical with The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! as the frontrunners. I liked both shows, but Schmigadoon! has a slight edge for me. I'm really hope this parody musical wins so that we can get Schmicago, the second season of the TV series on stage, and then Into the Schmoods, the unfilmed third season either on the air or on stage--or both.

In the acting categories, Joshua Henry of Ragtime is the only sure winner in my view with most of the other slots up for grabs. Best Actor in a Play will go to either Nathan Lane or John Lithgow, both previous winners (Lane three times and Lithgow twice). Lesley Manville should get Best Actress in a Play, even though her show Oedipus has closed and she's back in London. Best Actress in a Musical is a real toss-up with no clear front runner. My favorite is Sara Chase in Schmigadoon!

Legitimate theatrical productions opening in any of the 41 eligible Broadway theatres during the current season may be considered for Tony nominations. The 2025/2026 eligibility season began April 28, 2025 and ended April 26, 2026. The Tony Awards will be voted in 26 competitive categories by 857 designated Tony voters within the theatre community.

B'way Reviews: Joe Turner's Come and Gone; Proof; The Rocky Horror Show

The 2025-26 Broadway season closes out with a trio of strong revivals of diverse shows—Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Proof, and The Rocky Horror Show. Each offers a vastly different theatrical experience, pushing a dissimilar set of sensory buttons, but all share the thrill of connecting audiences to thoughtful examinations of timeless issues. Well, the last one is really about having a good dirty time.

Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson
in Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

Debbie Allen’s production of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone leans a little heavily on broad humor, but still imparts the author’s searing indictment of the traumatic effect of institutional racism on the African-American community. This is Wilson’s third play in his decade-by-decade examination of the black experience in America in the 20th century (premiering on Broadway in 1988 after Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences) and the second one chronologically. Set in a 1911 Pittsburgh boarding house, the play follows the residents’ struggles as they deal with the restrictions and devastation wrought by the white majority in the aftermath of slavery. With the exception of Seth and Bertha Holly, the owners of the house (top-billed Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson), they all lead a transitory existence, searching for a stable life. Cedric is firmly grounded in Seth’s no-nonsense approach of maintaining order in his house and expanding his metalwork business. At times, Henson relies too much on comic bits of business, but she clearly delineates Bertha’s motherly rule over her boarders. 

Joshua Boone and Ruben Santiago-Hudson
in Joe Turner's Come and Gone.
Credit: Julieta Cervantes

The mysterious Herald Loomis (blazingly intense Joshua Boone), accompanied by his little daughter Zonia (a professional Savannah Commodore at the performance attended), is searching for his wife. They were separated when Loomis was abducted by Joe Turner of the title, a white “man-catcher” who abducted African-American men into enforced labor under the guise of the law. Cocky young Jeremy Furrow (bubbly and fun Tripp Taylor) bounces from job to job and woman to woman while entering blues contests with his guitar. Mattie Campbell (sympathetic Nimene Sierra Wureh) desperately clings to Jeremy after losing a baby and then her man. But flirtatious Molly Cunningham (delightfully seductive Maya Boyd) entrances Jeremy away. Offering solace and curing charms is the sage folk healer Bynum Walker (majestic and subtly commanding Ruben Santiago-Hudson).

Mexodus Tops Lortel Winners

Nygel D. Robinson and Brian Quijada  in Mexodus. 
Credit: Curtis Brown

Mexodus, the two-character musical about African-American migration from the salve states to Mexico, won the most awards at the 2026 Lortel Awards, presented on May 3. The show currently played at the Daryl Roth Theater after an earlier engagement at the Minetta Lane, took four awards including Outstanding Musical, Director, Lead Performance in a Musical (Nygel D. Robinson who also co-wrote the chow with castmate Brian Quijada), and Sound Design. Jordan Tannahill's Prince Faggot was voted Outstanding Play. The Awards presented for excellence in Off- and Off-Off-Broadway theater were distributed in a ceremony at NYU Skirball hosted by Alex Moffat (“SNL,” “Bigfoot!”) and presenters Patrick Ball (“The Pitt,” “Becky Shaw”), Maya Boyd (“Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”) Susannah Flood (“Liberation”), Stephanie Hsu (“The Rocky Horror Show,”) Aasif Mandvi (“Fallen Angels,”), and Lea Michele (“Chess”). The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and Lucille Lortel Theatre, with additional support provided by TDF. 

Special honorees this year include Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Mia Katigbak, performer and founder of the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), whose honor was presented by Francis Jue; and legendary composer and lyricist William Finn, who was posthumously inducted onto the famed Playwrights’ Sidewalk with a tribute performance featuring frequent Finn collaborators Carolee Carmello, Lilli Cooper, Mary Testa, and Chip Zien, and presented by David Stone and James Lapine. In addition, the Off-Broadway League presented George Forbes with the first ever Paul Libin Leadership Award, a new annual honor recognizing a member of the Off-Broadway League who exemplifies extraordinary leadership, whether over the course of a distinguished career or through a singular moment of impact, mentorship, and service to the Off-Broadway community. The In Memoriam segment was accompanied by a performance of Bobby Darin’s “The Curtain Falls” by Isa Briones, currently appearing in “Just in Time” on Broadway.

Off-B'way Update: Public Theater 2026-27 Season

Jacob Ming-Trent in How Shakespare Saved
My Life.
Credit: Kevin Berne

The Public Theater has announced its schedule for the fall and winter of the 2026-27 season. The roster includes a wide variety of solos, new plays, musicals and adaptations of the classics. First up is How Shakespeare Saved My Life, Jacob Ming-Trent's one-man exploration of his lifelong connection with the Bard (opens Sept. 27). This is a production of Red Bull Theater in a co-production with Berkeley Rep and Folger Theater.

Ryan J. Haddad's autobiographical play Good Time Charlie follows (opening Oct. 9).  As a young man, Charlie dreamt of a life on the stage, but his parents thought dentistry sounded better, so he channeled his passion for culture into his nephew Ryan—a fellow theater-loving gay kid with Broadway ambitions. Haddad will star in his play with additional cast to be announced.

The West End production of
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Credit: Marc Brenner

Next up is the musical version of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald story about a man who ages backwards. This musical transplants the story from New Orleans (as depicted in the film version starring Brad Pitt) to a Cornish fishing village on the coast of Great Britain. (opens Oct. 21.) This North American premiere follows a hit run in London's West End.

Richard Nelson's Apple family returns to the Public with We'll See which takes place on the night of the midterm Congressional elections (opens Nov. 3). This is the latest in Nelson's Rhinebeck Panorama about three families in the upstate New York town dealing with local and national issues. Sally Murphy, Maryann Plunkett, Laila Robbins and Jay O. Sanders return to their roles as the Apple siblings. Additional casting to be announced.

Stephen Kunken, Sally Murphy, Maryann Plunkett,
Laila Robbins, Jon DeVries and Jay O. Sanders
as the Apple Family in Regular Singing (2013 at the Public)
Credit: Joan Marcus

B'way Update: Evita to Transfer

Rachel Zeigler and cast in Evita in London.
Credit: Marc Brenner

Rachel Zeigler (West Side Story film, Romeo and Juliet) will recreate her Olivier Award-winning performance in the title role of Evita on Broadway next spring at a Shubert theater to be announced, but without the controversial balcony rendition of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina." In Jamie Lloyd's London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's bio-musical featured Zeigler performing the show's most famous song on a balcony facing the street outside the theater while the audience saw it on a giant screen. Safety concerns were sited as the reason for the change. This minimalist version began life in 2019 in London's Regent Park and then transferred to the West End. 

"I was completely overwhelmed by the incredible response to Evita in London," says Lloyd in a statement. "It is an honor to work with Tim and Andrew, and I’m looking forward to revisiting the production with Rachel, whose stellar performance continues to inspire me. When we started discussing a New York production, it became apparent that our Palladium staging of ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ would not be possible. I am really excited to explore a new idea, made especially for Broadway." Lloyd's production of Much Ado About Nothing will also transfer to Broadway this upcoming season.

"Performing Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s brilliant show in London was a dream come true, but being able to partner once again with Jamie to bring Evita to Broadway is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," adds Zegler. "I can’t wait to perform for my home, New York City."

Evita, the story of the popular second wife of Argentina's president Juan Peron, was initially released as a concept album and then became a full production directed by Harold Prince in London in 1978, later transferring to Broadway and starring Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin. Madonna starred in the 1996 film version and there was a Broadway revival in 2012.