Every year theater critics and pundits offer no shortage of opinions about who should and who shouldn’t win the Tony Awards in the weeks leading up to the big show—followed by both celebrations and rueful groans over the actual results. Naturally, this year was no different, but a keen eye will spot some trends that might just point to what we should expect to see on stage in the coming seasons. You can see the entire list of winners here.
Despite a handful of upsets—often misdiagnosed as “snubs”—the winners are generally deserving. Those that get lucky and win because other strong candidates split the votes, are met with howls of disapproval. A quick look at social media last night reveals that the biggest objections are over the critically panned Sunset Boulevard beating out a far more deserving Gypsy for Best Revival of a Musical; and, an adjacent upset–Sunset’s Nicole Scherzinger beating out Audra McDonald for Best Lead Actress in a Musical–shocked fans. This was meant to be Audra’s night, but many of her votes may have gone to Jasmine Amy Rogers for her outstanding work in Boop! The Musical. In support of that theory, the two tied for the Drama Desk Award last week. Scherzinger’s win comes as a further surprise because she was perceived to be pro-MAGA, an alliance that doesn’t generally sit well with the socially progressive theater community.
Otherwise, last night’s big winners were more or less anticipated, with few other major surprises. And no single production ran away with a lopsided number of awards. Take that as you will, but some see it as a result of a fairly weak slate of offerings in the 2024-25 season. True, revenues were record breaking, as we were reminded countless times during last night’s telecast, but that’s what happens when ticket prices are jacked up beyond actual inflation rates. (In the case of the Denzel Washington vehicle, Othello, which received no nominations whatsoever, some seats went for as much as $900 at the box office!)
But the big winner last night was the meet-cute (with robots!) musical Maybe Happy Ending, which took home six trophies, including a Best Lead Actor award for Darren Criss, as well as Best New Musical, the one that counts most. Best New Play went to the very deserving Purpose (as predicted here), which also won the Pulitzer and the Drama Desk awards this year. The remarkable Kara Young, as Azzia, one of the play’s central figures, won Best Featured Actress in a Play, making her the first Black actor to win back-to-back Tonys, having secured her first last year for Purlie Victorious. And for her stunning solo performance as 26 different characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Australian Sarah Snook took home the Best Actress in a Play trophy.
The amusing, satirical Eureka Day took home the Best Revival of a Play, despite it having debuted on Broadway this year and thanks to some confusing rules about eligibility. Fortunately, it was in a particularly weak category, so its win wasn’t as big a surprise as it might have been. And another surprise was Cole Escola’s win for best Actor in a Play for his terrific turn in Oh, Mary!, which they also wrote. Despite the play being a campy farce best suited for a small theater, it proved hugely popular, making the unexpected move to Broadway last summer, where it still runs.
In what’s likely a shock to its many ardent young fans, Tony voters saw through the hype around John Proctor is the Villain and the play went home empty handed. So did Boop! The Musical. There will likely be grumblings about these “snubs,” but they made sense in the grand scheme of things. The remarkable Dead Outlaw also struck out, likely because it was just too unusual for traditional theater fans (and voters) who couldn’t wrap their heads around David Yazbek’s ahead-of-its-time work of genius.
All in all it was a good night for Broadway. Despite some technical issues (like malfunctioning microphones) at the beginning of the broadcast, the show was everything an awards show could and should be. The highlight was unquestionably a reunion of the original cast of Hamilton—in celebration of the show’s ten-year anniversary—who performed an exciting medley of the show’s big hits. Host Cynthia Erivo, who isn’t as charismatic as some prior hosts, did an admirable, professional job and even those who went home without a prize seemed to be relatively content. And that includes the preponderance of A-List celebrities (like George Clooney) who graced the boards this year yet received no Tonys.
As viewers were told over and over, “Broadway is Back!”. Considering the damage done to the industry during the pandemic, that’s a huge win. Now that audiences have returned, if producers can focus on fine tuning the artistry, we could be looking at another golden era of theater in the coming years. Stay tuned.
