Tony Awards Triumph with Dazzling Champions of Broadway

The champions of The Great White Way conquered last night with a brilliant march down Broadway.

From theater legends to new voices of the stage, the 78th Tony Awards were full of captivating moments that touched the heart of a community brought together for a love of the arts.

Cynthia Erivo kicked off Broadway’s biggest night on Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Jamie Lloyd’s sensational “Sunset Boulevard” won best musical revival. The crowning achievement had the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber expressing his gratitude.

“It’s great when somebody comes to you with a new idea how to do it,” Andrew Lloyd Webber told the media about Lloyd’s revision of the hit show that took home the gold.”

“Maybe Happy Ending”  also collected six Tony Awards, including best new musical, while “Purpose” – Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama – won best play. “Eureka Day” won best play revival by Jonathan Spector.

Categories for performances included electrifying work in 2025 with Nicole Scherzinger won for best leading actress in a musical for “Sunset Boulevard”; Darren Criss for best leading actor in a musical for “Maybe Happy Ending,” Sarah Snook for best leading actress in a play for “The Picture of Dorian Gray;” and Cole Escola for best leading actor in a play for “Oh, Mary!”

(Courtesy Getty)

“Trust that voice, that says I think I’m right, actually. I think I’m right,” Escola reflected in the media room on his winning creative process and what others should do to have that faith in their creative process. “I actually think I do have something. I think I can do this. It might take twelve years to put the pen to paper, but that voice is right.”

(Courtesy Getty)

Sharing words of aspiration and faith in a community of artisans, Snook also took time to embrace the impact of the close-knit theater community, while speaking to the media room. It was especially good for her to be a part of this core group on the night.

“You end up seeing all the people who have been nominated against you or with you….and it’s really nice because you get to meet the person who’s creating art on the same night as you are – eight shows a week,” the “Succession” star said.  “There’s something really special about seeing, you know, five to seven of them standing there and going, like, that’s cool.”

Here is to the dazzling winners of the 78th Annual Tony Awards:

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

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

Best Revival of a Musical
“Floyd Collins”
“Gypsy”
“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
“Sunset Blvd.”*WINNER

Best Revival of a Play
“Eureka Day”*WINNER
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”
“Yellow Face”

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 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 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 Studio, “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 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 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.”

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

The American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.  At The Broadway League, Kristin Caskey is Chair, and Jason Laks is President.  At the American Theatre Wing, Emilio Sosa is Chair, and Heather A. Hitchens is President & CEO.

Sponsors for the American Theatre Wing’s Tony Awards include: City National Bank – the official bank of The Tony Awards; American Express – the official payments partner of The Tony Awards; Carnegie Mellon University – the first-ever, exclusive higher education partner; Baccarat – the official partner of the Tony Awards; Cunard – the official cruise partner of The Tony Awards; Dewar’s – the official scotch whisky of The Tony Awards; Rockefeller Center – the official home of the Tony Awards red carpet and events; Sofitel New York – the official hotel of The Tony Awards; Playbill; Rainbow Room – the official partner of the Tony Nominee Luncheon; TIRTIR – the official beauty partner of the Tony Awards; and Pure Leaf – the official iced tea of the Tony Awards.