78th Tony Awards facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 78th Tony Awards |
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| Date | June 8, 2025 | |||
| Location | New York City, New York | |||
| Television coverage | ||||
| Network | CBS Paramount+ Pluto TV |
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The 78th Tony Awards were a big event held on June 8, 2025. These awards celebrate the best shows on Broadway from the 2024–25 season. The ceremony took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. It was shown on TV by CBS and could also be streamed online on Paramount+ and Pluto TV. The talented Cynthia Erivo was the host for the evening.
Three musicals, Death Becomes Her, Buena Vista Social Club, and Maybe Happy Ending, each received ten nominations, which was the most that year. Maybe Happy Ending was the biggest winner, taking home six Tony Awards. This included the award for Best Musical. The play Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins won Best Play.
Other top acting awards went to Nicole Scherzinger for Best Actress in a Musical, Cole Escola for Best Actor in a Play, and Sarah Snook for Best Actress in a Play.
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About the Ceremony
Before the main show, Pluto TV streamed a special broadcast called The Tony Awards: Act One. This part was hosted by Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry. Brian Stokes Mitchell was the announcer for the event.
Cynthia Erivo was praised for her hosting. Critics from places like NPR and the Associated Press said she was funny and friendly. Vulture especially liked her opening performance. They noted she focused on her amazing singing, which is her strong suit.
The show started with a short skit. It showed Cynthia Erivo getting ready and receiving advice from different people, including Oprah Winfrey, who told her to just be herself. When she got to the stage, Erivo sang "Sometimes All You Need Is a Song." This was a new song written by famous composers like Marc Shaiman and Benj Pasek. The song mentioned many of the shows nominated for awards. The Broadway Inspirational Voices choir joined her during the performance.
Later in the show, Cynthia Erivo and Sara Bareilles sang "Tomorrow" together. This was part of the "In Memoriam" section, which remembered people from the theater world who had passed away. The original cast of Hamilton also performed a medley of eight songs from their show. They did this to celebrate Hamilton's 10th anniversary. They wore all-black outfits instead of their usual costumes. The ceremony ended with a special version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," with new lyrics about the night's events.
How Shows Qualify
To be considered for a Tony Award, Broadway shows had to open between April 29, 2024, and April 27, 2025. They also needed to meet other rules set by the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League. There are 41 official Broadway theaters where a show must be performed to be eligible. The nominations for the 2025 Tony Awards were announced on May 1, 2025.
Nominated Shows
Here are some of the plays and musicals that were nominated:
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Winners and Nominees
The nominees for the 78th Tony Awards were announced on May 1, 2025, by Wendell Pierce and Sarah Paulson. The winners were revealed on June 8, 2025. No single show won all the awards, as they were spread out among many different productions. Some critics felt that important awards, like Best Book and Best Score, should have been part of the main TV show.
Purpose, a play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, won Best Play. Jacobs-Jenkins had also won an award for Best Revival of a Play at the previous Tony Awards. The musical Maybe Happy Ending won six awards, including Best Musical. Its director, Michael Arden, won Best Direction of a Musical. Darren Criss won Best Actor in a Musical for his role in Maybe Happy Ending, becoming the first Asian-American man to win this award.
The revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard won Best Revival of a Musical. Nicole Scherzinger won Leading Actress in a Musical for her role in Sunset Boulevard, making her the second Asian-American woman to win this award. Paul Tazewell won Best Costume Design in a Musical for his work on Death Becomes Her.
Some actors won Tony Awards for their very first time on Broadway. These included Sarah Snook, who won Best Actress in a Play for playing 26 different characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Another first-time winner was Jak Malone, who won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role in Operation Mincemeat.
Other winners included Cole Escola, who won Best Actor in a Play for their role as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!. Escola was the first non-binary actor to win in this category. Kara Young won Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Purpose. She became the first Black actor to win a Tony Award two years in a row. Francis Jue won Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play for his role in Yellow Face. He shared that 20 years earlier, another Asian actor gave him a tuxedo to wear to the Tonys. Jue was the second Asian-American man to win this award.
Some shows that were expected to win big did not. The revival of Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald (who has won more Tonys than any other performer), did not win any awards. Also, Death Becomes Her, which had ten nominations, only won one award for its costumes.
Award Categories
Here are the main award winners:
| Best Play ‡ | Best Musical ‡ |
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| Best Revival of a Play ‡ | Best Revival of a Musical ‡ |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play |
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| Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical | Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play |
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| Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical | Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical |
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| Best Direction of a Play | Best Direction of a Musical |
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| Best Book of a Musical | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre |
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| Best Scenic Design of a Play | Best Scenic Design of a Musical |
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| Best Costume Design of a Play | Best Costume Design of a Musical |
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| Best Lighting Design of a Play | Best Lighting Design of a Musical |
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| Best Sound Design of a Play | Best Sound Design of a Musical |
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| Best Choreography | Best Orchestrations |
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Source:
‡ This award is given to the producer(s) of the musical or play.
Special Awards
Some people and groups received special, non-competitive awards for their contributions to theater.
| Award | Recipient(s) |
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| Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre | Harvey Fierstein |
| Isabelle Stevenson Award | Celia Keenan-Bolger |
| Special Tony Award | The musicians of Buena Vista Social Club |
| The illusions and technical effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow | |
| Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre | Great Performances |
| New 42 | |
| New York Public Library for the Performing Arts | |
| Michael P. Price | |
| Regional Theatre Tony Award | The Muny |
| Excellence in Theatre Education Award | Gary Edwin Robinson from Boys and Girls High School |
Presenters and Performances
Many famous actors and performers helped present the awards and entertain the audience.
Presenters
| Names | Role |
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| Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter | Presented Best Actress in a Play |
| Michelle Williams | Introduced Death Becomes Her |
| Danielle Brooks and Katie Holmes | Presented Best Featured Actor in a Play |
| Julianne Hough | Introduced Buena Vista Social Club |
| Charli D'Amelio and Adam Lambert | Presented Best Featured Actor in a Musical |
| Cynthia Erivo (host) | Introduced Just in Time |
| Carrie Preston and Tom Felton | Presented Best Featured Actress in a Play |
| Glenn Close | Introduced Sunset Boulevard |
| Kristin Chenoweth and Rachel Bay Jones | Presented Best Featured Actress in a Musical |
| Kelli O'Hara | Introduced Pirates! The Penzance Musical |
| Ben Stiller | Introduced nominees and presented Best Play |
| Lea Salonga | Introduced Maybe Happy Ending |
| Jesse Eisenberg | Introduced Floyd Collins |
| Samuel L. Jackson and LaTanya Richardson Jackson | Presented Best Revival of a Play |
| Cynthia Erivo (host) | Introduced the original cast of Hamilton |
| Bryan Cranston and Allison Janney | Presented Best Director of a Play and Best Director of a Musical |
| Jean Smart and Sarah Paulson | Presented Best Actor in a Play |
| Renée Elise Goldsberry | Introduced Dead Outlaw |
| Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit | Presented Best Revival of a Musical |
| Cecily Strong | Introduced Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical |
| Auliʻi Cravalho | Introduced Real Women Have Curves |
| Ariana DeBose | Presented Best Actor in a Musical |
| Oprah Winfrey | Presented Best Actress in a Musical |
| Lin-Manuel Miranda | Presented Best Musical |
Performances The ceremony featured performances from 11 nominated musicals, plus four other special performances.
| Names | Song(s) |
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| Cynthia Erivo | "Sometimes All You Need Is a Song" |
| Megan Hilty from Death Becomes Her | "For the Gaze" |
| The ensemble of Buena Vista Social Club | "Candela" |
| Jonathan Groff from Just in Time | "Mack the Knife" / "That's All" / "Once in a Lifetime" |
| Nicole Scherzinger from Sunset Boulevard | "As If We Never Said Goodbye" |
| The ensemble of Pirates! The Penzance Musical | "The Sail the Ocean Blues" |
| Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen from Maybe Happy Ending | "Chasing Fireflies" / "Never Fly Away" |
| The ensemble of Floyd Collins | "The Ballad of Floyd Collins" / "The Call" |
| The original cast of Hamilton (including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, Christopher Jackson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Anthony Ramos, Jonathan Groff, and Ariana DeBose) | A medley including "Non-Stop", "My Shot", "The Schuyler Sisters", "Guns and Ships", "You'll Be Back", "Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)", "The Room Where It Happens", and "History Has Its Eyes on You" |
| Sara Bareilles and Cynthia Erivo (for the "In Memoriam" segment) | "Tomorrow" |
| The ensemble of Dead Outlaw | "Ballad" / "Dead" |
| Audra McDonald from Gypsy | "Rose's Turn" |
| The ensemble of Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical | "Born to Lead" |
| The ensemble of Real Women Have Curves | "Jugglin'" |
| Cynthia Erivo | "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" |
In Memoriam
During the "In Memoriam" part of the ceremony, host Cynthia Erivo and Sara Bareilles sang "Tomorrow" from the musical Annie. As they sang, names and pictures of theater artists who had passed away in the last year were shown. These included many important people from the world of Broadway.
See also
- 2025 Laurence Olivier Awards
- Drama Desk Awards
- Outer Critics Circle Awards
- New York Drama Critics' Circle
- Theatre World Award
- Lucille Lortel Awards
- Obie Award
- Drama League Award
- Chita Rivera Awards for Dance and Choreography
