It is almost time for theater’s biggest night of the year! The Tony Awards are set to air on Sunday, June 7.
So, I thought that it would be timely to give readers a refresher course on the nominees before the big night.
The Plays
The Balusters
Giant
Liberation
Little Bear Ridge Road
Becky Shaw
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Every Brilliant Thing
Fallen Angels
Oedipus
Punch
Bug
Marjorie Prime
Waiting for Godot
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Dog Day Afternoon
The Fear of 13
The Musicals
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Titanique
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
The Rocky Horror Show
Chess
The Plays
The Balusters
Synopsis: The Balusters focuses on the hilarity that ensues when a newcomer to town has the misguided notion of suggesting adding a stop sign to the city’s most picturesque neighborhood. Much to the disproval of the Vernon Point Neighborhood Association.
What is it up for: Best Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Richard Thomas), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Marylouise Burke), Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Direction of a Play
Giant
Synopsis: Giant is the story of an explosive afternoon in the life of beloved children’s author, Roald Dahl (John Lithgow), when he is confronted by his publishers about an antisemitic book review that he wrote concerning the siege of Beirut.
What is it up for: Best Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (John Lithgow), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Aya Cash), Best Direction of a Play
Liberation
Synopsis:Liberation focuses on the story of six women who gather in the basement of an Ohio community center in 1970 looking to shake up their lives and worlds and the questions of one of their daughters half a century later.
What is it up for: Best Play, Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role (Susannah Flood), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Betsy Aidem), Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Direction of a Play
Little Bear Ridge Road
Synopsis: Little Bear Ridge Road focuses on an estranged aunt and nephew who reunite in rural Idaho at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to settle the estate of the nephew’s recently deceased father, who was also the aunt’s brother.
What is it up for: Best Play
Becky Shaw
Synopsis: Becky Shaw is a dark comedy about a disastrous blind date that exposes the complex and often messy dynamics between a group of friends.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Alden Ehrenreich)
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Synopsis: Death of a Salesman is the story of Willy Loman (Nathan Lane), a traveling salesman grappling with failure and the disillusionment of The American Dream as he faces aging and the disappointment of his family.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Nathan Lane), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Christopher Abbott), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Laurie Metcalf), Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play, Best Direction of a Play
Every Brilliant Thing
Synopsis: Every Brilliant Thing is a one-actor solo play in which the narrator chronicles every brilliant thing in the world in order to help their chronically depressed mother.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Daniel Radcliffe)
Fallen Angels
Synopsis: Fallen Angels follows two bored, upper-class housewives whose husbands are gone for the day, eventually leading them to toast their pre-marital relationships—only to discover that they both slept with the same man, and he is currently on his way to visit.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role (Rose Byrne, Kelli O’Hara), Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Play
Oedipus
Synopsis: I really hope you’ve at least heard of this one—even if only through Disney’s Hercules. Oedipus is the Greek tragedy of the man who murdered his father and then subsequently married his mother.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Play, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Mark Strong), Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role (Lesley Manville), Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play, Best Direction of a Play
Punch
Synopsis: Punch is based on the true story of a young man whose single fatal punch changes his life and leads him to find redemption through a restorative justice program with his victim’s parents.
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Will Harrison)
Bug
Synopsis: Bug is a dark, psychological thriller about a lonely waitress, Agnes, in a seedy Oklahoma motel room who gets involved with a mysterious drifter, Peter, leading to a shared delusion about bugs and government conspiracies, culminating in a violent, explosive ending.
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actress in Leading Role (Carrie Coon), Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play
Synopsis: An elderly woman with memory loss is cared for by a holographic AI version of her husband, leading to conversations that reveal and alter their shared past.
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Danny Burstein), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (June Squibb)
Waiting for Godot
Synopsis: Waiting for Godot follows two friends, Vladimir and Estragon, who endlessly wait on a desolate country road for a man named Godot
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Brandon J. Dirden)
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Synopsis: From the brilliant mind of August Wilson (Fences), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone explores the African American experience in the early 20th century through the lense of the residents of a Pittsburgh boarding house—particularly, Herald Loomis.
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), Best Original Score, Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play
Dog Day Afternoon
Synopsis: Set in August 1972, Dog Day Afternoon focuses on desperate first-time criminal, Sonny and his accomplice Sal as they attempt to rob a Brooklyn bank.
What is it up for: Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Costume Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play
The Fear of 13
Synopsis: The Fear of 13 tells the true story of Nick Yarris, who petitioned the court seeking his own execution date after serving more than two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit.
What is it up for: Best Lighting Design of a Play, Best Sound Design of a Play
The Musicals
The Lost Boys
Synopsis: The Lost Boys is a musical adaptation of the 1987 film.
What is it up for: Best Musical, Best Actor in a Featured Role (Ali Louis Bourzgui), Best Actress in a Featured Role (Shoshana Bean), Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations
Schmigadoon!
Synopsis: Based on the short-lived Apple TV series of the same name, Schmigadoon! Follows Josh and Melissa, A modern New York City couple, who go on a backpacking retreat to save their relationship. They get lost and wind up in the magical town of Schmigadoon!.
What is it up for: Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Sara Chase), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Ana Gasteyer), Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations
Titanique
Synopsis: Titanique is a parody of the 1997 film Titanic featuring the songs of Celine Dion.
What is it up for: Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Marla Mindelle), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Layton Williams), Best Book of a Musical
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Synopsis: Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) is a two-person romantic comedy musical. It follows Dougal, an optimistic British movie-lover arriving in NYC for the first time, and Robin, a cynical local tasked with picking him up, as they navigate their parents’ impending wedding and their own unexpected connection
What is it up for: Best Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Sam Tutty), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Christiani Pitts), Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Orchestrations
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Synopsis: A reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats set in New York’s ballroom scene. Webber’s second successful immersive theater production alongside Masquerade.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Andre De Shields), Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, Best Orchestrations
Ragtime
Synopsis: Ragtime tells the story of three families in early 20th-century America—a Black pianist, a Jewish immigrant, and a wealthy white family—as they pursue the American Dream amidst a backdrop of social upheaval, weaving fictional narratives with historical figures like Harry Houdini and Emma Goldman.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Joshua Henry, Brandon Uranowitz), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Caissie Levy), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Ben Levi Ross), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Nichelle Lewis), Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography
The Rocky Horror Show
Synopsis:Richard O’ Brien’s The Rocky Horror Showis a revival of the cult classic rock musical that parodies B-movies, telling the story of newly engaged couple Brad (Andrew Durand), and Janet (Stephanie Hsu) who stumble upon the mansion of the transvestite scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Luke Evans), who unveils his new creation, Rocky Horror.
What is it up for: Best Revival of a Musical, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Luke Evans), Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (Stephanie Hsu), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Rachel Dratch), Best Scenic Design of a Musical, Best Costume Design of a Musical, Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Sound Design of a Musical, Best Choreography
Chess
Synopsis: Chess centers on a Cold War-era chess championship between an American and a Soviet grandmaster, complicated by a love triangle involving a Hungarian woman caught between them.
What is it up for: Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Nicholas Christopher), Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Bryce Pinkham), Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role (Hannah Cruz), Best Lighting Design of a Musical, Best Orchestrations
Proof garnered a whopping—ZERO nominations.
Even though all of her co-stars were nominated, Leah Michelle was left out of the nominations for Chess.
Beaches was completely shut out of the musical nominations leading to its eventual demise. Closing Sunday May 24. THREE MONTHS before it was originally set to close.
The Queen of Versailles garnered zero nominations after closing in December 2025.
While it was among the nominated, The Fear of 13 lacked nominations for best play as well as its two leads, Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson.
Who’s Hosting?
Pop star and three-time Grammy Award winner P!nk will host theater’s biggest night. Feeling inadequate in the grand scheme of things, P!nk immediately set out to add to her Broadway resume by joining the ensemble of The Great Gatsby for one night upon getting the news of her hosting gig.
Photo Courtesy of Unsplash
