This Broadway season has been packed with a wide range of shows, from singing androids to Pulitzer Prize-winning plays, a boozy Mary Todd Lincoln, a musical starring a corpse, and even George Clooney. Now, the Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo and airing Sunday night on CBS and streaming on Paramount+, are set to honor the best of this diverse lineup.
While musicals often dominate Broadway talk, this season the plays, featuring top-tier talent, have taken center stage. Highlights include George Clooney in Good Night, and Good Luck, Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal in Othello, Sarah Snook’s one-woman show The Picture of Dorian Gray, and performances by her Succession co-star Kieran Culkin and Bob Odenkirk in Glengarry Glen Ross. Clooney, Snook, and Odenkirk all received Tony nominations.
Two Pulitzer-winning plays made waves this season: English (2024 winner) and Purpose (2025 winner). Another standout was the irreverent and wild Oh, Mary!, a revisionist take on Mary Todd Lincoln. These three plays are nominated for Best Play, alongside John Proctor is the Villain and The Hills of California.
On the musical side, the leading contenders for Best Musical are Maybe Happy Ending, a romantic comedy about two androids; Dead Outlaw, about an alcoholic drifter whose embalmed body becomes a prized artifact; and Death Becomes Her, a satirical musical about two longtime rivals who drink a potion for eternal youth. Maybe Happy Ending, Death Becomes Her, and Buena Vista Social Club lead the nominations with ten each.
The 2024-2025 Broadway season grossed $1.9 billion, setting a new record and signaling a strong comeback from the pandemic slump. This surpasses the previous peak of $1.8 billion from the 2018-2019 season. Harvey Fierstein, who will receive a special lifetime achievement Tony, noted how the industry is navigating a unique period of change, comparing it to the post-AIDS resurgence of big musicals in the 1980s.
Audra McDonald, the most awarded performer in Tony history with six wins, could extend her record with a lead role in the revival of Gypsy. She faces competition from Nicole Scherzinger, currently wowing audiences in Sunset Blvd. Kara Young, the first Black female actor to be nominated for four consecutive years, could become the first Black person to win back-to-back Tonys if she wins for Purpose.
Other potential repeat winners include director Danya Taymor, who could follow up her 2024 win for The Outsiders with another for John Proctor Is the Villain, and playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who won last year for Appropriate and is nominated again for Purpose.
Notable firsts could also happen this year: Daniel Dae Kim might become the first Asian actor to win Best Leading Actor in a Play for his role in Yellow Face. Marjan Neshat and Tala Ashe, co-stars in English, could be the first female actors of Iranian descent to win Tonys.
This season also saw a surge in alt-rock influences and stories aimed at younger audiences, including John Proctor is the Villain and a Romeo + Juliet adaptation targeting Generation Z and millennials.
During Sunday’s ceremony, viewers can expect musical performances from all the Best New Musical nominees, plus songs from shows like Just in Time (about Bobby Darin) and Real Women Have Curves. Hamilton will also be celebrated for its 10th year on Broadway, though musicals like BOOP! The Betty Boop Musical and SMASH didn’t make the performance lineup.
