Singing robots. Undead frenemies. A dead bank robber, and a dying cave explorer. A fumbling group of spies, and a bumbling group of pirates. Also: “Hamilton.”
Welcome to the 2025 Tony Awards, which take place on Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern at Radio City Music Hall, broadcast on CBS.
The show is Broadway’s biggest night, because it introduces the latest plays and musicals to a television audience of several million, any of whom might turn into a theater lover, a ticket buyer, or even an artist (so many Broadway performers and producers have stories about watching the Tony Awards as children).
Here’s what to expect:
The Host
This year’s ceremony is being hosted by Cynthia Erivo, a 38-year-old British actress who won a Tony Award in 2016 for her breakout performance starring in a revival of “The Color Purple.”
In the years since, she has focused on movies, television and music — she stars as Elphaba in the pair of “Wicked” films (the second one comes out Nov. 21), and she played Harriet Tubman in the film “Harriet” and Aretha Franklin in National Geographic’s “Genius: Aretha.”
After the Tony Awards, she’ll be returning to the stage. In August she’s playing Jesus in a one-weekend run of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and then early next year she’ll star in a one-woman version of “Dracula” in London’s West End.
Erivo is a powerhouse singer — she has just released her second studio album. She is also fashion forward, known for wearing ornately decorated long nails and bold couture. She is not known as a comedian, and she told CBS that her hosting “might steer away from the traditional.” What does that mean? “I want my part of the Tonys to feel like a Broadway show,” she said.
The Performances
Unlike the Oscars, which take place after many of the nominated films have finished their theatrical runs, the Tony Awards take place as many of the nominated musicals are still playing. So the broadcast is a huge opportunity for productions to introduce themselves to potential audiences — often the first time many viewers will get a sense of what the shows look and sound like.
All five shows nominated for best new musical will perform: “Buena Vista Social Club,” about a group of Cuban musicians; “Dead Outlaw,” about an obscure gangster who briefly became a famous corpse; “Death Becomes Her,” about two women who drink a potion that promises eternal youth; “Maybe Happy Ending,” about a relationship between two robots; and “Operation Mincemeat,” about a bizarre British counterintelligence operation.
The four shows nominated for best musical revival are also performing, including “Floyd Collins,” about a trapped cave explorer; “Gypsy,” about a stripper’s stage mother; “Pirates!” about a lovelorn buccaneer; and “Sunset Boulevard,” about a faded film star.
Much of the excitement is likely to focus on a 10th anniversary performance by the original cast of “Hamilton,” which remains one of Broadway’s top-grossing shows. There will also be performances by two other new musicals: “Just in Time,” about the singer Bobby Darin, and “Real Women Have Curves,” about a family business upended by an immigration crackdown.
Also: Sara Bareilles will perform during the In Memoriam segment, and watch for an appearance by the choir Broadway Inspirational Voices.
Prizes
The Tonys are, first and foremost, an awards ceremony at which the theater industry honors plays and musicals staged on Broadway.
The season being honored this weekend ran from April 26, 2024 to April 27, 2025. There were 42 Tony-eligible shows — 21 plays and 21 musicals — of which 29 picked up at least one nomination.
The most-nominated shows are the musicals “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Death Becomes Her” and “Maybe Happy Ending,” each with 10 nods. The prizes are likely to be quite spread out, but “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Sunset Boulevard” and the play “Oh, Mary!” seem certain to get some love from voters.
Many celebrities performed on Broadway this season, and the crowd at Radio City Music Hall should be starry. One star who seems certain to go home with a statuette: Sarah Snook, best known for HBO’s “Succession,” is likely to win a Tony Award for playing every character in a stage adaptation of “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
Presenters
There will be lots of household names introducing shows, presenting awards and celebrating honorees. Among them: Oprah Winfrey, Samuel L. Jackson, Keanu Reeves, Adam Lambert, Michelle Williams, Bryan Cranston, Ben Stiller, Lea Michele, Danielle Brooks and Sarah Paulson. Lin-Manuel Miranda is expected to present the award for best musical.
Running Time
The broadcast is scheduled to run three hours, ending at 11 p.m. Eastern. But there’s an asterisk — the broadcast ceremony will be preceded by a preshow event, beginning at 6:40 p.m. Eastern and streamed on Pluto TV, at which many of the awards for designers and other creative team members will be handed out. The New York Times will be covering the red carpet, the preshow and the broadcast with live online updates, starting at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
Michael Paulson is the theater reporter for The Times.
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