The 78th annual Tony Awards are going to paint the town—and all that jazz. Hosted by Cynthia Erivo at Radio City Music Hall, the ceremony is a celebration of the best Broadway musicals and plays of the past year. Nominated productions include Good Night and Good Luck, Our Town, Gypsy, and Sunset Blvd. And the original cast of Hamilton is reuniting for a special performance—true to King George’s anthem in the musical, “You’ll Be Back.”
Here’s what to know about the 2025 ceremony. And as Edward R. Murrow would probably say to the winners,“Good night, and good luck.”
What time do the Tony Awards start and how can I watch it?
CBS will broadcast the Tony Awards live on June 8 starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT, and the ceremony will run until 11pm ET/8pm PT. Broadway fans can also stream the ceremony on Paramount+ in the U.S. A pre-show hosted by first-time Tony Award nominee Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (Hamilton) will be available to stream for free on Pluto TV, from 6:30-8:00 PM, ET/3:30-5:00 PM PT.
Who is hosting the 2025 Tony Awards?
Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for a 2025 Oscar for best actress in a leading role in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical Wicked, will host the Tony Awards this year.
While TIME’s film critic wasn’t a fan of Wicked, she described Cynthia Erivo as a bright spot in a film that she otherwise found dull, writing: “She’s the one force in Wicked that didn’t make me feel ground down to a nub. As Elphaba, she channels something like real pain rather than just showtune self-pity. You feel for her in her greenness, in her persistent state of being an outsider, in her frustration at being underestimated and unloved. Erivo nearly rises above the material, and not just on a broomstick.”
Erivo is known for her 2016 Tony award-winning performance in The Color Purple. She also boasts an Emmy for performing a song from it on the TODAY Show and a Grammy for the production’s album.
She also earned an Oscar nomination for her starring role as abolitionist Harriet Tubman in Harriet (2019).
Who is performing at the 2025 Tony Awards?
Typically shows nominated for best musical take the stage, so expect performances from Buena Vista Social Club, Dead Outlaw, Death Becomes Her, Maybe Happy Ending, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical. There will also be performances from Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Sunset Blvd., Just In Time, and Real Women Have Curves.
But this year, the original cast members of Hamilton are not throwing away their shot to perform at Broadway’s biggest night. Participants include Hamilton creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda, plus Jonathan Groff, Daveed Diggs, Ariana DeBose, and Leslie Odom, Jr. Hamilton racked up a record 16 Tony Award nominations and 11 wins, including best musical, plus a Grammy Award, Olivier Award, and a Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Who is nominated for a Tony Award?
Maybe Happy Ending is hoping for a happy ending of his own, boasting 10 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical. Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her have also received 10 nominations.
Another show with several nominations is Oh Mary!, a dark comedy in which Cole Escola plays Abraham Lincoln’s wife Mary Todd Lincoln, a would-be cabaret star whose queer husband won’t let her pursue her dream. It has received five Tony Award nominations, including best play and a nomination for Escola for best actor in a play.
Gypsy and Sunset Blvd will go head to head in a couple of key categories. They are competing for the award for best revival of a musical. Sunset Blvd’s star Nicole Scherzinger and Gypsy’s Audra McDonald will vie for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical.
Jonathan Groff has made a (splish) splash with his role as Bobby Darin in Just in Time, earning a nomination for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical.
George Clooney is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play for his role as the legendary journalist Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck.
Sarah Snook (Succession) is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play for playing 26 characters in Oscar Wilde’s classic The Picture of Dorian Gray. Also nominated in that category is Mia Farrow (Rosemary’s Baby) for The Roommate, about middle-aged roommates reinventing themselves.
“Always be closing” is the famous line in the sendup of the sales industry Glengarry Glen Ross, and that’s exactly what the show hopes to do at the Tonys. Star Bob Odenkirk is nominated in the category of best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play.
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