The 2025 Tony Awards were nothing short of spectacular, celebrating the best of Broadway and hosted by no other than Wicked superstar Cynthia Erivo at the Radio Music Hall. Erivo, herself a Tony award winner for playing Celie in The Color Purple in 2016, is set to return to London’s West End next year in Dracula.
The 78th Tony Awards sparkled with a star-studded guest list, including Succession actress Sarah Snook and former Pussycat Doll singer Nicole Scherzinger, both winning a Tony for their debut Broadway performances.
Major Winners of the 2025 Tony Awards
- Best musical went to Maybe Happy Ending, one of the most nominated shows this year, taking home six Tonys.
- Best Play was awarded to Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who made history with three Tonys as a playwright back-to-back.
- Best Revival of a Musical went to Olivier Award winning show Sunset Boulevard, with Nicole Scherzinger winning Best Actress in a Musical.
Curious to know more about the winners of the Tony Awards and all the standout moments? Keep reading four our full breakdown of the night.
Maybe Happy Ending: top win of this year’s Tony awards
This 78th ceremony was a big hit for Maybe Happy Ending. One of the most nominated productions this year, it won a total of six awards including the coveted Best Musical and Best Original Score.
Darren Criss, best for his role as Blaine Anderson in Glee, won his first Tony walking away with two trophies: Best Actor in a Musical and Best Musical (as one of the show’s producers).
Other wins included Best Direction of a Musical for Michael Arden, Will Aronson and Hue Park took home Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical, and Dane Laffrey and George Reeve picked up the Tony for Best Scenic Design.
Buena Vista Social Club: A Grammy turned Broadway top hit
Buena Vista Social Club was another standout success, with over ten nominations and four Tony wins.
Natalie Venetia Belcon was awarded Best Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her unforgettable performance as Omara Portuondo. The show also scored Best Choreography for Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Best Orchestrations for Marco Paguia, and Best Sound Design of a Musical for Jonathan Deans.
Stars with both Olivier and Tony awards
Sarah Snook claimed Best Leading Actress in a Play, for her awe-inspiring reprisal performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray, portraying 26 characters in an impactful one-woman show.
Snook enters the coveted club of actors winning both an Olivier and a Tony, alongside Sunset Boulevard’s leading star Nicole Scherzinger, who took home this year’s Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. The show also won Best Lighting Design in a Musical for Jack Knowles, as well as Best Musical Revival. Originally winning Best Musical in 1995, Sunset Boulevard is currently making history on Broadway, running until 20 July.
Tony award performances you can see in London right now
The 2025 Tony Awards celebrated many British plays and musicals that first premiered on the West End before crossing the pond to delight Broadway audiences. This year’s nominees included:
- Operation Mincemeat, with Jak Malone winning Best Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical – a role for which he won the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.
- A fresh West End hit, The Great Gatsby, which opened in April at the London Coliseum and has been dazzling audiences ever since, won a Tony Best Costume Design in a Musical in 2024.
- In 2024, Stereophonic made history with 13 Tony nominations and won five awards, including Best Play. The show, following a band on the brink of stardom and set mostly in a recording studio, has now transferred to the West End and is running at the Duke of York’s Theatre until 11 October.
- Another Broadway transfer, The Producers, is returning to the West End on 30 August following a sold-out run earlier this year. This record-breaking Tony winner originally took home 12 awards in 2000.
- Long-running West End favourites include Hamilton (16 Tony nominations, 11 wins including Best Musical), The Book of Mormon (14 nominations, nine wins in 2011), and Moulin Rouge (14 nominations, ten wins in 2020).
What is the difference between The Tony's and The Oscar's?
While the Tonys are often called the Oscars of live theatre, they celebrate the best performances on Broadway each year and everything that makes a show shine on stage. From production and musical lyrics to lighting, set design, and much more.
The Tonys are named in honour of actress and director Antoinette “Tony” Perry, who helped found the American Theatre Wing, the organisation behind the awards. The ceremony started in 1947, originally recognising the best plays and musicals staged on Broadway.
Are Tony awards only for new musicals?
While the Tonys celebrate musical excellence it represents so much more than that. With over 26 categories, the awards recognise everything that happens behind the scenes making a Broadway show spectacular.
How many different Tony awards are there?
There are currently 26 categories rewarding everything from acting performances in musicals and plays to standout new productions and revivals. The Tonys also celebrate directors, composers, lyricists, set designers, lighting, and costume designers.
Best Play and Best Musical are two of the most coveted awards, given each year to brand-new productions making their Broadway debut. There’s a separate category for revivals previously staged on Broadway but brought back under new staging and cast.
Other top categories include Best Leading Actor and Actress, as well as Best Featured Actor and Actress (what the Oliviers call supporting roles). Musical scripts are honoured in Best Book of a Musical, while composers and lyricists are recognised with Best Original Score.
Which actor has won the most Tonys?
Harold Prince holds the record for the most Tony Awards ever won by one person, with an astonishing 21 Tonys. The Broadway producer and director has been behind some of theatre’s biggest hits, working alongside legends like Andrew Lloyd Webber and Stephen Sondheim. His most famous productions include West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, and Sweeney Todd.
How long do Tony awards last?
The 78th Tony Awards took place on 8 June and lasted three hours, airing live on CBA. The event included not only award presentations but live performances special celebrity appearances throughout the night.
Who is the oldest person to win a Tony?
Lois Smith holds the record for the oldest actress to win a Tony Award - at 90 - for Best Featured Actress in the play The Inheritance.
Poet, playwright, and Nobel laureate T.S. Eliot received a Tony posthumously in 1983. Had he been alive at that time, he would have been the oldest Tony winner at 94. At the 37th ceremony, Eliot won Best Book of a Musical for Cats, sharing the award with Andrew Lloyd Webber for Best Original Score thanks to the lyrics he wrote for the show.
Find out more about the best shows to see in London's West End theatre district, from long-running shows and audience favourites to new productions premiering in the West End, as well as nominees and winners of the 2025 Olivier Awards — the British equivalent of the Tony Awards.