George Clooney, Mia Farrow, Sarah Snook and Sadie Sink all picked up Tony nominations on Thursday as Broadway began its celebration of an unusually starry season.
Among the other boldface names nominated: Darren Criss, Daniel Dae Kim and Bob Odenkirk. But a bevy of big stars did not get nods from the nominators, including Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Nick Jonas, David Hyde Pierce and Idina Menzel.
Audra McDonald, a much-honored stage veteran now starring in a revival of “Gypsy,” and Nicole Scherzinger, a former Pussycat Doll making her Broadway debut in “Sunset Boulevard,” were among five women nominated for best leading actress in a musical, and they are considered the front-runners in that talent-rich category. This is the 11th nomination for McDonald, making her the most-nominated performer ever; she has already won six times, making her the performer who has won the most competitive Tonys.
In a robust season with 14 new musicals, three tied for the most nominations, with 10 each: “Buena Vista Social Club,” about a group of beloved Cuban musicians; “Death Becomes Her,” a stage adaptation of the film about two frenemies who take an immortality potion; and “Maybe Happy Ending,” about a relationship between two robots. Those shows will vie with “Dead Outlaw,” which tells the strange story of a train robber whose corpse became an attraction and “Operation Mincemeat,” about a bizarre World War II British intelligence operation, in the best musical category.
Three new musicals tied for the most nominations, with 10 each: “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Death Becomes Her.”
Four new takes on classic shows were nominated for best musical revival, including not only “Gypsy” and “Sunset Boulevard” but also “Floyd Collins” and “Pirates! The Penzance Musical.” The four nominees for best play revival are “Eureka Day,” “Romeo + Juliet,” “Our Town” and “Yellow Face.”
Oddly enough, three of the best musical contenders center on dead people — “Dead Outlaw” and “Operation Mincemeat” are both about corpses, and “Death Becomes Her” is about two undead women.
The race for best play also features five contenders: “English,” a Pulitzer-winning drama about a group of Iranians struggling to learn a new language; “The Hills of California,” about singing British sisters reuniting as their mother dies; “John Proctor Is the Villain,” about Georgia high school students reading “The Crucible” and seeing parallels in their own lives; “Oh, Mary!” a hit comedy ahistorically spoofing Mary Todd Lincoln, and “Purpose,” a family drama about a politically active Black family in Chicago.
The nominations, in 26 categories, were announced in New York by the actors Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce.
Tony Awards administrators also announced that they would give special Tony Awards to the musicians in the “Buena Vista Social Club” band and to the illusions and special effects team behind “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” a spectacle-heavy stage prequel to the Netflix series. (The 21-year-old star of the “Stranger Things” play, Louis McCartney, also picked up a nomination.)
The nominations were spread out among 29 shows. That means 13 were shut out completely, including the new musicals “Tammy Faye” and “Redwood,” as well as the Sondheim revue “Old Friends.”
The announcement begins a five-week scramble in which the 840 Tony voters — mostly people who work in theater or who help finance Broadway shows — will finish seeing the nominated shows so they can cast their ballots for the productions and performances they admired most.
The Tony Awards ceremony will take place on June 8 at Radio City Music Hall, hosted by Cynthia Erivo. It will be broadcast on CBS.
Broadway has lots to brag about this season: a bumper crop of 42 openings, an unusual number of movie stars treading the boards, several productions that are drawing young audiences and a mix of quirky and original shows alongside big-brand spectacle. But there are major challenges too: Ticket prices, especially for the hottest shows, have become out-of-reach for many, and profitability rates have plunged as the cost of producing has risen.
The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing. This year, there were 21 plays and 21 musicals eligible for awards because they opened on Broadway between April 26, 2024, and April 27, 2025.
The nominees were chosen by a committee made up of people who have considerable knowledge about theater, but who do not work on, or have a financial interest in, any of the season’s shows. The committee started with 65 members, but because of recusals, 54 wound up participating in selecting the nominees.
Some noncompetitive awards had already been announced.
The actor Harvey Fierstein, a four-time Tony winner (for performing in “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Hairspray” and for writing “Torch Song Trilogy” and the book for “La Cage Aux Folles”), will receive the annual prize for lifetime achievement. The actress Celia Keenan-Bolger, a Tony winner for “To Kill a Mockingbird,” will receive the annual Isabelle Stevenson Award, which recognizes volunteerism.
This year’s Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theater are being given to “Great Performances,” the PBS arts program; Michael Price, the former executive director of Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut; New 42, which runs rehearsal studios and a children’s theater on 42nd Street; and the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
