The Tonys Recap That’ll Make You Want to Buy a Broadway Ticket ASAP
- Jordyn Mayes
- Jun 9
- 4 min read
Celebrating the musicals, plays, and powerful voices that redefined what Broadway can be in 2025.
There’s something kind of poetic about a musical about obsolete robots snagging Broadway’s most esteemed prize. At the 78th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo at Radio City Music Hall on June 8, Maybe Happy Ending proved that stories powered by heart (and hardware) still reign supreme.
The show, which centers on two South Korean HelperBots navigating loneliness and love in a future where they've been left behind, walked away with six Tony wins, including the coveted Best Musical. Its blend of melancholy and hope clearly resonated with voters — and audiences — in a season packed with spectacle, legacy revivals, and digital dazzle.
From Nicole Scherzinger’s haunting take on Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. to Cole Escola’s historic win as the first openly nonbinary actor awarded in a lead category for Oh, Mary!, the night celebrated art, emotional depth, and long-overdue recognition.
From Rust to Gold: Maybe Happy Ending Dominates
Going into the night with 10 nominations (tied for the most with Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her), Maybe Happy Ending became the standout success story. The musical’s creators, Will Aronson and Hue Park, won for both Best Book and Best Original Score, while Michael Arden (who previously won for Parade) picked up Best Direction of a Musical. Darren Criss, fresh off co-hosting the Tony Awards: Act One, also snagged his first Tony for playing Oliver, a robot who finds out feelings might be firmware after all.
Design awards came too: scenic design by Dane Laffrey and George Reeve added to the show’s tally. Broadway may not always reward original musicals so generously — but this season, it clearly short-circuited old trends.
A Purpose-ful Win in the Play Category
Meanwhile, the play category delivered a different kind of history. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose — a searing, time-hopping portrait of a Black political dynasty in Illinois — earned the Best Play award and gave Jacobs-Jenkins a rare distinction: he became the first Black playwright to win back-to-back Tonys (he won last year for The Comeuppance), joining the elite ranks of Tony Kushner and Terrence McNally.
The show also secured a win for Kara Young, who’s on a historic streak of her own. After four consecutive Tony nominations, she became the first Black actor ever to win Tonys two years in a row, this time for her performance as the unflinching Aziza Houston.
Spotlight on Reinvention: Sunset Blvd. and Eureka Day Shine
What happens when you strip Broadway glitz down to its bones? You get Jamie Lloyd’s stark, cinematic revival of Sunset Blvd., which took home Best Revival of a Musical. Nicole Scherzinger, making her Broadway debut as Norma Desmond, added a Tony to her Olivier win, officially graduating from Pussycat Doll to Broadway royalty.
In the play revival race, Eureka Day — Jonathan Spector’s chilling satire on community politics and pandemic-era division — was a dark horse winner. It edged out heavyweights like Our Town and Romeo + Juliet to take Best Revival of a Play.
Oh, History! Cole Escola and Oh, Mary! Flip the Script
From camp to canon, Oh, Mary! brought irreverence and innovation to the stage, and the Tonys loved it. Cole Escola, in a revelatory performance as a drunken Mary Todd Lincoln, became the first openly non-binary actor to win Best Actor in a Play. Their win — and that of director Sam Pinkleton — signals a Tony era more open to work that blends boundary-pushing humor with real pathos.
Global Voices, Big Sounds: Buena Vista Social Club and Beyond
Buena Vista Social Club also made waves, racking up four wins including Best Choreography (Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck), Best Orchestrations, and Best Sound Design. Natalie Venetia Belcon added a featured actress Tony for her role, helping to bring Cuban rhythms and real-life legends to Broadway’s biggest stage.
Meanwhile, Stranger Things: The First Shadow reminded us that spectacle has its place too, grabbing three awards, mostly in design categories — including one for its mind-bending illusions. Sci-fi theatre? Very 2025.
Beyond the Statues: Big Moments, Bigger Shifts
This year’s Tonys weren’t just about winners — they were about evolution. Scherzinger’s win was an emphatic nod to cross-genre talent finally being taken seriously on Broadway. Kara Young’s rise marked a celebration of consistency and excellence. And Harvey Fierstein received a long-overdue Lifetime Achievement Tony, while Celia Keenan-Bolger was honored for her advocacy work with the Isabelle Stevenson Award.
And then there was the Hamilton reunion performance — an electric jolt of nostalgia and relevance that reminded everyone how far Broadway has come (and how much it still borrows from its own game-changing past).
So…Was There Maybe a Happy Ending?
Absolutely. In a season that embraced genre-bending storytelling, representation, and emotional resonance, the 78th Tony Awards left no doubt: Broadway is wide open — and it’s feeling everything. From tech-savvy tales of obsolete bots to fresh looks at history’s forgotten voices, the night proved that change, even on the Great White Way, is not only possible — it’s already center stage.
Watch: Performances from Maybe Happy Ending, Sunset Blvd., Buena Vista Social Club, and more are now streaming.
Follow: For red carpet looks, behind-the-scenes moments, and the full winner’s list, visit playbill.com/tonys.
Stream: Rewatch the full ceremony on Paramount+ (if you’ve got SHOWTIME access).
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