Who Will Win? Who Should Win?

Broadway‘s history books might remember the 2024-2025 season as the year Hollywood stars – George Clooney, Denzel Washington, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook – sent box office revenue (and ticket prices) soaring to record heights. Or maybe the year of Audra McDonald and Nicole Scherzinger (and Patti LuPone, but not for The Roommate). But I’ll keep in mind this Broadway season as being simply so very humorous. Oh, Mary!, Eureka Day, Death Becomes Her, even the tender humor of Maybe Happy Ending, all provided audiences with one thing in very brief provide exterior the theater this 12 months: Laughter. That’s the perfect legacy of the 2024-2025 Broadway season.

With that in thoughts, and far gratitude, listed here are my predictions for this Sunday’s 78th Annual Tony Awards.

BEST PLAY
Will win: Oh, Mary!
Should win: Oh, Mary!

Before the large, superstar-driven megahits Good Night, And Good Luck, Othello and Glengarry Glen Ross arrived this spring to seize all of the oxygen on Broadway, the discuss of the business was a queer, campy and out-and-out hilarious little Off Broadway switch known as Oh, Mary! Cole Escola’s tour-de-force comedy – the playwright performs a despicable, resentful and by some means totally lovable Mary Todd Lincoln who desires nothing greater than to be a cabaret star regardless of the objections of her husband Abe (who fears his personal secret love of cabaret will reveal a bit an excessive amount of of his different secret). Mary is the favourite to win, and Mary at all times will get her approach.

Wouldn’t Mind Too Much… if both John Proctor Is The Villain or Purpose pulls a shock win. Or English or The Hills of California, for that matter. It was a superb season for performs.

BEST MUSICAL
Will win: Maybe Happy Ending
Should win: Maybe Happy Ending

There’s not an undeserving nominee on this class. Death Becomes Her is a superb, huge, splashy musical that hits all the best notes for these of us that love great, huge, splashy musicals, Buena Vista Social Club, with a rating fully in Spanish, is attractive in each approach and Operation Mincemeat was the second finest musical a couple of corpse this 12 months. But for me, the competition is between two of essentially the most offbeat musicals to return alongside in ages: the laborious rocking Dead Outlaw and Maybe Happy Ending. I’ll give the latter a slight edge principally due to its impossibly poignant closing scenes. Why impossibly? Because it’s a love story about robots, and it really works on each stage.

BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY
Will win: Eureka Day
Should win: Eureka Day

Both Romeo + Juliet and Our Town have been tremendous sufficient, however we’ve all seen higher revivals of these performs. The solely actual competitors for Jonathan Spector’s remarkably prescient and deeply humorous vax comedy Eureka Day was David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face (and for what it’s value, I’m not fully satisfied that the latest PBS presentation of the latter did the stage play any favors). And if it wasn’t for Oh, Mary!, Eureka Day may declare the funniest scene of the Broadway season with that digital faculty board assembly.

Wouldn’t Mind At All…if Yellow Face takes the prize.

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Sunset Blvd.
Should win: Sunset Blvd.

Given that Gypsy director George C. Wolfe was snubbed in his class, I think the possibilities for that nice musical/not nice revival are slim for a Revival win. Slim, however not nonexistent. Floyd Collins, the 1994 Off Broadway musical that lastly made its Broadway bow and appeared considerably extra revered in reminiscence than liked within the current, is a protracted shot, as is the charming however underwhelming Pirates! The Penzance Musical. Jamie Lloyd’s moody, expressionist tackle Norma & Co. ought to take the Tony.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Will win: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Should win: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!

In every other 12 months, I’d be rooting for underdog Louis McCartney, who carried your entire Upside Down on his slim shoulders all through Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Jon Michael Hill and Harry Lennix of Purpose and Daniel Dae Kim of Yellow Face every have respectable pictures, whereas there isn’t fairly sufficient good luck in New York City at hand the Tony to George Clooney. Simply put, Cole Escola gave the perfect efficiency on Broadway this season.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A PLAY
Will win: Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Should win: Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Succession star made her Broadway debut within the bold The Picture of Dorian Gray, enjoying some two dozen characters, credibly and with precision, from the Oscar Wilde novel. This one’s hers to lose. Laura Donnelly (The Hills of California) may show a spoiler, as may LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Purpose). Sadie Sink gave a beautiful efficiency in John Proctor Is The Villain, and Broadway can be fortunate to see her return. As for the endearing Mia Farrow, she simply picked the flawed season for a Broadway comeback.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Will win: Jonathan Groff, Just In Time
Should win: Jonathan Groff, Just In Time

Darren Criss has each proper to seize that Tony for his fascinating, one-of-a-kind efficiency as a lovesick Helper-bot within the sleeper hit Maybe Happy Ending, and talking of one-of-a-kind, Andrew Durand because the alive-then-dead title character of Dead Outlaw pulls off one of many extra astonishing theatrical feats in reminiscence. But Groff’s take-no-prisoners efficiency as nightclub celebrity Bobby Darin is pure Broadway, and totally – and greater than justifiably – profitable.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Will win: Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Should win: Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Yes, its a battle between Audra and Nicole Scherzinger, and sure the entire Patti LuPone contretemps served to single out the Gypsy star as foregone conclusion, however this class is jammed with worthy nominees who gave extraordinary performances this 12 months. The splendidly proficient Jasmine Amy Rogers made Boop! The Musical value sitting via – no small feat – and each Jennifer Simard and Megan Hilty introduced a gloriously over-the-top fashion to the normally dreadful movie-turned-musical style. I’d be completely satisfied if this contest was between the Death Becomes Her stars however it’s not, so I’ll anticipate Audra to win, and never be shocked if Nicole does. But I’m rooting for Jennifer.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Will win: Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Should win: Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!

Francis Jue is a Broadway veteran who deserves each little bit of the business love he’s been receiving since his heartbreaking and really humorous efficiency because the misguidedly patriotic father in Yellow Face. Glenn Davis because the corrupt, naive and ever hopeful Solomon “Junior” Jasper is the important thing pin that holds the endlessly intriguing household dynamic of Purpose collectively. Bob Odenkirk was the star amongst stars of Glengarry Glen Ross, and Gabriel Ebert, as the great man/evil bastard highschool instructor of John Proctor Is the Villain would get my vote any 12 months however this one. This season, it’s Ricamora, whose determined Abe Lincoln is the key sauce of Oh, Mary!, a homosexual straight-man outsized and outmatched by a pressure of nature performed by the once-in-a-generation gentle that’s Cole Escola. The 12 months belongs to them each.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A PLAY
Will win: Kara Young, Purpose
Should win: Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day

With her history-making fourth consecutive Tony nomination, Kara Young of Purpose is as soon as once more the favourite this 12 months, and who may argue? She has been, with out query, a pressure on Broadway all through the post-pandemic period, a comic book actor who can, with out lacking a beat, break your coronary heart. I’m completely satisfied for what appears to be her doubtless win. And each Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat made English the kind of manufacturing Broadway-goers cherish, performances that can dwell in reminiscence. Fina Strazza is among the many gems of John Proctor Is the Villain, and delivers what may be the one finest, most delicate, most thought-provoking closing minute of any story since The Graduate. But it was Jessica Hecht, so good in 2023’s underrated Summer, 1976, who gave the trickiest, most nuanced efficiency on this class. As the extremely liberal, extremely anti-vax faculty board member of Eureka Day, Hecht took us down a path few noticed coming. All due respect to the opposite nominees on this overflowing with riches class, however that is Hecht’s time.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Will win: Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Should win: Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat

Brooks Ashmanskas, Jeb Brown, Taylor Trensch and the ever dependable Danny Burstein had tremendous seasons and gave terrific performances in work that, at the least within the instances of Ashmanskas (Smash) and Burstein (Gypsy) didn’t carry out their finest. The Tony belongs to Malone, whose efficiency of the track “Dear Bill” in Operation Mincemeat is just about the epitome of a present stopper. Full of depth and coronary heart, Malone’s “Dear Bill” – sung as a letter to a beloved husband misplaced to warfare – is among the season’s most treasurable moments.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A FEATURED ROLE IN A MUSICAL
Will win: Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Should win: Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw

Belcon was the stand-out within the impeccable ensemble of Buena Vista Social Club, and is greater than worthy of this award. But for me, Julia Knitel of Dead Outlaw is the key weapon of that splendidly bizarre and affecting musical. She performs varied characters, from the one real love of the Dead Outlaw himself, to a lonely younger lady who a long time later befriends his corpse. Somehow she makes all of it work, and she or he sounds heavenly each word of the best way.

BEST DIRECTION OF A PLAY
Will win: Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Should win: Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!

What else is there to say about Oh, Mary! besides that even Cole Escola wants a director who grasps each lightning-quick joke, each (blessedly uncommon) second of real poignance, and places all of it along with the talent of a clockmaker and brashness of a real artist. Danya Taymor labored miracles with the great John Proctor Is The Villain, however that is the 12 months of Oh, Mary!.

BEST DIRECTION OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Should win: Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending

When the deliberately cramped world of a robotic retirement dwelling opens as much as embrace a universe of awe and even love, Maybe Happy Ending strikes from a unusual little sci-fi story to one thing fully completely different, a tragic love story – yes- for the ages. That’s largely Michael Arden’s doing, and it’s most undoubtedly award-worthy. Not as in-your-face spectacular as Jamie Lloyd’s attractive Sunset Blvd. or as wackily gut-punchy as Christopher Gattelli’s Death Becomes Her, however simply, in a phrase, astounding.

And some fast takes:

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A PLAY
Will win: Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Should win: Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

BEST SCENIC DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending
Should win: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Will win: Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary!
Should win: Holly Pierson, Oh, Mary!

Lots of tremendous, elaborate costume work on show this season, from the quick-change finery of The Picture of Dorian Gray to the spot-on tidy drudgery of ’70s-era Blackpool in The Hills of California. But it’s the hilariously billowy, life-of-its-own black hoop skirt of Oh, Mary! that’ll find yourself in a museum sometime.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN OF A PLAY
Will win: Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club
Should win: Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A PLAY
Will win: Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Should win: Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Wouldn’t Mind Terribly If…Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski take the Tony for the best way they use lighting as a plot- and character-defining information in John Proctor Is the Villain.

BEST LIGHTING DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
Should win: Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A PLAY
Will win: Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Should win: Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

BEST SOUND DESIGN OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Peter Hylenski, Just In Time
Should win: Peter Hylenski, Just In Time

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY
Will win: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Should win: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club

BEST ORCHESTRATIONS
Will win: Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time
Should win: Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, Just in Time

BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Will win: Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Should win: Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE
Will win: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw
Should win: David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw

The Tony Awards: Act One, a dwell pre-show with unique content material is accessible to viewers without cost on Pluto TV starting Sunday, June 8 at 6:40-8:00 PM, ET/3:40-5:00 PM, PT. Immediately following, The 78th Annual Tony Awards will broadcast dwell to each coasts from 8:00-11:00 PM ET/5:00-8:00 PM PT on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ within the U.S.