Nearly eight decades have passed since the first Tony Awards were given in 1947. Since then, viewers have enjoyed memorable speeches and unforgettable performances, plus barrier-breaking wins and history-making nominations. This year is shaping up to be no different. The 78th Tony Awards ceremony is back at Radio City Music Hall with the gravity-defying Cynthia Erivo as host. Ahead of Broadway’s biggest night, learn these 10 fun facts that you’ll definitely want to share at your Tony Awards watch party.
1. History Is Happening in Manhattan
Several nominations mark major milestones for the Tony Awards this year:
Audra McDonald has already secured her name on the list of Broadway legends, having won six Tony Awards — the most of any actor in history. This season, she has added another superlative to her résumé: the most nominated performer in Tony Awards history. Her performance as Mama Rose in Gypsy marks her 11th nomination, and if she wins, she will add a seventh Tony statue to her collection.
Kara Young also continues her streak of making history as she received her fourth consecutive nomination this year. She is the first Black actor to achieve the feat, now tying with white actor Laurie Metcalf, who was nominated four times between two categories in 2016 through 2019. Young is the first to accomplish this in a single category. In 2022, she was nominated for Clyde’s; in 2023, Cost of Living; in 2024, Purlie Victorious — which she won — and this season, for Purpose, all in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play category.
Daniel Dae Kim made history when his name was announced as a Tony nominee on May 1. He is the first Asian actor to be nominated in the Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play category for his performance in Yellowface.
English playwright Sanaz Toossi is the first Iranian American playwright to be nominated for Best Play, and cast members Tala Ashe and Marjan Neshat are the first Middle Eastern actors to be nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play.
Shows are also getting in on the history-making action, like The Picture of Dorian Gray becoming the most nominated solo show ever with its six nominations
2. 10s Across the Board
What Are the Most Nominated Shows? – 2025 Tony Award Nominations by the Numbers
With over 40 shows eligible for this year’s Tony Awards,…
This year, three shows tied for most nominations with 10 nods each: Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, and Maybe Happy Ending. This is the first time ever there has been a three-way tie! Last year there was a tie for most nominations, but for only two shows: Hell’s Kitchen and Stereophonic, which earned 13 nominations each. The most nominated show in history is Hamilton, with 16 nominations.
3. From Skid Row to the Theatre District
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There are four former Seymours from the current Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors who are Tony nominees this year: Darren Criss, Jonathan Groff, Jeremy Jordan, and Conrad Ricamora. Criss, Groff, and Jordan are all competing in the same category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for their performances in Maybe Happy Ending, Just in Time, and Floyd Collins, respectively. Ricamora is nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for his role in Oh, Mary!
Not only that, but Joy Woods, who played was the original Chiffon in the Off-Broadway revival and later returned to play Audrey, is nominated for her performance as Louise in Gypsy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. There must be something in the water at Mr. Mushnik’s Flower Shop!
4. Reunited and It Feels So Good
There are several alums from the same television shows who are nominated this year. If you’re a Glee fan, there is no doubt that you noticed that both Blaine Anderson and Jesse St. James are going head to head in the same category! Darren Criss and Jonathan Groff are nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for their performances in Maybe Happy Ending and Just in Time, respectively.
Another pair of actors from a song-filled television show are also nominees this year, though they are not in rival musicals like their characters were. Megan Hilty, who starred on the TV show SMASH, is nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Death Becomes Her (a Best Musical nominee), and Jeremy Jordan received a nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role in Floyd Collins (a Best Revival of a Musical nominee). In the SMASH universe, Hilty’s musical Bombshell was competing against Jordan’s Hit List, with Bombshell earning the ultimate prize of Best Musical. Hilty’s character Ivy Lynn won Best Leading Actress — will the same dream come true for Hilty in real life on June 8?
5. You Never Forget Your First
Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.
There are 63 first-time nominees this season. Thirty-one are making their Broadway debuts, ranging from newcomer Jasmine Amy Rogers for her star-making turn as the titular character of BOOP! The Musical to celebrated screen star George Clooney in his and Grant Heslov’s stage adaptation of their 2005 film, Good Night, and Good Luck.
Others, like Natalie Venetia Belcon, are industry vets receiving their first noms. Belcon made her Broadway debut in 1996 in Rent, and performed in beloved musicals such as 2003’s Avenue Q as Gary Coleman and in 2013’s Matilda as Mrs. Phelps. She is now nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for her role as Omara Portundo in Buena Vista Social Club.
In fact, all of the nominees in Belcon’s category are first-time nominees: Dead Outlaw’s Julia Knitel, Gypsy’s Joy Woods, Just in Time’s Gracie Lawrence, and Real Women Have Curves’s Justina Machado.
6. Seeing Double (and Triple)
Fourteen artists are nominated across multiple categories.
Will Aronson is the only nominee who earned three nods this year! He is nominated for Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations for Maybe Happy Ending.
Aronson’s cowriter for Maybe Happy Ending, Hue Park, is also nominated more than once. Park received nominations for Best Book and Best Original Score.
Maybe Happy Ending’s multiple nominations continue with Criss. He is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and Best Musical for his work as an actor and producer.
Cole Escola, the writer and star of Oh, Mary!, is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play and Best Play.
Christopher Gattelli is nominated for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for Death Becomes Her.
As a writer and producer, Marco Ramirez is nominated for Best Book of a Musical and Best Musical for Buena Vista Social Club.
Operation Mincemeat’s writing team — David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson, and Zoë Roberts — were all collectively nominated for Best Book and Best Original Score.
Marg Horwell’s costume and scenic design for The Picture of Dorian Gray were both nominated.
Derek McClaine is competing against himself with his two Best Scenic Design of a Musical nominations for Death Becomes Her and Just in Time.
Rob Howell’s double design duty for The Hills of California was recognized with both Best Costume Design of a Play and Best Scenic Design of a Play nominations.
Peter Hylenski was nominated twice in the Best Sound Design of a Musical category this year, honoring his work in Just in Time and Maybe Happy Ending.
Co-Artistic Director of Steppenwolf, Glenn Davis, is nominated as a featured actor and a producer of the Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony-nominated Purpose.
7. Just a Little History Repeating
A handful of 2024 winners are returning to the Tony Awards with brand-new nominations.
Groff is competing in Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his performance in Just in Time. Last year, he won in the same category for his performance in Merrily We Roll Along.
Young is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for her performance in Purpose. Last year, she was nominated in the same category for her role in Purlie Victorious.
Danya Taymor is nominated for Best Direction of a Play with John Proctor Is the Villain, a Best Play nominee. Last year, she won Best Direction of a Musical for The Outsiders, which also took home Best Musical.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is back as a playwright in the Best Play category for Purpose. Last year, he won Best Revival of a Play for Appropriate.
Justin Peck is nominated along with Patricia Delgado for Best Choreography for their work on Buena Vista Social Club. Peck won solo last year for his choreography of Illinoise.
Dede Ayite is also nominated for her work on Buena Vista Social Club in the Best Costume Design of a Musical category. Last year, she was the first Black woman in history to win Best Costume Design of a Play for her work on Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
Similarly, several 2024 Olivier Award winners are now nominated for the reprisal of their roles on Broadway: Tom Francis for his performance in Sunset Blvd.; Nicole Scherzinger for her performance in Sunset Blvd.; Jak Malone for his performance in Operation Mincemeat; Sarah Snook for her performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray; Jamie Lloyd for his direction of Sunset Blvd.; Adam Fisher for his sound design of Sunset Blvd.; Marg Horwell for her costume design of The Picture of Dorian Gray; and Jack Knowles for his lighting design of Sunset Blvd.
Both Operation Mincemeat and Sunset Blvd. won the top prizes at the 2024 Olivier Awards.
8. Familiar Faces, New Spaces
There are some familiar faces who are nominated this year for work different from their previous nominations.
Sam Pinkleton, who was a 2017 Best Choreography nominee for Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, is now looking at a potential win for Best Direction of a Play for Oh, Mary!
Christopher Gatelli is best known as a choreographer. His choreography for South Pacific, The King and I, SpongeBob SquarePants, and My Fair Lady have all been Tony-nominated, and his work for Newsies won Best Choreography in 2012. This year, he is again nominated for his choreography for Death Becomes Her, and his Broadway directorial debut adds a Best Direction of a Musical nod to his accolades.
Michael Arden has earned his fourth Best Direction for a Musical nomination this year, but it marks his first time directing an original musical on Broadway. He won the 2023 Best Direction of a Musical Tony for Best Revival winner Parade, and was previously nominated for his direction of revivals of Once on This Island and Spring Awakening.
9. Curious Categories
This year, there are six nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and Play categories, and five for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Play categories. This means that there was a tie for the final slot in the actor categories. Per the Tony nomination rules, each category’s expectation is to have four nominees, but increases to five when there are nine or more artists eligible in the category. Last year, the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical category actually had seven nominees, revealing there was a three-way tie. In 2020, Aaron Tveit was the single nominee for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical category.
For the Best Revival of a Musical and Play categories, there are three shows that are actually making their Broadway debuts. According to the Tony eligibility rules, if a show is considered a classic or received a notable professional presentation in Manhattan, it will be nominated as a revival. This year, that rule applies to Floyd Collins in the Best Revival of a Musical category, and Eureka Day and Yellow Face for the Best Revival of a Play.
All five of the Best Musical nominees were also nominated for Best Book and Best Original Score, with one exception. Best Original Score nominees must be scores written for the theater, and since Buena Vista Social Club’s score is from the Grammy-winning album and was not composed for the theater, it was not eligible for the category. Real Women Have Curves, with a score from Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, was nominated in the fifth slot. Similarly, Smash’s score, written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, was not eligible for Best Original Score, as it primarily features music written for the 2012 television series.
10. Curtain Up, Light the Lights!
This year’s ceremony returns to the iconic Radio City Music Hall for the first time since 2022. In 2024, the ceremony took place at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, and in 2023, at the United Palace Theater in the Washington Heights neighborhood. In hosting the Tony Awards 21 times, Radio City Music Hall is the venue that has housed Broadway’s biggest night the most.
The 2025 Tony Awards are sure to have plenty of razzle-dazzle, so make sure to tune in to CBS or Paramount+ at 8 p.m. EST Sunday, June 8!