The 97th annual Academy Awards are almost here. Broadway Direct has mapped out the who’s who of Broadway to look out for at this year’s ceremony. One thing’s especially thrillifying: Wicked is celebrating 10 nominations, including Best Picture.
One is for Cynthia Erivo in the Actress in a Leading Role category. The recognition marks her third Oscar nomination, this time for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked. She was previously nominated twice in 2020 for the movie Harriet, in the best song (“Stand Up”) and best actress categories. Erivo got her start in musical theater. In 2015, she starred on Broadway in the London transfer of The Color Purple. She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Celie Harris, a role Whoopi Goldberg originated on screen. The Color Purple helped Erivo also win a Grammy Award and Emmy Award, leaving her an Oscar away from EGOT status. Could this year be the one when she achieves the prestigious accolade?
For the Actor in a Leading Role category, all nominees have ties to the theater.
Adrien Brody, a previous Oscar winner nominated for his turn this year in The Brutalist, recently made his London stage debut this past fall in The Fear of 13 at Donmar Warehouse. His The Brutalist costar and fellow 2025 nominee Felicity Jones is also no stranger to the stage at the Donmar Warehouse, having performed there in 2008 and 2011 in The Chalk Garden and Kabale und Liebe.
Colman Domingo earns another nomination for Sing Sing. Last year, he was nominated for Rustin, and has more than a handful of shows to his name. He was last seen on the stage as Billy Flynn in Chicago in 2011. Other credits include Well, Passing Strange, and The Scottsboro Boys, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. He wrote the book for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, and most recently produced the play Fat Ham.
Ralph Fiennes, nominated for Conclave, has Broadway credits to his name. In 1995, he starred in the titular role in Hamlet. In 2006, he played Frank in the play Faith Healer.
The Apprentice star Sebastian Stan has been on Broadway too. In 2007, he played Kent in Talk Radio, followed by Hal Carter in the 2012 play Picnic. His costar Jeremy Strong, also nominated for his role in The Apprentice, was on Broadway last season. He earned a Tony Award for An Enemy of the People.
While Timothée Chalamet hasn’t been on Broadway, it sure seems like it with his musical performances on the big screen, including as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. Chalamet also played the famous singing candy man, Mr. Willy Wonka, in 2023’s Wonka, a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2016, he won a Drama League Award and Lortel Award for Prodigal Son, a play that ran Off-Broadway as a part of a Manhattan Theater Club production at City Center.
In the Actor in a Supporting Role category, go see Kieran Culkin, nominated for A Real Pain, on Broadway this spring. He’s starring in a revival of Glengarry Glen Ross as Richard Roma at the newly renovated Palace Theatre. Some fans might be surprised it’s not his Broadway debut: In 2014, he was in the play This Is Our Youth.
Edward Norton, nominated for A Complete Unknown, last appeared Off-Broadway in 2002. He was part of Signature Theatre’s Burn This.
Before Ariana Grande became an international pop sensation and now Academy Award nominee for Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Glinda in Wicked, she was belting out show tunes. At 14 in 2008, she nailed “Suddenly Seymour” from Little Shop of Horrors with her brother, Frankie. She made her Broadway debut later that year in the Jason Robert Brown musical 13.
Zoe Saldaña is nominated in the same category as Grande, for Emilia Pérez. While she hasn’t been on Broadway, we’d be remiss not to mention her breakout role as Eva Rodríguez in the 2000 dance cult movie Center Stage. While there wasn’t singing in Center Stage like there is in Emilia Pérez, Saldaña did dance ballet. She also had numerous scenes opposite Broadway’s Donna Murphy and Peter Gallagher.
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Isabella Rossellini, nominated for Conclave, hasn’t been on Broadway, but one of her movie characters is. Rossellini was in the 1992 film Death Becomes Her, which is now a Broadway musical at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Michelle Williams plays the role based on Rossellini’s character Lisle von Rhuman, who has been renamed Viola van Horn.
In the creative categories, Paul Tazewell is nominated for Wicked’s costume design. Tazewell was previously nominated for his costumes for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. His work can currently be seen on Broadway in Death Becomes Her at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, MJ: The Musical at the Neil Simon Theatre, and Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre — for which he won a Tony Award. Previous nominated shows include Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, The Color Purple, In the Heights, Memphis, A Streetcar Named Desire, Ain’t Too Proud, and Suffs.
Wicked’s Stephen Schwartz and John Powell are nominated for best original score. Schwartz previously won three Oscars for his music. “When You Believe” from The Prince of Egypt and “Colors of the Wind” from Pocohontas won best original song. He also won best original musical or comedy score for Pocohontas. Schwartz has earned six Tony Award nominations for his music and lyrics, for Pippin, Godspell, Working, Rags, and Wicked, currently playing on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre. Schwartz’s new Broadway musical, The Queen of Versailles, is expected next season starring Kristin Chenoweth.
It was also officially announced on February 24, after much speculation, that Erivo and Grande will perform on this year’s telecast. We expect to hear some familiar Wicked tunes!
Here’s a full list of the 2025 Oscar nominees. The 97th Academy Awards airs on Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.