Tony Awards Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here’s a look at the Tony Awards which honor achievements on Broadway.
June 8, 2025 – The 78th Tony Awards are scheduled to take place, with Cynthia Erivo hosting. The nominations are announced on May 1.
June 16, 2024 – The 77th Tony Awards take place, with Ariana DeBose hosting for the third time.
Facts
The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League.
Only productions staged in designated Broadway theatres are eligible for nominations.
The musical that holds the record for most Tony Awards is “The Producers,” in 2001. It won 12 awards out of 15 nominations.
The hip-hop infused musical “Hamilton” earned a record-setting 16 Tony nominations on May 3, 2016, including Best Musical and Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for playwright/star Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Producer/director Harold “Hal” Prince has won the most Tony Awards overall (21).
Actress Audra McDonald has won the most Tony awards as a performer (six).
The Tonys are named after Antoinette Perry, a Broadway actress and director who died in 1946. Her charitable work with the American Theatre Wing during WWII inspired the Broadway community to create an award in her honor.
The American Theatre Wing became famous for the “Stage Door Canteens,” in which GIs could drop in and be entertained by famous Hollywood and Broadway stars.
If there is only one nominee, the category is submitted to the Tony Voters. An affirmative vote of 60% of the total ballots cast will grant an Award in that category.
Timeline
April 6, 1947 – The first Tony Awards are presented at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York.
The first “Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play” award is a tie with Ingrid Bergman for “Joan of Lorraine” and Helen Hayes for “Happy Birthday.”
The first “Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play” award is also a tie, between Jose Ferrer for “Cyrano de Bergerac” and Fredric March for “Years Ago.”
1956 – The Tony Awards are broadcast on television for the first time, on the Dumont Network.
2025 Tony Award Nominees (selected)
Best Play
“English”
“The Hills of California”
“John Proctor is the Villain”
“Oh, Mary!”
“Purpose”
Best Musical
“Buena Vista Social Club”
“Dead Outlaw”
“Death Becomes Her”
“Maybe Happy Ending”
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Best Revival of a Play
“Eureka Day”
“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Yellow Face”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
George Clooney, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”
Jon Michael Hill, “Purpose”
Daniel Dae Kim, “Yellow Face”
Harry Lennix, “Purpose”
Louis McCartney, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Laura Donnelly, “The Hills of California”
Mia Farrow, “The Roommate”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, “Purpose”
Sadie Sink, “John Proctor is the Villain”
Sarah Snook, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Megan Hilty, “Death Becomes Her”
Audra McDonald, “Gypsy”
Jasmine Amy Rogers, “BOOP! The Musical”
Nicole Scherzinger, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jennifer Simard, “Death Becomes Her”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Darren Criss, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Andrew Durand, “Dead Outlaw”
Tom Francis, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jonathan Groff, “Just In Time”
James Monroe Iglehart, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical”
Jeremy Jordan, “Floyd Collins”
2024 Tony Award Winners (selected)
Best Play
“Stereophonic”
Best Musical
“The Outsiders”
Best Revival of a Play
“Appropriate”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Jeremy Strong, “An Enemy of the People”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Sarah Paulson, “Appropriate”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Maleah Joi Moon, “Hell’s Kitchen”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Jonathan Groff, “Merrily We Roll Along”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
