The Tony nominations are here, which means Broadway has entered its annual season of joy, confusion, congratulations, and group chats simply reading: “Wait. WHAT?”
Every year, nomination morning tells us what Broadway loved, what it respected, what it rewarded, and what it somehow pretended not to see. This year, the story was especially strange: Hollywood names hit a wall, a divisive revival became a nomination magnet, a closed show refused to disappear, and several major productions were left standing outside the party.
Here are the biggest surprises and snubs of the season.
The Biggest Surprises
The Rocky Horror Show Crashes the Party
No one had The Rocky Horror Show down as one of the season’s Tony powerhouses.
The production was divisive and the reviews were mixed. The vibe was less “awards juggernaut” and more “late-night costume party with better cheekbones.”
And yet, nine nominations: Luke Evans, Stephanie Hsu, and Rachel Dratch all landed acting nominations, helping turn Rocky Horror into one of the most recognized productions of the season. Whatever the nominators saw in that show, they saw it loudly.
Alden Ehrenreich Proves He Belongs
Hollywood actors arrive on Broadway every season. Some prove something, some remind us they went to drama school, but Alden Ehrenreich did the former.
Ehrenreich’s Broadway debut in Becky Shaw earned him a nomination in a stacked acting field. It wasn’t a novelty pick, but proof of a fully alive stage performance. The nomination signals something important: this was not “movie star visits Broadway,” but an actor meeting the stage on its own terms.
Will Harrison Refuses to Be Forgotten
Nominations can be brutal to shows that close early in the season. Once the lights go out, the Tony machine usually moves on.
However, Will Harrison’s performance in Punch stayed with nominators, earning him a nomination months after the production closed and edging out splashier names like Adrien Brody and Jon Bernthal.
June Squibb Proves that Age is Just a Number
At age 96, June Squibb wouldn’t be blamed for relaxing in retirement, but instead, she took her incredible talents to the Helen Hayes Theatre, where she starred as the titular character in Marjorie Prime. With her breathtaking performance, June Squibb earned her first ever Tony Award nomination, and she’s broken the record for the oldest ever acting nominee.
Danny Burstein Etches His Name in the Record Books
The formidable Danny Burstein earned his ninth Tony nomination, also for Marjorie Prime, breaking the record for most male acting nominations. The record of eight was previously held by Jason Robards, Jr. and it stood for nearly fifty years. With one Tony win under his belt for his role in Moulin Rouge!, might Burstein join the esteemed list of two-time winners this year?
The Biggest Snubs
Proof, Beaches, Art, and The Queen of Versailles Disappear
The loudest snubs this year may not be individual omissions, but full-show disappearances.
Proof, a revival of David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, arrived on Broadway boasting an Oscar nominee in Don Cheadle, an Emmy Award winner in Ayo Edebiri, and two-time Tony Award winner Kara Young. On paper, it should have registered somewhere. Instead, it garnered zero nominations.
Beaches offered old-school musical emotion, a classic score, big voices, friendship, heartbreak, and a sincere Broadway sweep that the industry often claims to miss. Jessica Vosk seemed like a viable acting contender, carrying the voice, humor, heart, and impossible Bette Midler-sized expectations of Cee Cee Bloom. Still, the show was left off the board entirely.
Art, the Yasmina Reza penned play is a three-hander that boasted favorites from stage and screen: Bobby Cannavale, James Corden, and Neil Patrick Harris in a curious comedy that turns the art world in its ear. In a season heavy with play revivals, Art couldn’t seem to craft a narrative that fit it into the awards season conversation.
The Queen of Versailles arrived with ambition, scale, spectacle, and serious pedigree with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and Broadway icon Kristin Chenoweth as leading lady. A big musical with a recognizable title simply vanishing from the nominations is its own kind of Broadway whiplash.
Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit Miss for Chess
Chess was one of the season’s hotter tickets, powered by Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit. But Tony nominators played a different game. Neither star received a nomination, even as co-stars Nicholas Christopher, Hannah Cruz, and Bryce Pinkham all made the cut. For Michele, the omission is especially striking. Despite her high-profile Broadway career and major comeback narrative, she remains without a Tony nomination.
Hollywood’s Heavy Hitters Hit a Wall
Adrien Brody came to Broadway with a fresh Oscar glow from The Brutalist. Keanu Reeves and Taraji P. Henson arrived with serious screen credibility. Neither made the Tony list.
The reminder is familiar, but still fascinating: Broadway is not easily seduced by screen prestige. Film careers do matter, especially when considering the financial aspects of Broadway. But this year, nominators have their own standards and their own allergy to inevitability.
Laurie Metcalf Gets One Seat Instead of Two
Laurie Metcalf did receive a nomination for Death of a Salesman, because Laurie Metcalf being excellent on stage is one of the few civic institutions we can still count on. Yet, her acclaimed work in Little Bear Ridge Road was left out, ending the possibility of a rare double acting nomination in a single Tony season.
Nevertheless, Metcalf has 7 nominations to her name (including 4 in a row from 2016-2019) and 2 wins, so her status as one of the great stage actors of her generation is certainly cemented.
What the Nominations Really Told Us
The Tony ceremony will sort out the winners soon enough, but nomination morning already told its own story: that Broadway is willing to reopen complicated doors. It told us movie stars still have to prove themselves under stage lights, and that a closed show can still haunt nominators in the best possible way.
The Tonys honor excellence, but every year, they also reveal Broadway’s mood, blind spots, grudges, crushes, and strange little instincts. Time will tell if the awardees follow these trends.
