Who Should Be a Tony Awards Nominee in 2025? My Personal Picks for Broadway’s Best

The Unofficial Tony Awards Nominee in 2025: A Personal Look at Who Truly Deserves a Nomination This Year

It’s very exciting for the theater world coming to actual 2025 Tony Awards nominations that will be announced this Thursday. But for the year-round intricacies of Broadway life, waiting is not an alternative. From my passionate and sometimes rules-bending point of view, this is who should stand nominated this year, at least if it were entirely up to me.

Let’s start with those new plays that really left an impact as this season closed. Cult of Love, English, The Hills of California, John Proctor Is the Villain, and Oh, Mary! are all standout examples of what solid new plays can do: they push boundaries, elevate storytelling, and give a voice to new, dynamic narratives. Best Musical brought us such titles as Dead Outlaw, Death Becomes Her, Maybe Happy Ending, Smash, and Swept Away, showing that original scores and inventive staging are still very much alive and kicking.

Revival categories were quite formidable this year. “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and “Vanya” may not be eligible because they are off-Broadway productions, but their brilliance cannot be ignored. “Gypsy,” “Floyd Collins,” and “Once Upon a Mattress” are all musical powerhouses with exciting reinterpretation possibilities to go along with timeless music. “Eureka Day,” “our Town,” and “Yellow Face” reinvigorated classic and contemporary texts alike.

The best individual performances make for a stacked field in acting spiel. Cole Escola brings his A game with “Oh, Mary!” and how about Andrew Scott in “Vanya”? On the music side, Darren Criss completed the leash as someone who really individualizes the latter in “Maybe Happy Ending,” while Jeremy Jordan pretty much nailed it as his character would want to be in “Floyd Collins.” On the actress side: wow, wow and wow with Audra McDonald in “Gypsy,” followed closely by Adrienne Warren’s firestorm performance in “The Last Five Years.”

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Yes, once again, I’m all for Best Ensemble this year since individual recognition should matter to collective brilliance. Examples include “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Dead Outlaw,” “John Proctor Is the Villain,” and “Swept Away”-all just showcasing a winning synergy among their casts, proving that teamwork is everything in theater.

Directors and creatives behind those curtains also deserve the hands of applause. Sam Mendes, Anna D. Shapiro, and Danya Taymor controlled their vision with more significant drama, while David Cromer and Michael Arden enlivened musical storytelling. And of course, un-missable scores and choreography by Marc Shaiman, Julia Mattison, and Christopher Gattelli among others on ensuring no moment on-stage is ever wasted added up to a lot.

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This list includes some that may never be honored because of eligibility restrictions, but greatness is great—rules or not. Stirring revivals to brand-new masterpieces, this Broadway season has been one of innovation, risk-taking, and heart.

Who will Tony voters choose? Very soon, we’ll know. But for now, this is my love letter to those artists who made this year exceptional on stage.

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