The 2026 Tony Awards: Who Won and What Does it Mean for Broadway?
One last look back at the Tony Awards 2026
Last night, the statuettes were passed to the great and the good of the Broadway 25/26 season at the Tony Awards. Full details of the winners are at the bottom of the article. But what were the big takeaways of the ceremony?
No Egg on Our Face
The biggest revelation of the evening was The Recs’ Chief New York reviewer, Randall David Cook, and his uncanny prediction ability.
Three days ago, RDC gave his picks of who would win across the categories – The Recs Tony Predictions – and he scored an incredible 24 correct winners out of 26 categories. Not to make too grand a point of it…oh alright, I will. This was higher than any of the 17 experts on the Gold Derby list (here). Gold gets silver it seems…
As his editor, I do not know whence Randall’s witchy powers of divination stem, but I’m getting him to pick my lottery numbers this week. If The Recs is a blank screen next week, I’ll be on the Amalfi Coast.
No Controversies...
The brilliant Lesley Manville and John Lithgow both deservedly achieved an acting milestone of becoming three-time Tony Award winners at the ceremony last night. In fact, the general consensus was that most awards went roughly where they should…
...almost.
The win as Best Revival of A Play for Arthur Miller’s Death of A Salesman (as opposed to who else’s Death of a Salesman, we’re not sure) raised some eyebrows at the producer-shaped hole of elephantine proportions. Scott Rudin‘s return to Broadway has proved highly controversial, after the producer stepped away from the industry in 2021 after facing multiple allegations of bullying and abusive workplace behaviour towards assistants and staff. Rudin tellingly stayed away from the ceremony, with leading actor Nathan Lane accepting the award instead of the producer.
Despite becoming the most Tony Award-winning play revival of all time with 6 wins (Best Revival of A Play, Best Direction of A Play, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play, Best Scenic Design of a Play, Best Lighting Design of a Play, and Best Sound Design of a Play), producer Rudin was not named in any of the victors’ speeches.
Not Quite.
Another source of disagreement with the Tonys’ choice was the Best Revival of A Musical award, where Ragtime took the win over Cats: The Jellicle Ball, much to the consternation of many online.
While no one could argue against the performing talent in the Ragtime revival, it does prompt the question about what a revival should do. Can it simply be a very good remounting of a show, or should it be a production that breathes new artistic life into a show? Following not so long after the excellent 2009 revival at the Neil Simon Theatre, it is fair to question if Ragtime needed reviving at all.
Contrast this with Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, with choreographers Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, took a notoriously bonkers musical that premiered 45 years ago and reimagined it in a way that not only (finally) made sense, but felt entirely relevant today.
Some online mused that it would have been a more radical choice for the Tonys to reward a show that celebrates black / queer / marginalised joy than one that retells a narrative of suffering. Others suggested that Ragtime lends itself to a “Tony Award Winning National Tour” way more credibly than Jellicle would.
Regardless, The Recs will still be muttering Cats Woz Robbed by the time the Tonys come round next year.
A Broadway Boost?
Famously, a win at the Tony Awards can superboost box office sales. Great news for Schmigadoon! winning Best Musical, not least as its box office had been hovering schmigadown in the soft-ticket sales zone with the show typically playing to 85% to 90% capacity at the Nederlander Theatre. A strong bounce back is to be expected.
The Lost Boys was the most Tony-nominated musical of 2026 and took away a not-so-shobby, sorry not-so-shabby 4 wins. This should elevate its strong, steady box office performance, recently hitting the $1 million mark. The only fang in the neck is the high-flying running cost estimated at between $650,000 and $800,000 per week.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball has seen strong box office returns thanks to a stream of excellent guest ‘judges’ and a slick marketing operation – but there were signs that it had slightly cooled of late. Three Tony wins for Best Direction of a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Costume Design of a Musical are not unhelpful, but it may well hasten its nine lives with the absence of a Best Revival win. Did we mention – it was robbed.
Of the Broadway musicals nominated who left empty-handed, probably The Rocky Horror Show is the safest. Despite its pricey tickets, it has been consistently selling out at over 99% capacity – so it did not have to wait in antici—pation for any of its nine nominations to come in.
Titaníque‘s run on Broadway has really been softening of late, with weekly grosses dropping below the production’s estimated $900,000 operating costs. With four nominations resulting in nada on the night, it’s hard to escape the conclusion: this ship is sinking.
Similarly, in spite of its eight Tony Award nominations that included Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) did not pick up any wins at last night’s ceremony. It sealed the impression that the show is not and will not be the breakout hit that certainly Brits had hoped it would be. Box Office has been wobbly – it hasn’t grossed above $800,000 since the week ending January 4th, and it regularly plays to houses below 90% capacity. What might be its saving grace – and what makes its future more unpredictable than other shows on the Great White Way – is its presumed small running cost. Two performers, a small orchestra and a simple set do not require many candles on that cake to keep the lights on at the Longacre Theatre. Despite its snub at the 2026 Tonys, if it continues to run, it may be the show that ushers in a new business model to New York musical theatre.
The Winners
Best Musical
Schmigadoon!
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Caissie Levy, Ragtime
Best Revival of a Play
Death of a Salesman
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Best Revival of a Musical
Ragtime
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
Best Play
Liberation
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Best Direction of a Play
Joe Mantello, Death of a Salesman
Best Direction of a Musical
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
John Lithgow, Giant
Best Choreography
Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Chloe Lamford, Death of a Salesman
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Jack Knowles, Death of a Salesman
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, Ragtime
Best Sound Design of a Play
Mikaal Sulaiman, Death of a Salesman
Best Book of a Musical
Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon!
Best Orchestrations
Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, Schmigadoon!
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon!
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Best Costume Design of a Play
Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels
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