Lea Michele v Caissie Levy Tony Race

With Lea campaigning hard for the Tony, curious if yall think it’s enough to beat out Caissie (the front runner as of now)

Lea traditionally gives great performances in shows that (on paper) are bad. Caissie Levy is giving a great performance in a show that is a beloved legend and critical favorite. I think it's gonna be her just on those optics alone.

I also wouldn’t discount Marla Mindelle, Shoshana Bean, or Jessica Vosk, whose shows have all yet to open…

bwaylvsong1 said: "I also wouldn’t discount Marla Mindelle, Shoshana Bean, or Jessica Vosk, whose shows have all yet to open…"

I think Marla Mindelle could win Leading Actress and Best Book. It's one of those seasons where anything could happen.

Updated On: 3/20/26 at 06:45 PM

Why is it that this "versus" **** is only done with actresses?

George in DC said: "Personally I thinkChristiani Pitts for "Two Strangers ..." should win"

I'm definitely with you as of right now. I think Pitts is giving the most well rounded performance.

GirlFromOz68 said: "

that is really not true re Lea. you may not be a fan of her performance but she is giving an acting performance and not just singing. as has been mentioned before she is playing Florence as very tightly wound , holding a lot in as she is a more restrained character than others she has played before. Apparently if Lea isn't playing an extrovert like Rachel or Fanny shes not acting to some people.

Lea talked about her take on the role extensively at the radio event yesterday and that fit with what I saw in her performance.

I think Caissie will likely get the Tony but to say Lea isn't acting is just rubbish."

Agreed. Lea likes to go over the top and Chess is an over the top musical. So when she surprisingly plays very subdued on Chess it's pretty clear that this is her concept of the character. I thought so from the very beginning and I wish Lea had spelled that out in interviews early on like she did at the WNYC concert+interview on Thursday.

Maybe they also want to contrast Freddie and Florence or prevent their scenes together from falling apart.

Book writer Danny Strong discussed the characters with the lead actors over summer 25 and made changes based on their suggestions. In several interviews he singled out Lea as having made the most extensive and in depth contributions. A lot of thought went into Lea's characterization of Florence.

Simply saying that she's not acting ......

I will say that RAGTIME as a whole left me cold and felt static whenever Joshua Henry was not on stage. It was competently done, but nobody aside from Henry did anything that rang bells for me. I’m digging my heels in that I want Levy to win her Tony for NEXT TO NORMAL, because THAT performance ripped me up and, honestly, bested Alice Ripley.

I love TWO STRANGERS, but I did not find Pitts dynamic enough to carry half the show. I thought Tutty was better matched with Phoenix Best. Mindelle is a formidable competitor for TITANIQUE.

I honestly can’t predict because as someone else said, it’s an anything goes and everything could type of season. I’m thinking the likeliest outcome will be Lea Michele winning for CHESS, with the asterisk of it also being for salvaging Funny Girl a few years back. Plus, Tony voters might be of the mindset that, if they want to keep Michele coming back to Broadway, the time to award her might be now.

OhHiii said: "Tony voters will reward Caissie. Not in small part due to her being an industry veteran and being “her turn.” And Ragtime being a big fat hit without stars also helps the cause as others have said. Lea will win a Tony some day, but it won’t be for Chess and voters will know that."

As I said earlier, I suspect Caissie will take it however if we are talking industry veterans and it being their turn, Lea has done 6 shows over 30 years, was unlucky not to get nominated in a stacked year for best actress for SA and would have at the very least been nominated if not won for FG if she had originated. So on that calculation we should call them even.

blug said: "Why is it that this "versus" **** is only done with actresses?"

Because this forum is full of misogynists who hate women and just want to pit them against each other. Is this what you want to hear? That is obviously the implication of your post. Well the real answer is the complete opposite, this forum loves women and loves women in musicals. They recognise they constantly give the most exciting performances and have the most exciting parts. So any “versus” comes from an immense respect that these women are at the top of their game in the top of our art form. One only needs to look at the list of best actress vs actor nominees in a musical over the last 50 years and see why women are talked about more frequently.

clgswff said: "People would have checked out ragtime regardless. Can the same be said about Chess w/o Lea (at least after the initial chess score lovers)?"

No doubt Lea is a star. But she isn’t giving a star turning performance. This year is interesting in that there aren’t any showy roles. Also, assuming Kristen doesn’t get nominated, this will be all first time nominees in the lead actress category. Seems like Caissie has the edge over the other presumptive nominees being in a critically acclaimed show with a solid performance AND being consistently working hard on Broadway for 20 years.