The 78th Annual Tony Award Nominations for 2025- Page 7

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:26pm

Yes.  But sad that this is not recognized.  Not many can do what he does so well in this.  

[TigerBait88]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:29pm

ElephantLoveMedley said: "I might get crucified for asking this, but are we all really so confident that Maybe Happy Ending is the heavy frontrunner for Best Musical? Death Becomes Her and Buena Vista got the same number of nominations as MHE. Death Becomes Her also edged out Shen in Best Actress to get both of their leads nominated. Buena Vista even got a Special Tony. I honestlythink Best Musical is much more competitivethan some on here believe."

For a lot of the musical categories, they basically just copy and pasted. However, only two of the Best Musical nominees got Orchestrations and I’d say MHE has more WOM and industry support than BVSC. Also, I think MHE getting in for costumes was one of the bigger surprise nominations as many experts had them missing there.  Despite the precursors, several editors/journalists still had both Hilty and Simard in so that seems like less of a shock to me. It def seems like MHE vs. Dead Outlaw vs. Death Becomes Her with BVSC just behind. MHE has the edge right now though. 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 01:29 PM

[Papi2013]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:30pm

Kad said: "Sieber is great in DBH and has plenty of opportunity to shine- but ultimately Ernest is the straight man in a high-camp diva showcase."

It is a shame he was not nominated.  He is doing fantastic work. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:35pm

Had Ms Shen been nominated (and as many have said, she deserves to have been), Maybe Happy Ending could have bragged “The most Tony nominations of 2025”. That would have been a beautiful accomplishment for the show. 

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:40pm

So what’s next for the Nederlander, Imperial, and Broadhurst?

 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:40pm

Some wonderful surprises. For me, Julia Knitel, whose lovely, complex work I saw only yesterday, and Taylor Trensch, who is remarkable in the most difficult supporting role in Floyd. Oh, and Jessica Hecht, maybe more expected, who defined the nuanced brilliance of Eureka Day. If you read the play, Hecht's character on the page is almost insufferably smug. Hecht's take was simply to strip away the sociopolitical archness and find the human being; in the process, the whole narrative turned - the LOL play deepening profoundly - when she exposed her origin story. 

[djoko84]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:43pm

ElephantLoveMedley said: "I might get crucified for asking this, but are we all really so confident that Maybe Happy Ending is the heavy frontrunner for Best Musical? Death Becomes Her and Buena Vista got the same number of nominations as MHE. Death Becomes Her also edged out Shen in Best Actress to get both of their leads nominated. Buena Vista even got a Special Tony. I honestlythink Best Musical is much more competitivethan some on here believe."

I'm going with it being the lock. You can mark this post. 

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:43pm

Minor quibble, but after looking at the list for a bit longer, I’m surprised DEAD OUTLAW didn’t manage an Orchestrations nom. That band is killing it. No pun intended. 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 01:43 PM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:44pm

Is Inglehart blackmailing somebody on the Tony committee? I'm baffled by his inclusion.

Romeo + Juliet getting a nomination when the only reason to see that nonsense was they snubbed Kit Connor?

Super excited by the diversity of nominees, especially spreading across different productions, and beyond...black and white. 

George C. Wolfe getting snubbed? Feels correct. 

I love Camille A. Brown, but her nomination for Gypsy is criminal.

They really liked that Buena Vista Club, didn't they? 

Very sad that Real Women didn't get more love, I agree it just opened too late.

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 01:44 PM

[Phillytheatreguy10]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:48pm

I can kind of see the Shen snub, in my opinion what I think happened is that Criss’ characterization really hurt her. I’m over simplifying, but they are both robots, and while I get she is a newer model, when I first saw the show I had a hard time with his stylization compared to hers. She just comes off as a normal girl where as his angular movements come across as more abstract. To me, it looks like she isn’t doing anything special to become her character- it’s probably a Directing choice, while it makes sense on paper, the execution doesn’t land. This is not to discredit Shen as a performer in any way, her work is beautiful, but I can somewhat see the rationale when stepping back and evaluating the entirety of the piece. For what it’s worth I would’ve liked to see Dez in a featured actor slot, his voice is really special. 

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:49pm

So we'll get performances from?:

Death Becomes Her

Dead Outlaw

Buena Vista Social Club

Operation Mincemeat

Maybe Happy Ending

Floyd Collins

Gypsy

Pirates!

Sunset Boulevard

 

That alone will be absolutely wonderful to sit down and watch. Probably no Boop, RWHC, or Smash performances... 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:50pm

Sutton Ross said: "Sutton Ross said: "And typically I'd feel terrible for Jason Robert Brown always getting screwed. Not this year, he did that sh*t to himself."

Truly baffles me he allowedthisto be that show's Broadway debut.

This is the man who gave us Parade. This is the man who wrote the music and lyrics to Bridges of Madison County, some of the most gorgeous orchestrations I have ever heard in my life. It's insane to me that he brought such below average garbage with horrendous direction intentionally. The Last Five Years has been around for so long, it's done all over the world, theater nerds are so in love with it. It deserved an incredible Broadway debut."

Yes.  Along with some of the Kenny Leon directed shows, Whitney White's direction wins a theater Razzie nom. for the worst musical direction of the season.  Her direction was almost good on Liberation (the show and the cast saved her lack of specificity and, again, creativity).  Last Five Year's direction was lacking creativity, uninspired, disjointed etc.   The casting of Nick Jonas didn't help.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:52pm

Who else just made their initial award predictions in the Audience Rewards pool?

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:52pm

djoko84 said: "Helen J Shen is the biggest snub of the day especially since MHE is going to win Best Musical and a lot of other awards."

Eh, her competition was better (including the not nominated Robyn Hurder).  For a robot, of any version, she played the role like a human and didn't have much wattage.  Not surprised by this at all.

MHE doesn't have Best Musical wrapped up in any way now.  Maybe last Fall or mid winter.  But spring has changed the game.

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 01:52 PM

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:56pm

Leave it to the New York Times, the so-called ''Paper of Record,'' to leave out any mention of Daniel Dae Kim's achievement as the first Asian-American nominated for Leading Actor in a Play in Tonys' 78-year history. 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:57pm

CoffeeBreak said: "Eh, her competition was better (including the not nominated Robyn Hurder). For a robot, of any version, she played the role like a human and didn't have much wattage. Not surprised by this at all."

Finally someone said it. Her work is not the same caliber as the 5 nominated actresses. Nicole and Audra are on the different level entirely from the rest. Nobody should have hard feelings.

 

[djoko84]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:58pm

Does anyone think the producers should've petitioned Shen as featured actress? I think she would've definitely been nominated. Not sure about a win, but definitely a nomination.

[TigerBait88]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 1:59pm

CoffeeBreak said: "djoko84 said: "Helen J Shen is the biggest snub of the day especially since MHE is going to win Best Musical and a lot of other awards."

Eh, her competition was better (including the not nominated Robyn Hurder). For a robot, of any version, she played the role like a human and didn't have much wattage. Not surprised by this at all.

MHE doesn't have Best Musical wrapped up in any way now. Maybe last Fall or mid winter. But spring has changed the game."

Last fall? MHE was hanging on for dear life in the fall. Also, I don’t think Dead Outlaw or BVSC has snuck up on anyone so I don’t think the race has changed much. That being said, I am still nervous as a MHE fan. Very nervous. I always end up broken hearted on TONY Sunday it seems. Fingers crossed and happy for everyone nominated! 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 01:59 PM

[BanjoKazooie]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:01pm

djoko84 said: "Does anyone think the producers should've petitioned Shen as featured actress? I think she would've definitely been nominated. Not sure about a win, but definitely a nomination."

For strategic purposes, possibly, but there's no way the Tony administration would have permitted it. Criss and Shen are unquestionably co-leads in this musical, even if Criss likely has a hair more stage time. I do agree, though, that her snub is a huge shame. It's surprising that the nominators loved the show so much but she wasn't close enough in total votes to expand the Best Actress category.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:02pm

djoko84 said: "Does anyone think the producers should've petitioned Shen as featured actress? I think she would've definitely been nominated. Not sure about a win, but definitely a nomination."

 

There's no way in hell the Administration Committee would have considered her as Featured.

 

[mrshowbiz90210]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:06pm

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "So we'll get performances from?:

Death Becomes Her

Dead Outlaw

Buena Vista Social Club

Operation Mincemeat

Maybe Happy Ending

Floyd Collins

Gypsy

Pirates!

Sunset Boulevard



That alone will be absolutely wonderful to sit down and watch. Probably no Boop, RWHC, or Smash performances..."

we could get Boop! - they did this with Paradise Sq with a showstopper number      

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:06pm

WiCkEDrOcKS said: "I also think the narrativebehind MHE helps its odds.It’s an entirely original musical that debuted on Broadway. It weathered the storm of dismalinitial sales and survived the doldrums of winterto become a hit with both critics and audiences. It truly is the “little show that could.” 
 

It's no longer the "little show that could".  That's DEAD OUTLAW with it's trajectory making its way upward monetarily and in word of mouth.  Also MHE in NO WAY debuted on Broadway.  It debuted in Seoul directed Kim Dong-yeon at Lifeway Hall.  It had multiple Japanese performances.  These productions were the guiding posts/visual "inspirations" - and visually similar, in many ways, to the Broadway production.  A film was also made prior to the Broadway production.   The Arden directed production happened after all of these productions AND his first at the  Alliance in Atlanta - all before Broadway.

DEAD OUTLAW has had only one production, premiering off-Broadway a year ago, 2024 with original musical, book and cast all transferring to Broadway.  The show has had only one single director, David Cromer and no other productions to draw from.  It's the most original and now the little show that could.

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 02:06 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:09pm

You can stop beating that horse, CoffeeBreak. It's dead.

[KarenValentine'sheadband]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:12pm

Sad they just can't bend its rules and add more nominations to a categories when it's needed. This has been a season full of great shows. Adding a few more nominations here and there couldn't have hurt. 

Updated On: 5/1/25 at 02:12 PM

[JSquared2]

Posted: 5/1/25 at 2:15pm

KarenValentine'sheadband said: "Sad they just can't bend its rules and add more nominations to a categories when it's needed. This has been a seasonfull ofgreat shows. Adding a few more nominations here and there couldn't have hurt."

 

The only thing adding more nominees would accomplish is to split the votes of a relatively small group of voters even more so.