The theater elite gathered at Radio City Music Hall on June 8 for the 78th Tony Awards. Host Cynthia Erivo stunned the audience with her powerhouse vocals and timely musical parodies. The night awarded this year’s biggest talents the pinnacle of theatrical recognition.
But if you missed it or desperately want to relive the best moments, we have you covered. Here are the nine best moments of the 2025 Tony Awards (in no particular order).
Cynthia Erivo
Our silver-screen Elphaba hosted this year’s celebration of theater and, by all accounts (aka the people of the Internet), crushed it. The massive star opened the show with an incredible song.
Erivo also gave us multiple hilarious bits:
A Giant Pride Celebration
It’s widely recognized that the theater community offers comfort and solace to many queer people, with queer individuals making up a significant part of that world. Because of this, the biggest night of the year for theater people is also a place for queer people to celebrate their identity, openly and unabashedly. The Tony Awards were almost like a giant, star-studded, nationally televised celebration for Pride, perfect for a ceremony typically held during Pride Month.
Many moments celebrated Pride. For instance, Cole Escola won an award for their role in Oh Mary!
Another example? The performance for the Tony-nominated show, Death Becomes Her, performed a number called “For the Gaze,” complete with a rainbow-clad chorus line and a literal trans-pride flag costume.
Michael Arden won the award for Best Direction of a Musical and shared his Pride in his acceptance speech.
Audra McDonald
Absolute Broadway legend, eleven-time Tony nominee, and six-time Tony winner, Audra McDonald absolutely stole the show. She performed “Rose’s Turn” from Gypsy, a Broadway revival in which she currently stars as Mama Rose. She’s been praised for the singing, acting, and emotion she showed while performing during the ceremony (though many say she was snubbed by Nicole Scherzinger for the award for Best Actress in a Musical, which Scherzinger won for her role in Sunset Boulevard).
McDonald’s performance left us absolutely speechless, so instead of trying to describe it, here it is in all of its glory.
A Good Night for Representation
Awards ceremonies typically make headlines for historical nominations and wins, and this year’s Tony Awards are no exception.
- Escola became the first nonbinary actor to win the award for Best Actor in a Play (the first nonbinary actors to win the award for musicals were J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell). Escola won the award for their performance as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh Mary! (And we love their ode to fellow Tony winner Bernadette Peters.)
- Kara Young was the first Black person to win two Tony awards, consecutively (last year, Young won for her role as Lutiebelle in Purlie Victorious; this year, Young won for her role as Aziza Houston in Purpose).
- Darren Criss made history as the Asian actor to win the Tony for Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Oliver in Maybe Happy Ending.
- And Maybe Happy Ending made history as the first South Korean show to win a Tony.
Jonathan Groff in All His Glory
Broadway stud, Jonathan Groff, performed in not one but two numbers during the ceremony. The perennial musical theater star was nominated this year for his role as Bobby Darin in Just in Time.
His first performance was as Bobby (complete with basically a lap dance for Keanu Reeves).
His second performance of the night was reprising his role as King George in the Hamilton tenth anniversary performance.
The Celebration of Ten Years of ‘Hamilton’
Ten years ago, Lin-Manuel Miranda forever changed the trajectory of Broadway by debuting Hamilton, the Grammy-, Tony-, and Pulitzer-prize-winning rap opera about the life and death of the founding father Alexander Hamilton. While this is not the first event in the celebration marking a decade, this may be the biggest. The entire original cast—including Leslie Odom Jr., Phillipa Soo, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Chris Jackson, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Groff, and Miranda—reunited for a remix of the original music, earning the cast a standing ovation.
A production of the original cast on Broadway was filmed and released on Disney+ in 2020 for your viewing pleasure.
‘Glee’ Icons Proved the Perennial Legendary Status of the Series
The Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated series proved once again to be an icon for the ages. The awards ceremony was filled with plenty of alumni from the dramatic show, Glee, based on an Ohio high school’s glee club; Criss and Groff were both on Glee, as was Lea Michele, who presented an award. And Chris Colfer, whose love interest on the show was played by Criss, got the chance to celebrate his former co-star’s achievement (virtually breaking the theater and Glee-obsessed sides of the Internet).
Men’s Wear Slayed the Red Carpet
While every red carpet is filled with beautiful gowns and women rocking their own style, men’s wear typically takes the back, boring, black-tuxedo seat. But this year’s Tonys gave us men’s wear for the ages.
Teasing Next Season’s Shows
While the award ceremonies celebrate the year’s achievements, they also give the industry a chance to tease what’s in store for the future. This year’s Tonys teased two new shows: Reeves will make his Broadway debut in Waiting for Godot, alongside Alex Winter. The show will open in January 2026. Michele will star alongside Aaron Tveit in Chess, opening this fall.
Whether those two shows, or four actors, will reappear at next year’s Tonys, we can’t know for sure. But we’ll be sure to let you know when they do.
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