Early within the 2025 Tony Awards, host Cynthia Erivo singled out an “up-and-comer” who landed his first nomination this yr: George Clooney.
The Oscar-winning actor-director was going locations, Erivo prompt, however simply hours later Clooney, who acquired numerous onstage shout-outs throughout the awards ceremony that aired stay on CBS, left the Tonys with out the Broadway play receiving a single award, regardless of being nominated for 5 honors, together with a greatest actor in a play nod for Clooney, which he misplaced to Oh, Mary!‘s Cole Escola.
The play, which has been breaking information with its multimillion-dollar weekly field workplace grosses, closed out its run with a matinée efficiency earlier than Sunday’s awards, after which Clooney quickly went back to his pure hair coloration, which he’d dyed brown for the present, and Saturday evening’s efficiency aired stay on CNN in a extremely touted particular.
Equally, the most recent revival of Gypsy, which landed 5 nominations, together with an historic eleventh nod for Audra McDonald, making her essentially the most Tony-nominated performer in historical past along with holding the report for many awarded performer in Tonys historical past, was additionally shut out Sunday evening, with McDonald dropping one of the best actress in a musical award to Nicole Scherzinger for Sundown Blvd.
Different notable shutouts included Lifeless Outlaw and John Proctor Is the Villain (seven nominations every), Floyd Collins and Simply in Time (six nominations every) and Actual Girls Have Curves (two nominations), with Actual Girls‘s greatest shot at a win coming within the rating class, the place it misplaced to Possibly Joyful Ending.
Certainly, although Possibly Joyful Ending had already acquired a number of awards by the point Darren Criss‘ title was referred to as as one of the best actor in a musical winner, his win, on his first nomination, was nonetheless considerably of a shock as he was in a good race with Jonathan Groff, who was gunning for his second Tony in a row.
Demise Turns into Her solely gained one award, for greatest costume design, given to Oscar-winner Paul Tazewell, regardless of the musical going into the Tonys in a three-way tie with Possibly Joyful Ending and Buena Vista Social Membership for essentially the most nominations with 10 apiece.
In an upset, Objective gained the Tony Award for greatest play, besting Oh, Mary! and John Proctor Is the Villain, starring Sadie Sink, each of which had been buzzed about — on the field workplace and within the business — and thought of high contenders for the Tony. However Objective, which follows a robust household in Black American politics recovering from scandal, gained the Pulitzer Prize for drama earlier this yr and noticed 5 of its forged members nominated for Tony Awards, together with Kara Younger, who gained a Tony for the second yr in a row.
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the playwright of Objective, additionally gained greatest revival of a play final yr for Applicable, starring Sarah Paulson.
The play class was notably stacked this yr, nonetheless, because it additionally included Sanaz Toossi’s English, which gained the Pulitzer in 2023.
Caitlin Huston contributed to this report.