The 2025 TONY* Nominations

[Note: These are Time Out New York's choices, not the actual Tony Award nominations. A complete list of real 2025 Tony nominations can now be found here.]

This morning we are proud to announce the annual TONY* nominations, which honor the best work on Broadway in the 2024–25 season. We do not wish to confuse, so let us be clear: TONY stands for Time Out New York, and the list below is what we at TONY (i.e. Time Out New York) would nominate for the Tony Awards (i.e. the Antoinette Perry Awards) if we were the Tony Award nominating committee, which we are not. Please also note that we are choosing what we think should be nominated for Tonys, not predicting what we think will be nominated when the official nominations are announced at 8:30am on Thursday, May 1. It has been an extremely busy and competitive season, so several categories are overstuffed with deserving candidates. Choosing among them has been hard, but we've forced ourselves to do it, using the eligibility and category decisions of the actual Tony Awards as guidelines. (Two five-slot categories have expanded to six to reflect ties in our process.) Congratulations to the 2025 TONY* nominees! 

* Time Out New York

RECOMMENDED: Complete guide to the 2025 Tony Awards

Best Play

English by Sanaz Toossi
The Hills of California by Jez Butterworth
John Proctor Is the Villain by Kimberly Belflower
Oh, Mary! by Cole Escola
Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Best Musical

Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Just in Time
Maybe Happy Ending
Real Women Have Curves

Best Revival of a Play

Eureka Day
Glengarry Glen Ross
Our Town
Yellow Face

Best Revival of a Musical

Elf the Musical
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Blvd.

Best Book of a Musical

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
Warren Leight and Isaac Oliver, Just in Time
Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin, Real Women Have Curves
Itamar Moses, Dead Outlaw
Marco Pennette, Death Becomes Her

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Will Aronson and Hue Park, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts, Operation Mincemeat
Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez, Real Women Have Curves 
Julia Mattison and Noel Carey, Death Becomes Her
David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna, Dead Outlaw

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Jake Gyllenhaal, Othello
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Jim Parsons, Our Town

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor Is the Villain
Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
Grey Henson, Elf The Musical
David Hyde Pierce, Pirates! The Penzance Musical

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, Boop! The Musical
Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Helen J Shen, Maybe Happy Ending
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Glenn Davis, Purpose
Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor Is the Villain
Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Michael McKean, Glengarry Glen Ross
Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Alana Arenas, Purpose
Tala Ashe, English
Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day
Marjan Neshat, English
Kara Young, Purpose

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, Smash
Nicholas Barasch, Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat
Michael Urie, Once Upon a Mattress

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves
Lesli Margherita, Gypsy
Michele Pawk, Just in Time 
Bernadette Peters, Old Friends

Best Direction of a Play

Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Phylicia Rashad, Purpose
Danya Taymor, John Proctor Is the Villain
Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Blvd.
Alex Timbers, Just in Time
George C. Wolfe, Gypsy

Best Choreography

Joshua Bergasse, Smash
Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jerry Mitchell, Boop! The Musical
Liam Steel, Elf

Best Orchestrations

Will Aronson, Maybe Happy Ending
Doug Besterman, Smash
Jason Robert Brown, The Last Five Years
Bruce Coughlin, Floyd Collins
Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether and 59 (Benjamin Pearcy and Leo Warner), Stranger Things: The First Shadow
dots, Romeo + Juliet
Marg Horwell and David Bergman, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Scott Pask, Glengarry Glen Ross

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Jason Ardizzone-West and Hana S. Kim, Redwood
Soutra Gilmour, Nathan Amzi and Joe Ransom, Sunset Blvd.
Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending
Derek McLane, Just in Time
David Rockwell and Finn Ross, Boop! The Musical

Best Costume Design of a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, Good Night, and Good Luck
Enver Chakartash, Romeo + Juliet
Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Rob Howell, The Hills of California
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Dede Ayite, Buena Vista Social Club
Gregg Barnes, Boop! The Musical
Clint Ramos, Maybe Happy Ending
Paul Tazewell, Death Become Her
Catherine Zuber, Just in Time

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Natasha Chivers, The Hills of California
Nick Schlieper, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, John Proctor Is the Villain
Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, Good Night, and Good Luck
Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Best Lighting Design of a Musical 

Heather Gilbert, Dead Outlaw
Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
Philip S. Rosenberg, Boop! The Musical
Ben Stanton, Maybe Happy Ending
Justin Townsend, Just in Time

Best Sound Design of a Play

Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Palmer Heffera, John Proctor Is the Villain
Daniel Kluger, Good Night, and Good Luck
Cody Spencer, Romeo + Juliet
Clemence Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club
Adam Fisher, Sunset Blvd.
Peter Hylenski, Maybe Happy Ending
Scott Lehrer, Gypsy
Dan Moses Schreier, Floyd Collins