Final Chance to Vote for the 2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards

This is the final chance to vote for the 2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards. The Theater Fans' Choice Awards honor and celebrate the best of New York Theater - as decided by the most important critics, the audience at large - allowing YOU to have your say during the most exciting time of the year for the theater community.

Now celebrating our 23nd year, the Theater Fans' Choice Awards continue to be the grandest fan-based awards of their kind. Voting is open to everyone, and we're excited to showcase an all-star lineup of nominees in categories that not only reflect the popular critical awards, but also include fan-favorite categories for Best Tour, Ensemble, and Off-Broadway shows.

Year after year, we've shattered records with the number of votes, and we can't wait to see the curtain rise on another record-breaking year. Don't miss your chance to vote! Voting is open now and runs through the end of the day on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2026.

Now that the critics and nominators have had their say, let your voice be heard and shine a spotlight on your favorites in the world of New York theater.

So, without any further delay, click here to vote!

Best Book of a Musical

David Hornsby, Chris Hoch, David Hornsby, Chris Hoch - The Lost Boys - 30%
Jim Barne, Kit Buchan - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 24%
Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon! - 24%
Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli - Titanique - 17%
Iris Rainer Dart, Thom Thomas - Beaches - 4%
Lindsey Ferrentino - The Queen of Versailles - 2%

Best Choreography

Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon! - 20%
Lauren Yalango-Grant, Christopher Cree Grant - The Lost Boys - 18%
Omari Wiles, Arturo Lyons - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 18%
Lorin Latarro - Chess - 17%
Ellenore Scott - Titanique - 7%
Tim Jackson - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 6%
Ellenore Scott - Ragtime - 5%
Ani Taj - The Rocky Horror Show - 4%
Anthony Van Laast - Mamma Mia! - 4%
Connor Gallagher - Beetlejuice - 2%

Best Costume Design

Ryan park - The Lost Boys - 21%
Qween Jean - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 15%
Linda Cho - Schmigadoon! - 14%
Linda Cho - Ragtime - 10%
Alejo Vietti - Titanique - 8%
David I. Reynoso - The Rocky Horror Show - 7%
Tom Broecker - Chess - 6%
Soutra Gilmour - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 3%
William Ivey Long - Beetlejuice - 3%
Mark Thompson - Mamma Mia! - 2%

Best Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden - The Lost Boys - 26%
Michael Mayer - Chess - 14%
Lear deBessonet - Ragtime - 13%
Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon! - 10%
Tim Jackson - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 10%
Zhailon Levingston, Bill Rauch - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 9%
Tye Blue - Titanique - 8%
Sam Pinkleton - The Rocky Horror Show - 4%
Alex Timbers - Beetlejuice - 4%
Phyllida Lloyd - Mamma Mia! - 2%

Best Direction of a Play

Joe Mantello - Death of a Salesman - 21%
Duncan MacMillan, Jeremy Herrin - Every Brilliant Thing - 16%
Whitney White - Liberation - 10%
Debbie Allen - Joe Turner's Come and Gone - 6%
Robert Icke - Oedipus - 5%
Jamie Lloyd - Waiting for Godot - 4%
Nicholas Hytner - Giant - 4%
David Cromer - The Fear of 13 - 3%
Rupert Goold - Dog Day Afternoon - 3%
Thomas Kail - Proof - 3%

Best Ensemble

Chess - 19%
The Lost Boys - 18%
Schmigadoon! - 12%
Ragtime - 11%
CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 9%
Titanique - 8%
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 4%
Mamma Mia! - 3%
The Rocky Horror Show - 3%
Death of a Salesman - 2%

Best Featured Performer in a Musical

Ali Louis Bourzgui - The Lost Boys, A New Musical - 20%
Bryce Pinkham - Chess - 10%
Ben Levi Ross - Ragtime - 7%
Hannah Cruz - Chess - 6%
Shoshana Bean - The Lost Boys, A New Musical - 4%
Layton Williams - Titanique - 4%
McKenzie Kurtz - Schmigadoon! - 3%
Ana Gasteyer - Schmigadoon! - 3%
André De Shields - Cats: The Jellicle Ball - 3%
Ayaan Diop - Schmigadoon! - 3%

Best Featured Performer in a Play

Laurie Metcalf - Death of a Salesman - 10%
June Squibb - Marjorie Prime - 5%
Ben Ahlers - Death of a Salesman - 5%
Danny Burstein - Marjorie Prime - 5%
Christopher Abbott - Death of a Salesman - 5%
Alden Ehrenreich - Becky Shaw - 5%
Don Cheadle - Proof - 3%
Patrick Ball - Becky Shaw - 3%
Kara Young - Proof - 3%
Betsy Aidem - Liberation - 3%

Best Lead Performer in a Musical

LJ Benet - The Lost Boys, A New Musical - 17%
Joshua Henry - Ragtime - 16%
Nicholas Christopher - Chess - 9%
Marla Mindelle - Titanique - 8%
Aaron Tveit - Chess - 8%
Lea Michele - Chess - 7%
Sam Tutty - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 7%
Caissie Levy - Ragtime - 5%
Alex Brightman - Schmigadoon! - 4%
Luke Evans - The Rocky Horror Show - 4%

Best Lead Performer in a Play

Daniel Radcliffe - Every Brilliant Thing - 28%
Nathan Lane - Death of a Salesman - 14%
John Lithgow - Giant - 6%
Ayo Edebiri - Proof - 6%
Keanu Reeves - Waiting For Godot - 4%
Laurie Metcalf - Little Bear Ridge Road - 4%
Susannah Flood - Liberation - 4%
Adrien Brody - The Fear of 13 - 4%
Lesley Manville - Oedipus - 4%
Carrie Coon - Bug - 4%

Best Lighting Design

Jen Schriever, Michael Arden - The Lost Boys - 32%
Kevin Adams - Chess - 14%
Jack Knowles - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 7%
Paige Seber - Titanique - 7%
Adam Honoré - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 7%
Adam Honoré, Donald Holder - Ragtime - 6%
Donald Holder - Schmigadoon! - 5%
Jack Knowles - Death of a Salesman - 3%
Jane Cox - The Rocky Horror Show - 3%
Jack Knowles - Every Brilliant Thing - 3%

Best Long-Running Broadway Show

Hadestown - 20%
Hamilton - 17%
Wicked - 13%
The Outsiders - 9%
Moulin Rouge! The Musical - 8%
The Book of Mormon - 5%
& Juliet - 5%
The Lion King - 5%
The Great Gatsby - 5%
Chicago - 4%

Best New Musical

The Lost Boys - 33%
Schmigadoon! - 25%
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 22%
Titanique - 14%
The Queen of Versailles - 4%
Beaches - 4%

Best New Play

Liberation - 29%
Giant - 17%
Dog Day Afternoon - 16%
The Fear of 13 - 12%
The Balusters - 9%
Call Me Izzy - 7%
Little Bear Ridge Road - 6%
Punch - 5%

Best Off-Broadway Musical

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - New World Stages - 24%
Mexodus - Minetta Lane Theatre - 12%
Bat Boy - City Center - 8%
The Last Five Years - Radio City Music Hall - 7%
Gotta Dance with AMERICAN DANCE MACHINE - The York Theatre Company - 4%
The Baker's Wife - Classic Stage Company - 4%
Bigfoot! A New Musical - City Center Stage 1 - 3%
The Wild Party - City Center - 3%
Romy & Michele: The Musical - Stage 42 - 3%
44 - The Musical - Daryl Roth Theatre - 2%

Best Off-Broadway Play

A Christmas Carol (Thorne Adaptation) - PAC NYC - 8%
Prince F****t - Playwrights Horizons - 6%
Andre De Shields is Tartuffe - House of the Redeemer - 5%
Kenrex - Lucille Lortel Theatre - 4%
Eurydice - The Pershing Square Signature Center - 3%
Othello (Shakespeare) - West End Theatre - 2%
Anna Christie - St. Ann's Warehouse - 2%
Antigone (This Play I Read in High School) - Joseph Papp Public Theater/Anspacher Theatre - 2%
A Bodega Princess Remembers La Fiesta de los Reyes Magos, 1998 - Lucille Lortel Theatre - 2%
Are the Bennet Girls Ok? - West End Theatre - 2%

Best Orchestrations

Anders Eljas, Brian Usifer - Chess - 22%
Ethan Popp, The Rescues - The Lost Boys - 22%
William David Brohn - Ragtime - 13%
Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 9%
Doug Besterman, Mike Morris - Schmigadoon! - 9%
Lux Pyramid - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 8%
Nicholas James Connell - Titanique - 7%
Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Martin Koch - Mamma Mia! - 4%
Richard Hartley - The Rocky Horror Show - 3%
Kris Kukul - Beetlejuice - 2%

Best Original Score

The Rescues , The Rescues - The Lost Boys - 38%
Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon! - 26%
Jim Barne, Kit Buchan - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 26%
Stephen Schwartz - The Queen of Versailles - 7%
Mike Stoller - Beaches - 4%

Best Revival of a Musical

Ragtime - 37%
Chess - 29%
CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 20%
The Rocky Horror Show - 15%

Best Revival of a Play

Death of a Salesman - 32%
Every Brilliant Thing - 27%
Oedipus - 9%
Proof - 7%
Becky Shaw - 6%
Fallen Angels - 5%
Waiting for Godot - 4%
Joe Turner's Come and Gone - 3%
Bug - 3%
Marjorie Prime - 3%

Best Scenic Design

Dane Laffrey - The Lost Boys - 33%
Scott Pask - Schmigadoon! - 10%
Soutra Gilmour - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 9%
David Rockwell - Chess - 9%
Gabriel Hainer Evansohn, Grace Laubacher - Titanique - 7%
David Korins - Ragtime - 4%
David Korins - Beetlejuice - 3%
dots - The Rocky Horror Show - 3%
Rachel Hauck - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 3%
Vicki Mortimer - Every Brilliant Thing - 2%

Best Sound Design

Adam Fisher - The Lost Boys - 32%
John Shivers - Chess - 15%
Kai Harada - Ragtime - 8%
Tony Gayle - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 7%
Lawrence Schober - Titanique - 7%
Walter Trarbach - Schmigadoon! - 6%
Kai Harada - CATS: The Jellicle Ball - 4%
Brian Ronan - The Rocky Horror Show - 4%
Tom Gibbons - Every Brilliant Thing - 3%
Andrew Bruce, Bobby Aitken - Mamma Mia! - 2%

Best Touring Production

Hadestown - 12%
Hamilton - 9%
Les Misérables - 9%
& Juliet - 7%
Wicked - 7%
Beetlejuice - 6%
Come From Away - 5%
Mamma Mia! - 4%
Moulin Rouge! The Musical - 4%
SIX - 3%

So, without any further delay, click here to vote!

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Direction of a Play - Top 3

1. Joe Mantello - Death of a Salesman

21.3% of votes

2. Duncan MacMillan, Jeremy Herrin - Every Brilliant Thing

15.5% of votes

3. Whitney White - Liberation

9.9% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats