Live Blog: Backstage at the 2025 Tony Awards

The 78th Annual Tony Awards are here at last! While we are glued to our TVs to find out what will happen next onstage, just as much is going on behind the curtain! All night long, A.A. Cristi will be sharing live updates from backstage at Radio City Music Hall.

How does it feel to be a Tony winner? What project is up next? Who did they forget to thank? Find out straight from the winners themselves!

FULL LIST OF WINNERS

[12:11 AM] That's a wrap, BroadwayWorld! Thanks for joining me on my press room adventure! Until next year!

[11:30 PM] Operation Mincemeat Best Featured Actor in a Musical winner Jak Malone shared his feelings on his lengthy journey to the Tony Awards with the press room: "I grew up in a small town in Merseyside, and I was obsessed with Broadway. And you just have to convince yourself that these things don't happen to people like you. You just do. It's too far away. Geographically, it's too far away. So to have been here, it's kind of like my dream place. And for it to be so wonderful, everybody's been so kind to me. And for them to say, hey, you know what, what you did is worthy of the highest accolade that we can give. It's the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm so grateful."'

[11:10 PM] With one revival under his belt and a brand new Evita in the works, Tony Award-winning Sunset Blvd. director Jamie Lloyd reveals the third Andrew Lloyd Webber musical he would like to recreate: "Jesus Christ Superstar."

[10:45 PM] Oh, Mary! dream team Cole Escola and Sam Pinkleton received an enthusiastic welcome from the press room, fresh off their wins for Best Leading Actor in a Play and Best Director of a Play. Of their win, Cole shared that they feel, "f*cking great." When asked about those who still question the commercial viability of queer art, Cole's sentiments were simple: "F*ck off." Sam shared some insights into how Oh, Mary! has informed his approach to his upcoming revival of The Rocky Horror Show: "In talking to the designers, I was like, 'This is your worst nightmare. Look how fun it is!' It's just so much more fun. Allow yourself that. You get more lucky." Sam and Cole took a quick Q&A break to take in the highly-anticipated announcement of Best Leading Actress in a Musical, celebrating with the press as Nicole Scherzinger accepted the award.

[10:25 PM] Best Director of a Musical winner Michael Arden is greeted with applause as he enters the press room. The two-time Tony-winner shared his leadership philosophy as a director: "I think leadership is about acknowledging that everyone has something incredibly valuable that we don't know about...I always start every morning with a circle. There's no hierarchy in the circle, and making sure that I'm creating space to feel free to get things wrong. You can never find greatness by getting it right."

[10:11 PM] Purpose playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins and the press took a break from his Q&A to celebrate Cole Escola's Tony win for Best Leading Actor in a Play. The Pulitzer Prize-winner and two-time Tony-winner shared the process of creating such an acclaimed and special work and if there was any early indication of what was to come: "No. No idea. And honestly, I think that’s the truth with any creative work, you don’t know. You just wake up and hold it, a little more each day, and try to stay open to where it wants to go. I’ve worked on pieces we thought would never land that turned out to be huge. And others we thought were bulletproof that struggled. The only thing you can do is trust your collaborators and believe that the work is worth doing. That it means something. And somehow, if you’re lucky, it will be worth it."

[9:50 PM] In her visit to the press room, Best Featured Actress in a Musical Tony-winner, Natalie Venetia Belcon, celebrated the power of bringing the music of Buena Vista Social Club to a new generation, as well as a whole new audience, "The language doesn’t have to be a barrier. The feeling, the rhythm, the emotional truth of it, it translates. Even in the darkness, it translates. So yes, I hope young people come and feel proud. I hope they remember where they come from and realize that those roots are beautiful. That their culture, their stories, their music, it all belongs on this stage. It’s for everyone."

[9:35 PM] Special Tony Award winners, the band of Buena Vista Social Club, shared what it means to bring Cuban music to the Broadway stage and to be recognized for their contribution: "It’s the whole culture of one country. All the music. All the love. All the pain. All the suffering. The legacy. The joy. And the responsibility to carry that forward, to hold it, honor it, and lift it to the highest level we possibly can. That’s what it is. That’s what it means."

[9:22 PM] Two-time Tony Award-winner Kara Young is greeted with applause as she enters the press room just in time to catch Purpose playwright Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins' acceptance speech for Best Play. Members of the press share their listening devices as Kara emotionally listens to her collegue accept his award. Kara shared her reaction to her history-making Tony win and what advice she has for younger performers as well as her younger self. "I’m just so honored to be here," she shared, "The brilliant Elizabeth Rodriguez once told me, she said, “Don’t let anybody clip your wings.” That stuck with me. And if I hadn’t heard that, I don’t know where I’d be...We all have infinite abilities inside of us. Every single day is a chance to expand, to grow, to fly a little further than we did yesterday. If I could go back and speak to my younger self, I’d tell her the same thing, you are not limited by what others see in you. Keep going. But I’d also say that every hard moment, every lesson, every step of this path has been part of what shaped me. Nothing was wasted."

[9:15 PM] Two-time Tony-winners Will Aronson and Hue Park discusssed the popularity of Maybe Happy Ending's breakout, inanimate cast member, a potted plant lovingly known as HwaBoon. When asked how the Maybe Happy Ending prop/star is enjoying its American popularity, they shared, "In South Korea, he’s a bit more humble. More awkward. But here in America? I think he enjoys the spotlight a little too much...He’s kind of a diva, honestly. We love him, but… yeah. A diva."

[9:05 PM] The press room explodes in applause as Natalie Venetia Belcon wins Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Buena Vista Social Club and cracks up at her Jason Momoa shoutout.

[8:57 PM] Emmy Award-winner Sarah Snook can now add a Tony to her mantle thanks to her mind-bending portrayal of 26 characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray.  In her visit to the press room, Sarah shared her experiences making her Broadway debut and the excitement of her first Tonys season. She said, "There’s this very unique circuit where you end up at events with people who were nominated with you, or even against you, but it doesn’t feel competitive. You just keep running into each other, seeing each other’s work, cheering each other on. It’s so special to meet the people who are creating art at the exact same moment you are. You stand side by side, sometimes in wildly different roles, and there’s this mutual recognition: “Ah, you’re doing that thing, too. I see you.” It makes this whole experience feel less like a spotlight and more like a constellation. We’re all stepping out to tell our stories, and somehow, we’re telling one together."

[8:46 PM] Yellow Face Best Featured Actor in a Play winner Francis Jue celebrates Kara Young's historic win as he chats with the press. In his visit, Francis shared his journey to his Tony dream and his pride in bringing this work to Broadway at this moment in time, "We’re living in a moment that’s challenging us to ask whether we still believe in the values we once thought were foundational. And David, through this play, and with the incredible direction of David Silverman, gives us an answer. A firm, hopeful, and deeply personal yes."

[8:40 PM] Lifetime Achievement Award-winner Harvey Fierstein graces the press room with his fabulous presence. The theatre legend shared his perspective on using theatre to bring necessary light to dark times. "The truth is, I try to remember that hate only gets you so far. It has its limits. But yes, I’m frightened. Truly frightened, especially when I see people proudly voting for policies and politicians who openly want to erase people like me. That kind of rhetoric, that kind of power, it’s terrifying." He continued, "But that’s why I keep doing what I do. That’s why I believe in joy as a radical act. Joy is resistance. Joy is healing. And joy is contagious."

[8:24 PM] An audible celebration in the press room as Francis Jue picks up a win for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in Yellow Face.

[8:21 PM] Marg Horwell, a winner for her costumes for The Picture of Dorian Gray, celebrated her collaborative effort with star Sarah Snook to create the sartorial world of the play. According to Howell, the two spend over 200 hours on hair and makeup tests alone. She explained, "When you're working with one performer across an entire show, it becomes such an intimate collaboration. Over time, you start designing for them, how they move, how they hold themselves, the energy they bring into a room. It’s an incredible relationship that builds over years, and you become very attuned to their presence."

[8:07 PM] Academy Award-winner and multi-Tony Award winning costume designer, Paul Tazewell, shared his longstanding love of the film, Death Becomes Her, and shared how his emotional connection to the material and its themes informed his opulent designs: "It speaks to how we see ourselves, to ageism, to body standards and identity, all of these issues that are still so relevant. So for me, the joy is in creating that balance: building a world that feels plausible and then filling it with bold, joyful, heightened moments… all while making sure the emotional truth still lands. That’s where the magic happens." 

[8:00 PM] The Tony Awards are officially underway and host Cynthia Erivo has taken the stage for the opening number as the illusions team from Stranger Things: The First Shadow celebrate their Special Tony Award in the press room.

[7:55 PM] Two-time Tony Award-winners Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, discussed the experience of adapting Broadway's Maybe Happy Ending from its original Korean productions. They shared, "Our visual language diverged quite a bit from the Korean productions. But what’s so incredible about this piece, and what speaks to the strength of the writing, as evidenced by the shelf full of awards these guys have earned, is that it can take on many interpretations. It doesn’t require any one version to be effective."

[7:48 PM] “Stay alive. Stay with it. No matter what happens, keep believing in yourself, even when no one else does. Especially then,” shared Excellence in Theatre Education Award winner Gary Edwin Robinson, when asked his advice for students heading into a career in theatre.

[7:40 PM] "Make it really dark and really loud," was the reply from the Stranger Things: The First Shadow lighting design team when asked what the secret is to scaring audiences. When asked about working on such an iconic bit of IP, the team agreed, "Designing something that people already know so well definitely came with pressure. But it was also a thrill to ask, “How can we reimagine this for the stage, in a way that honors what fans love, but also stands on its own as a piece of live theatre?”

[7:36 PM] Sunset Blvd. lighting designer Max Knowles celebrated his win by saluting the team behind the show and the painstaking process of bringing the show's minimalist world to life in lights. He shared, "It’s a happy story, and there’s a lot of beauty in the simplicity of how it’s told. But it’s also layered with meaning, and that only comes through when everyone’s completely in sync, which we were. So yes, if you weren’t in the room with us, you might not know how much work went into making it feel that light, but trust me, it was an incredibly thoughtful and rewarding process."

[7:20 PM] Buena Vista Social Club choreographers, Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, celebrated their partnership in dance and in life, taking home the award for Best Choreography as couple. Peck also discussed adapting new styles of dance to the musical theatre form, saying, "We wanted to mix Afro-Cuban styles and Cuban ballet and contemporary dance. And in Cuba there's a lot of respect for all styles of dance. And they're really good at all styles of dance. So we just felt like we could just take it all and kind of melt together and create a new aesthetic for what Cuban dance is."

[7:10 PM] Tony Award-winners Jonathan Deans and Paul Arditti stopped by the press room following their wins for Buena Vista Social Club and Stranger Things: The First Shadow.

[6:55 PM] Curtain up! Light the lights! The Tony Awards Act One is officially underway and the press room is anticipating a visit from its first winners of the night! Members of the press arrived to custom Stanley cups filled with candy, courtesy of the Tony Awards Excellence in Theatre Education Award, sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University!