What Makes a Revival?
Is a' Best Revival' Tony nominee always an old show? We're breaking down the rules.
The 2025/26 Broadway season has come to a close, leaving theater fans in high anticipation for the 2026 Tony Awards nominations. This season welcomed 34 total productions; 17 were new shows and 15 were revivals.
While plays like Becky Shaw, Every Brilliant Thing, Marjorie Prime, and Bug, made their Broadway debuts this season, all four will be considered revivals. So what exacatly makes a show a revival?
Whether a show fits into the Best Play/Musical category or the Best Revival of a Play/Musical category is ultimately decided by the Tony Awards Administration committee. Typically, productions are categorized as revivals if they are considered a “classic” or part of the established theatrical canon.
For example, Becky Shaw, Every Brilliant Thing, Marjorie Prime, and Bug have all previously run off-Broadway or regionally years (and in some cases, decades) leading up to their Broadway debuts, making them already established pieces of theatre. They are therefore considered revivals by the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.
New shows, like The Fear of 13, Liberation, Giant, and Little Bear Ridge Road, have already debuted off-Broadway or regionally, but have done so recently, and mostly with original production elements/team in tact. They are therefore considered new plays by the Tony Awards Nominating Committee.
Authors of revivals do not necessarily miss out on their opportunity for a Tony Award. If the show did not have any prior presentation in an eligible Broadway theatre, and if they are living at the time that the production receives this determination, they are eligible along with the producers of the production. They can also be elligible if they substantially re-work the play or musical.
Read more Tony Awards Rules and Regulations
Revivals of the 2025/26 Broadway season include:
Play Revivals
Art
Waiting for Godot
Oedipus
Marjorie Prime
Bug
Every Brilliant Thing
Becky Shaw
Death of a Salesman
Proof
Fallen Angels
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Musical Revivals
Ragtime
Chess
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
The Rocky Horror Show
Learn more about how the Tony nominees are decided.
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