1 Minute Critic saw every Tony-nominated show this season. Here’s what we thought in a hot sec.
Best Musical
‘The Lost Boys’: a bloody good blockbuster in a thirsty Broadway season — The Lost Boys delivers a gleefully propulsive blockbuster that breaks Broadway’s vampire musical curse and gives a desperate season exactly what it needs. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)’ delivers more crumbs than confection — Sam Tutty and Christiani Pitts serve up charm in Two Strangers, but this Broadway recipe needs more time in the oven. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Titaníque’ arrives on Broadway bedazzled, afloat & kooky-krazy as ever — Bigger stage, shinier hull, same kooky-krazy heart. Titaníque earns its Broadway berth, sequins and all. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Schmigadoon!’ has the charm, the corn pudding & a cast that deserves more to chew on — Getting stuck in the charming town of Schmigadoon! won’t change your life, but you’ll enjoy the visit—even if you can’t remember what you were humming by the time you get home. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Best Revival of a Musical
‘Chess’ returns to Broadway with a Cold War that feels white hot — Broadway’s Chess may spotlight its stars, but this revival proves every piece matters in a Cold War musical that finally finds its winning strategy. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Ragtime’ returns to Broadway with undeniable urgency and uncomfortable truths — The great American musical returns: Ragtime‘s latest revival proves its message of social justice remains heartbreakingly relevant today. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
With a dip and a fan clack, ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ pounces back to Broadway — A ballroom-world reimagining of Cats that earns its swagger: fierce, joyful, and nearly everything it wants to be. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Luke Evans goes for it. But ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ isn’t sure what it’s going for — Luke Evans earns every inch of those heels, but Roundabout’s revival of The Rocky Horror Show delivers more controlled experiment than midnight mayhem. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Best Play
Bess Wohl’s ‘Liberation’ reveals why 70s feminism was more complicated than the sisterhood myth — Bess Wohl’s Liberation examines a 1970s women’s consciousness-raising group through the eyes of the present day, with an ensemble that shines in this unapologetic memory play. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
What makes a beloved children’s author so unlovable? John Lithgow in ‘Giant’ towers over the answer — John Lithgow captivates in Giant, an unflinching dismantling of Roald Dahl’s antisemitism and what it costs us to love the art beyond the artist. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
In ‘The Balusters,’ the real threat to the neighborhood is the neighbors — The real threat to Vernon Point isn’t a stop sign—it’s the people voting on it. David Lindsay-Abaire’s The Balusters is razor-sharp and hits uncomfortably close to home. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Samuel D. Hunter’s ‘Little Bear Ridge Road’ proves real people aren’t always desperately doing things — Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock earned their Tony buzz in Little Bear Ridge Road, an intimate family drama about the ghosts we live with and the words we can’t say. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Best Revival of a Play
Nathan Lane in ‘Death of a Salesman’ asks: how much of Willy Loman lives in you? — Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf are devastating, but it’s Mantello’s anachronistic, decade-spanning staging that makes this Death of a Salesman unforgettable. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara make irresistible boozy besties in ‘Fallen Angels’ — Roundabout’s Fallen Angels is slow to start but worth the wait. Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara are a champagne-soaked delight. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Daniel Radcliffe high-fives the entire Hudson Theatre, and that’s kind of the problem — Daniel Radcliffe is everything you want in Every Brilliant Thing. The Hudson Theatre just isn’t the venue for it. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Robert Icke’s ‘Oedipus’ turns Greek tragedy into an election-night thriller — Robert Icke’s modern Oedipus proves that even when we know the ending, watching the civic body destroy itself in real-time remains devastatingly compelling. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
‘Becky Shaw’ on Broadway: you probably won’t like these people either — Becky Shaw has the cast, the wit, and the venom—but a play about insufferable people eventually becomes one. ⭐️ ⭐️
Also nominated
June Squibb in ‘Marjorie Prime’ asks if AI can ease grief or just complicate it — June Squibb and a superb company turn Marjorie Prime into an acting masterclass about mortality, memory, and why we love. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood scratch more than an itch in Tracy Letts’ ‘Bug’ — Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood deliver performances that get under your skin in Tracy Letts’ paranoid, unsettling Broadway debut of Bug. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Adrien Brody pleads his case in ‘The Fear of 13’ — Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson making their Broadway debuts may be reason enough to go, even when Ferrentino’s play asks you to wait for a payoff that arrives later than it should — much like Nick Yarris’s exoneration. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
August Wilson’s words still sing in ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ — Even when the staging overreaches, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone knows how to find its way home. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
This heist needs help. Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach almost pull it off in ‘Dog Day Afternoon’ — A star-powered heist that robs you of momentum: Dog Day Afternoon has two of TV’s best and one of Broadway’s most inventive sets, but this stage adaptation can’t hold the room hostage long enough. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
One punch, two families, and a heart that won’t stop beating — Based on Jacob Dunne’s memoir, Punch transforms one teen’s deadly mistake into a powerful meditation on justice, grief, and forgiveness. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
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