Broadway’s biggest night brought all the applause, glitter, and dance numbers one could expect.
The 78th annual Tony Awards, hosted by Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), brought the best of the 2024-2025 Broadway season to Radio City Music Hall on Sunday night. From new musicals like Death Becomes Her and Maybe Happy Ending to revivals like Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard, the stars and ensembles lit up the stage.
Film and TV stars, including Sarah Snook, George Clooney, and Darren Criss, brought extra star power, but it was the talents of Broadway’s unsung heroes (the dancers, singers, and stage crew) that made the magic happen.
Here are the best and worst moments of the 2025 Tony Awards.
Best: Cynthia Erivo’s opening number
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As a host, Cynthia Erivo was always going to be more chanteuse than comic, but she delivered both a funny opening bit followed by a showstopping number. With some well placed one-liners (notably one about a broom belonging to Daniel Radcliffe), Erivo navigated the backstage with a steadicam before hitting the Radio City Music Hall stage to deliver the original number, “Sometimes All You Need Is a Song.” The number showcased Erivo’s stellar vocals, while also name-dropping the many TV and film stars on Broadway this season. And before she brought it home with a back-up choir, she also shared the mic with Kristin Chenoweth, Aaron Tveit, and Adam Lambert. From the opening seconds, Erivo defied expectations.
Best: Francis Jue becomes second Asian-American male actor to ever win a Tony
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Francis Jue became only the second male Asian American actor ever to win a Tony for his work (the first was B.D. Wong for M. Butterfly all the way back in 1988). Jue offered up a wonderful speech celebrating inclusion and community. But the best part? He revealed that he was given the tuxedo he was wearing 20 years ago by an early career mentor who told him to wear it when he wins his Tony.
Worst: Sound issues
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Testing 1, 2, 3….Was there not enough time for a sound check? The sound throughout the broadcast was all over the place with Keanu Reeves and Charli D’Amelio presenting in front malfunctioning microphones. Even the sound during the musical numbers, notably the opening number, the start of Jonathan Groff’s performance, and Nicole Scherzinger’s Sunset Boulevard number, seemed strangely quiet and weirdly mixed.
Best: Megan Hilty and Jonathan Groff give good icon
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Megan Hilty and Jonathan Groff are two of Broadway’s most valuable players, consistently excellent in everything they do. They proved why with their respective Tony Award performances, Hilty with “Do It for the Gaze” from Death Becomes Her, and Groff with a medley of Bobby Darin hits from Just in Time. Part of what makes them special is their ability to make anything their own, as Groff does with Darin and Hilty does in her number with Liza Minnelli and Judy Garland among others. It was a showcase of their versatility that proved why they’re triple threats and then some.
Worst: Darren Criss pushes tea
Celeb sponsorships and ad spots are basically as old as television, but it takes a lot to actually make them work. Darren Criss is an extraordinarily talented performer, but his attempt at talking up Pure Leaf tea during an in-show commercial from backstage, while apparently making a costume change, did not bring us glee.
Best: Hamilton returns
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It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Hamilton became a veritable Broadway phenomenon — and the original cast’s anniversary performance on the broadcast was a firm reminder just why it seized the public consciousness as it did. Lin-Manuel Miranda and his fellow actors made the awards show the room where it happens once again with an electrifying medley of some of the musical’s best songs. Clad in black velvet, lending the proceedings an air of elegance and gravitas, the cast didn’t throw away their shot at amplifying their legacy.
Worst: Cynthia Erivo sings off the winners
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Playing off winners making a lengthy acceptance speech is never an enviable (or popular) task. Recent years have seen broadcasts try to make light of the unfortunate necessity, introducing creative methods to cut speeches short. The Tony Awards took a stab at it, playing a recording of Cynthia Erivo singing Sinatra’s “My Way.” But it was extremely cringe-inducing and far worse than a more delicate instrumental would’ve been.
Best: The sun’ll come out tomorrow
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In Memoriams are always fraught segments of awards broadcasts. Does the staging give enough focus to the honorees? Who’s included? But this year’s Tony Awards offered a model for all future iterations. Sara Bareilles and Cynthia Erivo duetted on the late Charles Strouse’s “Tomorrow” from Annie, delivering chill-inducing harmonies. The camera work perfectly captured the montage of lost talent, while still giving tasteful moments to the vocalists. And selecting Gavin Creel for the primo final spot was an absolutely perfect, heartbreaking grace note on the whole thing.
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