Incredible 79th Tony Awards 2026: Complete Detailed Review of Every Winner, Historic Moments and Broadway’s Best Night

Introduction: Broadway’s Biggest Night Just Got Even Bigger

If you love theater, June 7, 2026 was a night you will not forget for a very long time.

The 79th Tony Awards lit up Radio City Music Hall in New York City with energy, emotion and enough standing ovations to wear out even the most seasoned Broadway superfan. From a rock star swinging from the ceiling in a Peter Pan costume to a playwright making history as the first American woman in 37 years to win Best Play, the night was full of moments that felt genuinely electric.

The 79th Tony Awards ceremony was broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+, with the design and technical awards presented in a pre show on Pluto TV hosted by Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess. Together, these broadcasts gave every fan a chance to experience Broadway’s biggest celebration of the 2025 2026 season.

So who won? What surprised everyone? And which moments will still be talked about at the Tonys decades from now? Let’s walk through everything, category by category, with all the context, drama and insight you need.

What Are the Tony Awards?

Before we dive into the 2026 results, let’s answer a question that lots of new theater fans ask: what exactly are the Tony Awards?

The Tony Awards, officially known as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, are Broadway’s most prestigious honors. They are named after Antoinette Tony Perry, a theater director and co founder of the American Theatre Wing. The awards recognize outstanding achievement in professional Broadway productions each season.

Think of them as the Oscars of the theater world but with live performances, passionate speeches and a level of community spirit that Hollywood can rarely match.

The awards cover everything from acting and directing to scenic design, lighting, costumes and sound. A show that wins multiple Tonys in a season is considered a true success, both artistically and commercially, as the awards have a real impact on ticket sales and a production’s legacy.

Top 100 Most Beautiful Hollywood Actresses in the World Ranked

The Big Picture: 2025 2026 Broadway Season at a Glance

The 2025 2026 Broadway season was widely considered one of the most creatively rich in recent years. While it did not have the sheer volume of the peak pre pandemic seasons, what it lacked in quantity it more than made up for in quality.

Around 30 productions were eligible for Tony consideration and the competition in nearly every category was fierce. No single show swept the night in a dominating way. Instead, wins were spread across ten different productions, which many critics saw as a sign of a genuinely healthy and diverse theatrical landscape.

The biggest winner of the entire evening? Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, which walked away with six Tony Awards more than any other show this season. Close behind were Schmigadoon!, The Lost Boys and Ragtime, each taking home four awards.

Here is a quick breakdown before we go deeper:

🏆 Tony Award Wins by Show 2026 Summary Table

P!nk Takes the Stage: A Host Who Stole the Show

Let’s talk about the night’s unofficial MVP: P!nk.

Choosing a pop superstar who has never performed on Broadway to host the Tony Awards raised some eyebrows when it was announced in April 2026. P!nk herself joked about it, posting a playful video where she sneaked onto a Broadway stage dressed as a 1920s flapper just so she could technically say she had been on Broadway.

But any skeptics were silenced the moment the curtain went up.

P!nk opened the 79th Tony Awards swinging from the ceiling dressed as Peter Pan a nod to Broadway’s most beloved theatrical traditions before changing into a pink bustier and launching into a specially written version of Lady Marmalade that celebrated women in theater. Special guests Megan Thee Stallion joined her and the entire number set a tone of energy and inclusion that carried through the rest of the evening.

Throughout the night, P!nk was warm, funny and genuinely reverent toward the performers and productions being honored. She was not trying to be a theater insider. She was a fan who happened to have the best seat in the house and that authenticity came through in every moment she was on stage.

One highlight: the tribute to Chicago brought out Queen Latifah (who played Matron Mama Morton in the iconic 2002 film), Alex Newell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julianne Hough, Adrienne Warren and Dylan Mulvaney with P!nk herself stepping in as Velma Kelly. The audience went absolutely wild.

Best Musical: Schmigadoon! Wins in a Surprise Upset

Winner: Schmigadoon!

Of all the results at the 79th Tony Awards, the Best Musical win for Schmigadoon! was perhaps the most emotionally charged.

The show is based on the Apple TV+ series of the same name, a loving parody of golden age Broadway classics like Oklahoma!, The Music Man and Brigadoon. The story follows a modern couple who stumble into a magical small town where the cheerful residents cannot stop breaking into song. Creator Cinco Paul who also wrote the score and the book saw his TV series get canceled after just two seasons. Winning the Tony for Best Musical felt like the ultimate redemption.

Sometimes singing, dancing, jokes and a happy ending are all you need, said producer Lorne Michaels, the legendary Saturday Night Live creator, as he accepted the award on behalf of the production.

Schmigadoon! came into the night tied with The Lost Boys at 12 nominations each, making it the most nominated show of the season. It ended with four wins: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical (Cinco Paul), Best Original Score (Cinco Paul) and Best Orchestrations.

For Broadway audiences who saw the show at the Nederlander Theatre, this felt like a win for pure joy. Schmigadoon! never pretended to be anything other than a celebration of the form it lovingly mocks and Broadway voters clearly appreciated that honesty.

Best Play: Liberation Makes History

Winner: Liberation by Bess Wohl

This was arguably the biggest surprise of the night.

Liberation, written by Bess Wohl, was already a Pulitzer Prize winner but many observers still expected the more commercially prominent Giant (starring John Lithgow as Roald Dahl) to take the top play prize. When Liberation was announced as the winner of Best Play, the audience at Radio City Music Hall erupted.

Wohl’s win was historic in a very specific way: she became the first American woman playwright to win Best Play at the Tony Awards in 37 years. That is not a small footnote. It is a reminder of how underrepresented women writers have been in Broadway’s most prestigious recognition and why this win felt so significant to so many people in the theater community.

Liberation also won Best Direction of a Play for Whitney White, adding a second major award to its total and giving the production a lasting legacy even after its limited engagement had already closed.

Best Revival of a Musical: Ragtime Comes Home

Winner: Ragtime

There is a particular kind of magic that happens when a show comes back to Broadway and finally gets the recognition it deserved. That was very much the feeling surrounding Ragtime at the 79th Tony Awards.

Ragtime, the sweeping musical based on E.L. Doctorow’s novel about three American families in the early 20th century, began its current life as part of New York City Center’s 2024 2025 season. When it moved to Broadway, critics and audiences immediately recognized something extraordinary was happening.

On the night of the 79th Tony Awards, Ragtime won Best Revival of a Musical a result that felt both right and overdue. But the show’s biggest night came from its acting awards, which we will get to in a moment.

Best Revival of a Play: Death of a Salesman Dominates

Winner: Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller’s masterpiece has been revived on Broadway many times but the 2026 production directed by Joe Mantello and starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf brought something genuinely fresh to one of the most familiar plays in the American theatrical canon.

Death of a Salesman was the story of the night in terms of raw numbers. Its six Tony wins included Best Revival of a Play, Best Direction of a Play (Joe Mantello), Best Featured Actress in a Play (Laurie Metcalf), Best Scenic Design of a Play (Chloe Lamford), Best Lighting Design of a Play (Jack Knowles) and Best Sound Design of a Play (Mikaal Sulaiman).

Six wins is a remarkable achievement. It speaks not just to the quality of the writing Miller’s text remains devastatingly powerful but to a creative team that found a new way to tell a story we thought we already knew by heart.

Best Lead Actor in a Musical: Joshua Henry’s Moment

Winner: Joshua Henry Ragtime (as Coalhouse Walker Jr.)

This win had the audience on their feet before Henry had even finished walking to the microphone.

Joshua Henry, a four time Tony nominee before Sunday night, finally took home the award for his portrayal of Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime. His performance was widely described as one of the finest in the production a role that demands both extraordinary vocal power and deep emotional vulnerability.

In his acceptance speech, Henry spoke about his character with genuine emotion: Even in the face of pain and tragedy, he found a way to be heard, he said. He urged every artist in the room and watching at home to fight fight to be heard.

Henry’s backstory added another layer to the moment. He had previously been set to go to Broadway with Hamilton but ultimately did not, making his eventual Tony win feel all the more hard earned. This was Broadway justice at its finest.

Best Lead Actress in a Musical: Caissie Levy Takes Home the Trophy

Winner: Caissie Levy Ragtime

In a night of strong performances, Caissie Levy’s win for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for Ragtime gave the production its second acting award of the evening and cemented the revival’s status as one of the season’s true artistic highlights.

Levy, already well known to Broadway audiences for her previous work, brought something deeply personal to her role in Ragtime and her Tony win was met with warm recognition from a crowd that had clearly been moved by her performance throughout the season.

Best Lead Actor in a Play: John Lithgow Makes History at 80

Winner: John Lithgow Giant

John Lithgow winning Best Lead Actor in a Play for Giant was one of the most emotionally charged moments of the entire 79th Tony Awards.

At 80 years old, Lithgow became the oldest man ever to win a competitive acting Tony. His role in Giant cast him as children’s writer Roald Dahl in Mark Rosenblatt’s production, which is set in 1983 and explores the intense backlash Dahl faced for his antisemitic comments. It is a complex, demanding role that required Lithgow to portray both genius and moral failure simultaneously.

In his speech, Lithgow reflected beautifully on the arc of his career: Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them, he said a reference to his very first Tony win, which came in 1973. In those 53 years, he has worked with hundreds of collaborators, traveled the world and come back to the Broadway stage to give what many critics called the performance of his career.

Nathan Lane, his co star in Death of a Salesman, was among the nominees in the same category. There was clearly no bitterness Lane’s show had already won six awards. But Lithgow’s win felt singular and right.

Best Lead Actress in a Play: Lesley Manville Wins for Oedipus

Winner: Lesley Manville Oedipus

British actress Lesley Manville, celebrated on screen and stage for decades, took home Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Oedipus. Her win over Rose Byrne, Carrie Coon, Kelli O’Hara and Susannah Flood a genuinely extraordinary group of nominees was greeted with real warmth by the audience.

Manville’s performance in Oedipus had been called one of the season’s most fearless, bringing a raw classical power to a production that stripped the ancient Greek text down to its emotional core.

Best Featured Actor in a Musical: Ali Louis Bourzgui Wins for The Lost Boys

Winner: Ali Louis Bourzgui The Lost Boys

The Lost Boys the stage musical adaptation of the beloved 1987 vampire film came into the night with 12 nominations and left with four wins. Ali Louis Bourzgui’s win for Best Featured Actor in a Musical was one of them.

His performance in the show had been singled out by critics as a major reason to see the production and his Tony win helped cement the show’s status as one of the season’s real crowd pleasers.

Best Featured Actress in a Musical: Shoshana Bean for The Lost Boys

Winner: Shoshana Bean The Lost Boys

Shoshana Bean, a Broadway fan favorite, took home Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her work in The Lost Boys. The win gave the production two acting awards and added to the already impressive night for a show that many had feared might be overlooked in the shadow of Schmigadoon!‘s sweep.

Best Featured Actor in a Play: Alden Ehrenreich Wins for Becky Shaw

Winner: Alden Ehrenreich Becky Shaw

Known primarily to film audiences for his work in Solo: A Star Wars Story and other major productions, Alden Ehrenreich proved that his talent translates powerfully to the stage with his Tony winning performance in Becky Shaw.

His win was a genuine surprise to many observers, who had favored Christopher Abbott (Death of a Salesman) and Danny Burstein (Marjorie Prime). But theater audiences who saw Becky Shaw were not surprised at all Ehrenreich had been electric in the role throughout the run.

Best Featured Actress in a Play: Laurie Metcalf’s Third Tony

Winner: Laurie Metcalf Death of a Salesman

One of the genuine legends of the American stage, Laurie Metcalf added a third Tony Award to her collection with her win for Best Featured Actress in a Play in Death of a Salesman.

Her third win is a testament to a career that has been defined by total commitment to every role she takes on. The audience’s response when her name was announced suggested that this felt like a celebration not just of one performance but of an entire extraordinary career.

Best Direction of a Musical: Cats: The Jellicle Ball Makes Its Mark

Winner: Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Cats: The Jellicle Ball a radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic Cats had one of the most talked about productions of the season, transforming the original material into something entirely new and culturally specific.

The directing duo of Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch won Best Direction of a Musical for their bold vision, which also won Best Choreography (Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons) and Best Costume Design of a Musical.

Historic Win: Qween Jean Becomes First Openly Trans Tony Winner

Winner: Qween Jean Best Costume Design of a Musical, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

This was the moment that many people are calling the most significant of the entire 79th Tony Awards.

Qween Jean, whose costume work on Cats: The Jellicle Ball was widely hailed as visually stunning and culturally resonant, won Best Costume Design of a Musical and in doing so, became the first openly transgender woman to win a Tony Award.

She accepted the award in the pre show, resplendent in a lavender ruffled gown and issued what became the night’s first memorable declaration: a belted Happy Pride! that set the tone for an evening that felt genuinely inclusive and historic.

The context matters. In 2023, J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell were the first nonbinary actors to win Tonys. Now, two years later, Qween Jean has extended that history further and the Broadway community responded with pure joy.

Best Direction of a Play: Joe Mantello for Death of a Salesman

Winner: Joe Mantello Death of a Salesman

Joe Mantello’s directorial work on Death of a Salesman was the backbone of a production that could easily have felt like a revival by numbers. Instead, Mantello found a way to make Miller’s text feel urgent, contemporary and heartbreaking in equal measure.

His Tony win and the show’s six wins overall confirmed what critics had been saying since opening night: this was the kind of revival that justifies the entire institution of the Broadway revival.

Best Choreography: Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Winner: Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons Cats: The Jellicle Ball

The choreography in Cats: The Jellicle Ball was unlike anything seen on Broadway in years. Drawing from ballroom culture, contemporary dance and the original show’s feline physicality, Wiles and Lyons created a movement vocabulary that felt entirely original.

Their Tony win was one of the night’s most enthusiastic responses.

Writing Awards: Cinco Paul’s Double Win

One of the quieter but deeply satisfying stories of the night was creator Cinco Paul’s double win for Schmigadoon! taking home both Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score.

Paul’s TV series had been canceled after two seasons on Apple TV+. To come back with a Broadway adaptation, win Best Musical and personally take home two writing awards represents a kind of creative redemption that only Broadway can provide.

Design Awards: A Night for Extraordinary Technical Achievement

Best Scenic Design Musical: The Lost Boys

Dane Laffrey’s scenic design for The Lost Boys won Best Scenic Design of a Musical, recognizing a visual world that transported audiences from a small California beach town into something genuinely supernatural.

Best Scenic Design Play: Death of a Salesman

Chloe Lamford’s design for Death of a Salesman added another award to the production’s total, with her work on the play’s physical world helping to ground the story’s emotional weight.

Best Lighting Design Musical: The Lost Boys

The design team of Jen Schriever and Michael Arden won Best Lighting Design of a Musical for The Lost Boys, recognizing a visual atmosphere that made the show’s more supernatural elements feel genuinely thrilling.

Best Lighting Design Play: Death of a Salesman

Jack Knowles won Best Lighting Design of a Play for Death of a Salesman, another design award that reflected the total creative vision behind the revival.

Best Sound Design Musical: Ragtime

Kai Harada won Best Sound Design of a Musical for Ragtime, recognizing the technical work that helped the show’s grand orchestral score fill every corner of its Broadway home.

Best Sound Design Play: Death of a Salesman

Mikaal Sulaiman’s win for Best Sound Design of a Play completed the sweep of technical awards for Death of a Salesman, giving the production a total of six Tonys.

Best Costume Design Play: Fallen Angels

Jeff Mahshie won Best Costume Design of a Play for Fallen Angels, in a category that also featured acclaimed work from Emilio Sosa, Qween Jean and Paul Tazewell.

The Pre Show on Pluto TV: Design Awards Get Their Due

One of the structural decisions that shaped the 79th Tony Awards was the choice to move the design and technical awards to a pre show presented on Pluto TV, hosted by Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess.

This freed up the main CBS broadcast to focus on performances and major acting/writing/direction awards a format that generally keeps television audiences more engaged while still honoring the incredible work of designers, lighting directors, sound engineers and costume makers.

The pre show was not a lesser event. Some of the night’s most historic moments including Qween Jean’s groundbreaking win happened there. For dedicated theater fans, Pluto TV became the place to be from the very start of the evening.

The Anniversary Tributes: Celebrating Broadway’s Legacy

The 79th Tony Awards also took time to honor Broadway’s past with anniversary tributes to three iconic productions:

The Book of Mormon celebrated a milestone anniversary with a performance that reminded the audience why the show remains one of the most discussed in modern Broadway history.

Chicago received a tribute anchored by Queen Latifah, Alex Newell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Julianne Hough, Adrienne Warren and Dylan Mulvaney with P!nk herself as Velma Kelly in a sequence that had the audience absolutely electric.

A Chorus Line was honored as one of the foundational works of the American musical theater form.

These tributes were not just nostalgic. They were a reminder that Broadway’s past, present and future are all part of the same continuous conversation.

The Biggest Surprises of the Night

Even in a season where the frontrunners were relatively clear, the 79th Tony Awards delivered genuine surprises:

Liberation over Giant for Best Play. Most forecasters expected Giant with its high profile star (John Lithgow) and contemporary subject matter (Roald Dahl’s antisemitism) to take Best Play. When Liberation won instead, you could feel the genuine shock in the room. But Bess Wohl’s win as the first American woman playwright to win in 37 years quickly transformed that surprise into celebration.

Alden Ehrenreich for Becky Shaw. In a featured actor category that included Christopher Abbott and Danny Burstein, the film star turned stage actor’s win was not widely predicted. It reflected the strength of a performance that clearly resonated with Tony voters who had seen the show.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball for Best Direction. In a category featuring some genuinely strong contenders, Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch’s win recognized the most visually audacious production of the season.

What Did Not Win: The Snubs and Near Misses

No awards show is complete without noting what the voters got wrong or at least what surprised those who were watching closely.

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) came away completely empty handed despite nominations in multiple categories including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical. Many observers had hoped this charming, intimate show would at least take home a writing award.

Titanique the beloved off Broadway parody of Celine Dion performing the Titanic soundtrack was nominated but did not win. Its presence in the Best Musical category was celebrated as a recognition of the show’s extraordinary cult following but a win was always going to be a long shot.

Oedipus and Giant both showed up in multiple categories with fewer wins than their nominations suggested they might receive. Oedipus took home Best Lead Actress in a Play for Lesley Manville; Giant took Best Lead Actor for John Lithgow. Both shows clearly had admirable performances but faced extremely stiff competition across the board.

Memorable Speeches from the 79th Tony Awards

Great acceptance speeches are as much a part of the Tony tradition as the performances themselves. Here are some that stood out:

Joshua Henry spoke about his character Coalhouse Walker Jr. in language that felt like a mission statement for every working artist: fight to be heard, even in the face of pain.

John Lithgow reflected on 53 years between his first and third Tony wins a span that encompasses almost the entire modern era of Broadway with the kind of graceful humor that only comes from someone who has truly lived a life in the theater.

Lorne Michaels, accepting on behalf of Schmigadoon!, offered a line that might become one of the most quoted of the night: Sometimes singing, dancing, jokes and a happy ending are all you need.

Qween Jean, accepting in the pre show, led with Happy Pride! a declaration that felt both personal and communal in the best possible way.

Full 2026 Tony Award Winners List

Here is every winner from the 79th Tony Awards ceremony:

What the 79th Tony Awards Tells Us About Broadway’s Future

The results of the 79th Tony Awards feel like a genuine snapshot of where Broadway is right now and where it is heading.

The dominance of Death of a Salesman (a revival of a classic American play) alongside the rise of Schmigadoon! (a show born from a canceled streaming series) suggests that Broadway is simultaneously looking backward and forward at the same time. It is honoring its roots while being open to entirely new kinds of theatrical experiences.

The historic wins by Qween Jean and Bess Wohl signal a community that is still evolving still finding ways to be more representative, more inclusive and more willing to recognize excellence wherever it lives, regardless of who holds it.

And the show that perhaps best captures the spirit of this moment is Ragtime a production that tells the story of three very different American families at the turn of the last century, whose lives collide in ways that are both heartbreaking and hopeful. Joshua Henry’s performance as Coalhouse Walker Jr. reminded everyone in that room why stories of struggle and dignity matter. They always have. They always will.

Final Thoughts: An Unforgettable Night for Broadway

The 79th Tony Awards were, by almost any measure, one of the best award ceremonies Broadway has produced in years.

P!nk proved that passion for theater matters more than a Broadway résumé when it comes to hosting. The night was full of surprises without feeling chaotic. The speeches were moving without being overwrought. And the winners from the historic (Qween Jean, Bess Wohl) to the long deserving (Joshua Henry, John Lithgow) each felt genuinely earned.

If you have never seen a Broadway show, the 79th Tony Awards should inspire you to buy a ticket. If you are already a Broadway fan, you already know what this night meant. And if you are somewhere in between a casual viewer who just wanted to see what all the fuss was about I hope this review has made you feel like you were there in the room.

Because on nights like June 7, 2026, being there in the room is everything.

This article is fully original, independently written and based on events from the 79th Annual Tony Awards held on June 7, 2026 at Radio City Music Hall, New York City.

FAQs About the 79th Tony Awards 2026

Disclaimer:

This article is written for informational and entertainment purposes only. All information is based on publicly available sources and is believed to be accurate at the time of publication. However, we make no guarantees regarding completeness or accuracy. All show titles, award names and public figures mentioned remain the property of their respective owners. We are not affiliated with the Tony Awards, Broadway productions or any related organizations.