79th Tony Awards: "Liberation" and "Schmigadoon!" Success on the Broadway Stage

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The 79th Tony Awards, honoring excellence in Broadway productions from the 2025–2026 season, were successfully held on Sunday, June 7, 2026.

Held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the ceremony crowned Bess Wohl's "Liberation" as Best Play and "Schmigadoon!" as Best Musical.

Musician and global icon P!NK hosted the ceremony, which was broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+.

"Liberation" not only won Best Play but was also previously awarded the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Meanwhile, "Schmigadoon!", named Best Musical, took home a total of four wins, including Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, both created by Cinco Paul.

The musical also led the nominations with 12 categories, tying with "The Lost Boys."

The revival category was also a highlight, with "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman" winning Best Play Reproduction.

This production holds the most awards in the drama category, with six wins.

For Best Musical Reproduction, "Ragtime" emerged victorious.

Individual performance awards went to John Lithgow for Best Actor in a Leading Role for "Giant" and Lesley Manville for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Oedipus."

In the musical category, Joshua Henry and Caissie Levy, both from "Ragtime," won Best Actor and Actress in a Leading Role for a Musical, respectively.

In the supporting roles category, Alden Ehrenreich of "Becky Shaw" won Best Actor in a Supporting Role for a Play.

Laurie Metcalf, who appeared in "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman," was named Best Actress in a Supporting Role for a Play.

For musicals, Ali Louis Bourzgui of "The Lost Boys" won Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, and Shoshana Bean, also of "The Lost Boys," won Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical.

Joe Mantello was recognized as Best Dramatic Director for his work on "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman."

Meanwhile, Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch won Best Musical Director for "Cats: The Jellicle Ball."

The production of "Cats: The Jellicle Ball" also took home the Best Choreography award, awarded to Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons.

The design awards recognized Chloe Lamford for Best Dramatic Stage Design for "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman," and Scott Pask for Best Musical Stage Design for "Schmigadoon!".

Jeff Mahshie received the Best Dramatic Costume Design award for "Fallen Angels," and Linda Cho for Best Musical Costume Design for "Ragtime."

Jack Knowles won Best Dramatic Lighting Design for "Death of a Salesman," and Donald Holder won Best Musical Lighting Design for "Schmigadoon!". Mikaal Sulaiman won Best Dramatic Sound Design for "Death of a Salesman," and Kai Harada won Best Musical Sound Design for "Ragtime."

Best Orchestrations went to Doug Besterman and Mike Morris for "Schmigadoon!".

Several special awards were also presented during the evening.

André Bishop, Jules Fisher, and James Lapine received Lifetime Achievement Awards in Theatre.

The Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, given for humanitarian work, was presented to Mary-Mitchell Campbell.

Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre were awarded to the 1/52 Project, Jake Bell, Kenn Lubin, and Loren Plotkin.

Additionally, the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin, was recognized with a Regional Theatre Tony Award.

The 2025-2026 Tony Awards eligibility season ran from April 28, 2025, to April 26, 2026, with nominations announced on May 5, 2026.

During the ceremony, Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess hosted the pre-show, "The Tony Awards: Act One."

Numerous nominated musicals performed, including "The Lost Boys," "Schmigadoon!," "Titaníque," "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," "CATS: The Jellicle Ball," "Ragtime," and "Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show."

The original cast of "The Book of Mormon" also performed to celebrate its 15th anniversary, while Queen Latifah led a special tribute performance for the musical "Chicago" celebrating 30 years on Broadway.

One historic moment was the recognition of Qween Jean as the first openly trans Tony Award winner in Broadway history.