Tony Awards 2025 live updates: Jonathan Groff performs, Cynthia Erivo hosts, 'Hamilton' cast to reunite

Kara Young gave a heartfelt speech that ran a little too long. As she doled out her final thanks, Cynthia Erivo’s voice permeated the room, prompting Erivo’s first promised sing-off of "My Way" by Frank Sinatra of the night (a cue for winners to wrap up their speeches).

"Sorry Cynthia," Young quipped as she rushed off the stage.

Kara Young wins the best performance by a featured actress in a play Tony for “Purpose.”

Groff bounced from on stage to on top of the crowd while performing a lively medley from "Just In Time." That included crawling on Keanu Reeves’ chair, which delighted the audience (and at-home viewers).

The actor-singer is nominated in the best actor category for his role as Bobby Darin in the show. He's also slated to perform alongside the rest of the OG "Hamilton" crew during their planned reunion onstage tonight.

We're used to seeing Cynthia Erivo in green, thanks to our collective obsession with "Wicked" and her character, the beloved Elphaba.

But tonight, the host's outfit change includes a puffy pink dress. She walked down the aisle of the venue before introducing a performance by nominee Jonathan Groff, who she joked makes "everyone wet" (a reference to the fact that he spits while performing as King George in "Hamilton").

Jak Malone wins the best performance by a featured actor in a musical Tony for “Operation Mincemeat.”

The cast of “Buena Vista Social Club" gave a lively performance of “Candela," a number from the hit Cuban musical.

The show has already picked up three awards tonight. The musical's band is also among those receiving special honors and awards tonight.

During his acceptance speech, Jue said he only could win this award because of the Asian artists who came before him but didn't get the same opportunities.

He ended his speech by alluding to the current political climate and offering encouraging words to viewers at home.

"To those who don’t feel seen, to those being targeted in these authoritarian times, I see you. At it’s best, this community sees you." he said. "I hope that encourages you to be brave, to dream and to dream big."

Cynthia Erivo is warning tonight’s winners to stay within their time windows: 90 seconds from the time they get up to make their speeches.

“If you go over, you will be played off or I will sing you off,” Erivo said, as the line “and now the end is near” from Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” played on cue.

“Don’t mess with me. I’ve been known to cast a few spells in my time,” Erivo added. “And, most importantly, speak from the heart.”

Francis Jue wins the best performance by a featured actor in a play Tony for “Yellow Face.”

In the first musical number from a nominated show, Megan Hilty pulled out all the stops while performing a song from “Death Becomes Her.”

The performance included quick changes, headdresses, a Liza Minelli homage and a cavalcade of fabulous dancers.

Snook has already won an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Shiv Roy on the HBO series "Succession." With her Tony award tonight, she's now halfway to an EGOT.

And the Australian actress is not the only "Succession" star to be on the coveted four-award path. Jeremy Strong, who played her brother Kendall Roy on the show, took home the prize for best leading actor in a play last year.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter — yes, Bill & Ted, faves of elder Millennials and Gen Xers — are hitting the stage this fall in the decidedly excellent Samuel Beckett play, "Waiting for Godot."

The two presented Sarah Snook with the first award of the show.

Introducing the Tony Awards after kicking off the show with an energetic musical performance, Cynthia Erivo notes that this year was Broadway’s most financially lucrative yet.

“Broadway is officially back. Provided if we don’t run out of cast members from ‘Succession,’” Erivo joked, later praising the nominees.

"This is American theater’s biggest night... Whatever happens tonight, congratulations to you all.”

Sarah Snook wins the best performance by a leading actress in a play Tony for “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

Sometimes all you need is a song ... from Cynthia Erivo, and a gospel choir, dressed in all white.

Erivo continued her opener with a song that gave shout outs to several nominees in the crowd, joking that "half of Hollywood did a play." The camera, of course, panned to George Clooney.

The star then walked through the aisles giving the mic to others to sing along, before ending the number on stage with the choir benhind her.

The room gave her a standing ovation.

Singer-actress Cynthia Erivo is already off to a great start.

One minute in, the awards show opener already included a joke about "Wicked" and the note she notoriously belts at "Defying Gravity."

There was also, of course, a reference to the "holding space" meme, with Erivo spotting Oprah on stage and holding her finger.

After an hour-long pre-show, where a slew of awards were handed out, the official Tony Awards are now kicking off.

Four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein was honored tonight for his writing, performance and advocacy.

"Don't make mommy cry," Fierstein joked as he began his speech. "Thank you so much you gorgeous people."

The actor said if everything had gone to plan, he'd be a retired art teacher. Instead, he volunteered for a play in Brooklyn, "and I found my community," he said.

"I was always accepted just as I was," said Fierstein, who known for his roles in multiple shows, including “Torch Song Trilogy” and “Hairspray,.

He thanked his mother, who drove him to rehearsals, and his brother, who he joked “used my shows as a personality test for his dates. If they freaked out seeing his drag queen brother, they were history."

The speech ended with the actor "dedicating his award to the audience and offering his thanks to his community.

Will Aronson (music and lyrics) and Hue Park (lyrics) win the best original score Tony for “Maybe Happy Ending.”

Paul Tazewell wins the best costume design of a musical Tony for “Death Becomes Her.”

Marg Horwell wins the best costume design of a play Tony for “The Picture of Dorian Gray.”

Sara Bareilles presented American actress and singer Celia Keenan-Bolger, who won a Tony Award for her role as Scout Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird," with the Isabelle Stevenson Award tonight.

The award honors "a member of the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations," according to the Tonys website.

Alongside the late Broadway star Gavin Creel, Keenan-Bolger co-created the Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund "to help provide scholarship support to students in the Department of Musical Theatre at the University of Michigan who are dedicated to service and social justice."

"She served on the advisory board of Broadway Impact, which worked (successfully) to advocate for same-sex-marriage rights throughout the country, as well as the Entertainment Community’s Looking Ahead Advisory Committee, and TDF’s Young Patron’s Committee," the Tonys wrote in its press release. "At the onset of the devastating COVID pandemic, Celia jumped into action to co-found “Broadway Feeds Bellevue,” a meal train service for nurses working in the ravaged NYC public healthcare system."

In her speech, Keenan-Bolger said "in honoring me, you're sending a message that the work of community care matters."

She also honored Creel onstage, asking attendees to honor his legacy by donating to a fellowship fund in his name.

Gary Edwin Robinson, who is head of the theater arts program at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn, accepted the 2025 excellence in Theatre Education Award during the preshow.

The award, which is presented by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University, honors the achievement and impact of a K-12 theater educator in the U.S.

During his speech, the New York-based educator said he was born for the theater and thanked his students for being his rock.

Dane Laffrey and George Reeve win the best scenic design of a musical Tony for “Maybe Happy Ending.”

Miriam Buether and 59 Studio win the best scenic design of a play Tony for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

Jack Knowles wins the best lighting design of a musical Tony for “Sunset Boulevard.”

Jon Clark wins the best lighting design of a play Tony for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck win the best choreography Tony for “Buena Vista Social Club.”

Marco Paguia wins the best orchestrations Tony for “Buena Vista Social Club.”

Jonathan Deans wins the best sound design of a musical Tony for “Buena Vista Social Club.”

Paul Arditti wins the best sound design of a play Tony for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow.”

The red carpet is winding down and the preshow is now airing on PlutoTV.

Expect several categories to be announced during this time.

Will Aronson and Hue Park win the best book of a musical Tony for “Maybe Happy Ending.”

While walking the red carpet, the "Wicked" darling said she was thrilled by "so much talent and so much good work this season."

She said her favorite production of the season was "Sunset Boulevard"

George Clooney, who is nominated for his role in "Good Night and Good Luck," hit the carpet with wife Amal tonight.

The couple looks sharp, as always, as they gear up for a big night for the Hollywood star.

It's Cynthia Erivo's big night taking the helm as the awards show host.

The British actress, who won a Tony Award in 2016 for her breakout performance in a revival of “The Color Purple," just debuted a new album and is gearing up for part two of the "Wicked" film (which hits theaters in November.)

In addition to hosting tonight, Erivo will take the stage again in August, when she is set to play Jesus in a one-weekend run of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Next year, she's also slated to star in a one-woman version of “Dracula” in London.

Comments made by Patti LuPone about her Broadway colleagues have divided the community ahead of the award show tonight.

In a May interview with the New Yorker, Lupone used an expletive word to refer to Kecia Lewis and described Audra McDonald as "not a friend." The comments from LuPone were so upsetting to some, that hundreds of theater performers, including Broadway actors, signed a letter calling the statements "degrading and misogynistic."

LuPone apologized on Instagram for her remarks last week.

"I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful," she wrote.

She went on to write that she regretted her "flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate," adding she was devastated her behavior "has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community.”

Some have called on LuPone to be disinvited to the Tonys. It is unclear if she will be in attendance tonight.

LuPone co-starred in "The Roomates" with Mia Farrow this Broadway season.

Some awards will be announced during a preshow broadcast, hosted by Darren Criss (nominated this year for the first time for “Maybe Happy Ending”) and Renée Elise Goldsberry (who won a Tony in 2016 for her role in “Hamilton”).

It will air on Pluto TV beginning at 6:40 p.m. ET.

Cole Escola, nominated tonight for “Oh, Mary!” says they feel like “a kid in a candy store” on the Tonys red carpet.

Escola says their floor-length ball gown is inspired by Bernadette Peters’ 1999 Tonys gown, her costume from the Broadway revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” — for which she won a Tony Award that year.

Learn more about the hit musical, which has 10 nominations this season, below.

Francis Jue, who is nominated for his performance in “Yellow Face,” says the show feels like it “came at exactly the right moment.”

“We’re in a really critical point in our country where we’re all asking ourselves, what does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide who’s American?” Jue told Playbill. “And it was great to represent Americans on stage on Broadway this season.”

His cast mate Daniel Dae Kim, who is nominated tonight for best actor in a leading role, echoed Jue’s sentiments.

“As artists, it’s nice to be able to tell those stories, to be the ones who are not in a classroom or making a documentary,” Kim said. “We’re able to share this message and at the same time entertain, and that’s a real privilege.”

Kim became the first Asian nominee in the category of best leading actor in a play.

Marjan Neshat, who is nominated for her performance in “English,” told Playbill that being at the Tony Awards tonight feels like “a dream come true.” 

“Right before we started rehearsal, Trump won again. Three days ago, there was a new travel ban,” Neshat said. “And so to have been a part of a play that is funny and romantic and nuanced but also speaks to the deeper reaches of what we’re all living with, it is profoundly moving to me.”

Both Neshat and fellow "English" nominee Tala Ashe have a chance to become the first female performers of Iranian descent to win a Tony Award.

For Julia Knitel, being nominated at the Tony Awards is simultaneously “overwhelming” and “magical.” The actor is nominated tonight for her performance in “Dead Outlaw.”

“The little girl in me is freaking out so hard,” Knitel told Playbill on the red carpet. “I cried hysterically when I walked into Radio City this morning for our sound check.”

Knitel, the only female cast member in “Dead Outlaw,” added that the possibility of inspiring others to pursue theater or “create a life with more art in it” is part of what keeps her going.

Lea Michele, Aaron Tveit and Nicholas Christopher, who are starring in a Broadway revival of “Chess” this fall, said they are excited to bring the show to audiences.

“I’ve loved this music for so long, i’ve sung it for far too long at home in the shower, in the car,” Michele told Playbill on the red carpet. “I feel like I had an anthem for a really long time with ‘Don’t Rain on my Parade’ and this music felt like a new anthem for me.”

Christopher described the show as “funny and beautiful and heartbreaking,” adding that it “really has something for everybody.”

Tveit further noted that “Chess” — a musical about Cold War themes and politics — is perhaps more relevant today than in the early 80s.

“Good art holds the mirror up to our society,” Tveit said. “So we hope that amidst the great music and humor and and great love story, that there’s going to be a little bit of thought that takes place for the audience that sees the show too.”

Tonight, Radio City Musical Hall is going to be the room where it happens.

The "it" being a "Hamilton" reunion that fans are already hyped about online.

So how does the cast get ready for such an affair? Morgan Marcell, an OG cast member, shared a series of videos documenting the behind-the-scenes experience of the "Hamil'TEN'" reunion on her Instagram page.

In her video, she said the Tonys reunion performance starts with composers Lin-Manuel Miranda (also known as Hamilton himself) and Alex Lacamoire creating the number, then sending it over to the choreographer. Then, the ensemble gets together and preps for hours before going to a movement rehearsal with the entire cast.

"We really do love each other," she says in the video. "Watching these people relearn something they created ... look at all these people. Bananas!"

Playwright David Henry Hwang said that revisiting his semi-autobiographical play “Yellow Face” was gratifying and "maybe more relevant today."

"It's been really gratifying to see that a play that I wrote really 15 years ago or so feels maybe more relevant today at a time when this whole notion of 'Who is American?' is being re-litigated," Hwang told Variety on the red carpet ahead of the Tonys.

"Yellow Face" is nominated tonight for best revival of a play. For those who didn't catch it on Broadway, the show is streaming on PBS, Hwang added.

Sarah Snook, who stars in "The Picture of Dorian Gray," shared a photo to Instagram of four different people helping her to get ready for the show.

"What it takes to get ready," she wrote in the caption.

The "Succession" alum is nominated for best leading actress in a play tonight.

As Broadway stars continue to arrive at Radio City Music Hall, light rain has started to fall in New York City.

Luckily, the Tonys start at 8 p.m. ET, so once they walk the carpet, attendees will be able to avoid getting their glam outfits wet.

CNN on Saturday aired a performance of the Broadway production "Good Night, and Good Luck." The Tony-nominated play, which stars George Clooney, is based on the 2005 movie of the same name (which Clooney also starred in and co-wrote). It follows veteran CBS newscaster Edward R. Murrow as he gears up to challenge then-Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

“Although McCarthyism was bad, it wasn’t anywhere near as pervasive as it is right now, the kind of fear that you see kind of stretching through law firms and universities,” Clooney told CNN's Anderson Cooper in a recent interview.

The play, which is nominated for five awards tonight, recently broke a box office record when it grossed more than $4 million in one week, according to NBC's "TODAY" show.

The OG stars of "Hamilton" have started arriving on the Tonys red carpet.

The cast is gearing up for a reunion tonight.

The performance will celebrate the show's 10th anniversary.

Those participating include: Carleigh Bettiol, Andrew Chappelle, Ariana DeBose, Alysha Deslorieux, Daveed Diggs, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jonathan Groff, Sydney James Harcourt, Neil Haskell, Sasha Hutchings, Christopher Jackson, Thayne Jasperson, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Stephanie Klemons, Morgan Marcell, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Javier Muñoz, Leslie Odom Jr., Okieriete Onaodowan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Jon Rua, Austin Smith, Phillipa Soo, Seth Stewart, Betsy Struxness, Ephraim Sykes and Voltaire Wade-Greene.

Ahead of the show tonight, Sanaz Toossi, the Iranian American playwright whose play “English” is nominated for several Tony Awards, touched on President Donald Trump's new travel ban.

The ban, which starts Monday, affects nationals from 19 countries, including Iran. Toossi wrote her Pulitzer Prize-winning play, about a language test-prep class in Iran, eight years ago "as a response to the (first) Travel Ban," she said in an Instagram post on Friday. She described the new travel ban as "more expansive in its hatefulness," but said "that does not mean it is less Islamophobic than the first."

"To stand in this moment, where it's all in the same room-- the grief and the celebration, the violence and the art -- is not unique to only me," she wrote. "Maybe we can breathe through the nausea together."

Trump has said the ban is necessary to preserve national security and prevent terrorism in the U.S.

Tom Felton, who is headed to Broadway to reprise his role as Draco Malfoy in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” said he’s happy to be following in the footsteps of Daniel Radcliffe, who has also waded into the Broadway world post-“Harry Potter.”

“What actor wouldn’t want to do Broadway?” Felton told Playbill on the red carpet. “I mean, it’s one of the greatest cities, if not the greatest city, in the world, and it’s the home of some of the best theater musicals.”

Though it has been more than a decade since he embodied Malfoy onscreen, Felton said he expects to slip back into the role fairly easily.

“As soon as they put the wig, the blond hair, back on, I got very teary. And the Draco clothes and his regalia, his rings and shoes,” Felton said. “He feels like a best mate that I haven’t seen for a long time.”

Best new musical

“Buena Vista Social Club”

“Dead Outlaw”

“Death Becomes Her”

“Maybe Happy Ending”

“Operation Mincemeat”

Best new play

“English”

“The Hills of California”

“John Proctor Is the Villain”

“Oh, Mary!”

“Purpose”

Best musical revival

“Floyd Collins”

“Gypsy”

“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”

“Sunset Boulevard”

Best play revival

“Eureka Day”

“Our Town”

“Romeo + Juliet”

“Yellow Face”

Jason Laks, president of the Broadway League, told Playbill that tonight is “the greatest culmination of an incredible season you could have.”

It was the highest-attended season since before the pandemic, he said, and Broadway broke records for gross revenue.

“The industry deserves a night to just celebrate after the season we had,” Laks said. “And I think, I mean, honestly, you feel it. People are really happy to be here. And so I’m hoping for a night of excitement, but also a night to kind of exhale and just appreciate what we have.”

Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, echoed Laks’ sentiments on the red carpet.

“Theater matters, and we knew it matters,” Hitchens said. “There’s nothing like going to the theater. It’s one of the last places where we truly all come from different places. We take the same journey together, and we have a dialog together.”

The Tonys can have a significant impact on the financial success of Broadway shows, as winning the biggest awards of the night often has the power to extend the lives of struggling shows. A Tony win can also help turn already-strong sellers into box office juggernauts.

Cynthia Erivo, who starred alongside Ariana Grande in the record-breaking film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Wicked,” will host this year’s main show.

Erivo won her own Tony Award in 2016 for her performance as Celie in “The Color Purple.” She’s also a Grammy, an Emmy winner and a three-time Oscar nominee.

“Cynthia is a remarkable talent and with her deep roots in the theater community, we are honored to have her host this year’s Tony Awards on CBS,” Mackenzie Mitchell, CBS’ vice president of specials, said in a statement. “There is no doubt with her innate creativity and captivating presence, she will deliver an unforgettable evening highlighting the extraordinary achievements of this Broadway season.”

Take a look at some of this year's nominees.

The awards show takes place tonight at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall, running from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. It will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.