The 2026 Tony Awards are the 79th annual ceremony. The awards are named for Antoinette Perry, founder of the American Theatre Wing, which administers the honors.

The first ceremony took place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in 1947, and instead of trophies, the winners received a scroll and custom accessories: an initialed sterling silver compact case for women and an engraved gold bill clip or cigarette lighter for men.

Since the Tony Awards debuted in 1947 with eight categories, the number of competitive Tony Awards has grown to recognize performers, directors, writers, choreographers, and designers. Most categories are split between plays and musicals. Learn more about all the competitive Tonys categories.

There are also special honors awarded each year: Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement, Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award, Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre, Regional Theatre Tony Award, and other Special Tony Awards. Learn more about the special Tony Awards and this year's honorees.

A total of 34 shows opened in the 2025-26 Broadway season, but three — the touring production of Beetlejuice and the special Rob Lake Magic With Special Guests The Muppets, were ineligible for awards, and Jeff Ross: Take a Banana for the Ride and All Out: Comedy About Ambition withdrew from consideration.

That leaves 30 shows in the running, and most got at least one nod. Unfortunately shut out were Call Me Izzy, Mamma Mia!, Art, The Queen of Versailles, Beaches, and Proof.

The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! lead the pack of this year's Tony Award nominees with 12 nominations each. They're competing against each other in 11 of those categories, including Best Musical — let the competition commence!

Right behind these two juggernauts are the equally tremendous Ragtime with 11 nods and Death of a Salesman (the most nominated play), Cats: The Jellicle Ball, and The Rocky Horror Show with 9 each.

You're never too young or too old to be a Broadway star. This year's youngest acting nominee is 26-year-old Ali Louis Bourzgui, who had a breakout Broadway debut in The Who's Tommy two years ago. He's now up for his first Tony, for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, for playing vampire rock star David in The Lost Boys.

Ninety-six-year-old June Squibb, up for Best Featured Actress in a Play for playing aging widow Marjorie in Marjorie Prime, is the oldest 2026 nominee. Not only that, she's also the oldest Tony-nominated performer of all time! This is also her first nomination, and it's a long time coming: She made her Broadway debut in Gypsy in 1960.

A total of 62 individuals are first-time nominees in 2026, encompassing actors, directors, writers, choreographers, and designers.

Some of them are Hollywood stars making their Broadway debuts, like Lesley Manville (Oedipus), Luke Evans (The Rocky Horror Show), and Alden Ehrenreich (Becky Shaw). Other celebs, like Rose Byrne (Fallen Angels), Stephanie Hsu (Rocky Horror), and Ana Gasteyer (Schmigadoon!), are receiving their first nods but have been on Broadway before.

Notably, however, just as many celebrities — like The Fear of 13's Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson, Chess's Lea Michele, and the Ayo Edebiri-led cast of Proof — were shut out. Moreso, it was longtime stage veterans who finally got recognized, such as Ragtime's Caissie Levy, The Balusters's Marylouise Burke, Waiting for Godot's Brandon J. Dirden, Liberation's Susannah Flood, and many others.

Notably, the nominees for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score are all first-time Broadway writers. Some, like Schmigadoon!'s Cinco Paul and Two Strangers's Jim Barne and Kit Buchan — all of whom are nominated in both categories — are making their Broadway debuts, period.

Others have been on Broadway before in different capacities. Take Titanique's Marla Mindelle and Constantine Rousouli, or The Lost Boys's Chris Hoch, all up for Best Book of a Musical. They've all performed on Broadway before, but never written for it until now. They can do it all!

For the first time since 2002, all the nominees for Best Leading Actress in a Musical are first-time nominees. All have been on Broadway before, but they're finally getting their flowers. The category includes:

• Sara Chase (Schmigadoon!)
• Stephanie Hsu (The Rocky Horror Show)
• Caissie Levy (Ragtime)
• Marla Mindelle (Titanique)
• Christiani Pitts (Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York))

Their work's so nice, they were recognized twice. Three people are nominated in two different categories this year:

• Schmigadoon! director/choreographer Christopher Gattelli
• Costume designer Qween Jean, for the play Liberation and the musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball
• Oedipus's Robert Icke, nominated for his direction and for Best Revival of a Play as the author of the new adaptation

The remaining five are competing against themselves, with two nods in the same category! They include:

• Linda Cho (Best Costume Design of a Musical: Ragtime and Schmigadoon!)
• Heather Gilbert (Best Lighting Design of a Play: Bug and The Fear of 13)
• Kai Harada (Best Sound Design of a Musical: Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Ragtime)
• Donald Holder (Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Ragtime and Schmigadoon!)
• Adam Honoré (Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Ragtime)

He's on a doubly hot streak. Not only is Gattelli up for Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for Schmigadoon!, he was nominated in those same categories last year for Death Becomes Her. He surely knows his way around a big, splashy musical comedy.

Read our interview with Christopher Gattelli on his 2026 Tony Award nominations.

Get Schmigadoon! tickets now.

Robots could never replace mega-talents like June Squibb and Danny Burstein. Both were nominated for their featured roles in the futuristic family drama Marjorie Prime — and made history while doing it.

Squibb is now the oldest acting nominee in history at 96 years old (Lois Smith set the previous record in 2021 at 89), and Burstein is the most-nominated male actor in history, with nine career nominations starting in 2006.

For playing Anatoly Sergievsky in the first Broadway revival of Chess, Nicholas Christopher is the first Bermudan actor to be Tony-nominated. Whether he takes home the Best Leading Actor in a Musical prize come June, Christopher is still a winner to us. He plays a chess champion on stage, after all.

Read our interview with Nicholas Christopher on his Tony Award nomination for Chess.

Get Chess tickets now.

Talk about a life in the theatre. Richard Thomas has the longest Broadway career out of any of this year's acting nominees, having made his debut in Sunrise at Campobello at just 7 years old. Now, at 74, he's earned his second Tony Award nomination for starring in the HOA-centric comedy The Balusters. He's appeared in 14 other Broadway shows in between, including The Little Foxes, which earned him his first Tony nod in 2017.

Read our interview with Richard Thomas on his Tony Award nomination for The Balusters.

Get The Balusters tickets now.

In 1997, Brandon Uranowitz played the Little Boy in the world premiere of Ragtime in Toronto. When the production moved to Broadway, he was recast. But he's found his way back to Ragtime in a full-circle moment, earning his fifth career Tony nomination for playing the lead role of Tateh in the current revival.

In a statement about his nomination, Uranowitz called his return to Ragtime "one of the most healing and rewarding experiences of my life.

"This recognition is beyond my 11-year-old self’s wildest dreams," he continued. "If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s this: the things that are meant for you won’t pass you by."

Get Ragtime tickets now.

It's a wicked good year for Wicked alums. Three actresses who previously played Elphaba on Broadway are nominated this year: Shoshana Bean (The Lost Boys) and Ana Gasteyer (Schmigadoon!) for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Caissie Levy (Ragtime) for Best Leading Actress in a Musical.

Levy played the green girl on tour in 2008 and also understudied the role on Broadway. Bean starred as Elphaba on Broadway and on tour between 2005-06, while Gasteyer toured in the role from 2005-06 before playing her on Broadway from 2006-07.

Three of this year's Tony nominees had already won Olivier Awards for their roles in London: John Lithgow (as Roald Dahl in Giant), Layton Williams (as the Iceberg in Titanique), and Lesley Manville (as Jocasta in Oedipus). Will they add Tonys to their trophy cases come June? We can't wait to find out.