Tony Nominations 2026: ‘The Lost Boys,’ ‘Schmigadoon!’ Dominate With 12 Nods

Nominations for the 2026 Tony Awards have been released.

via: Variety

“The Lost Boys” and “Schmigadoon!” dominated the nominations for the 79th Tony Awards on Tuesday, earning 12 nods each, followed closely by the critically acclaimed revival of “Ragtime” with 11.

“Death of a Salesman,” a radical reimagining of Arthur Miller’s look at capitalism’s corrosive influence, was the top play, earning nine nominations, including nods for the performances of Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalf and Christopher Abbott, as well as for Joe Mantello’s direction. The show marks the comeback of Scott Rudin, the superstar producer who retreated from Broadway following multiple allegations of bullying and abuse in 2021. Rudin not only produced “Salesman,” he also oversaw “Little Bear Ridge Road,” which earned a best play nomination.

This year’s Tony season has yet to determine a clear frontrunner. That 12-12-11 split among the top contenders is highly unusual in modern Tony history, where recent seasons have typically produced an undeniable favorite (i.e., “Hamilton” with 16 or “A Strange Loop” with 11 in their respective winning years).

“The Lost Boys” and “Schmigaddon!,” which are lavishly produced shows, will vie for best musical alongside two smaller-scale productions, the off-Broadway transfer “Titaníque” and the West End export “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).” “Ragtime” will compete for best musical revival against “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” which transports the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to the world of ballroom culture, and “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show,” a re-staging of the kinky cult favorite.

The best play category boasts several politically charged nominees. It’s a group that includes not only “Little Bear Ridge Road,” but also “The Balusters,” a comedy about a dysfunctional neighborhood organization,” as well as “Liberation,” the story of a group of feminists in the ’70s, and “Giant,” a look at children’s author Roald Dahl’s antisemitism. Along with “Salesman,” the best play revival nominees include the relationship comedy “Becky Shaw,” the Noël Coward farce “Fallen Angels,” a modern re-telling of “Oedipus” (complete with a clock counting down to the big reveal) and “Every Brilliant Thing,” a one-man show with Daniel Radcliffe as a grieving man.

June Squibb and Danny Burstein both broke Tony records for the same production — Jordan Harrison’s “Marjorie Prime.” Squibb, 96, becomes the oldest acting nominee in Tony history with her best featured actress in a play nod. The nomination is also Squibb’s first ever, arriving 67 years after her 1959 Broadway debut as Electra in the original “Gypsy” opposite Ethel Merman. The Oscar nominee, who recently led the films “Thelma” and Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut “Eleanor the Great,” will compete against Betsy Aidem (“Liberation”), Marylouise Burke (“The Balusters”), Aya Cash (“Giant”) and Metcalf (“Death of a Salesman”).

Burstein’s nod for the same play makes him the most-nominated male performer in Tony history, with nine career nominations, breaking a 47-year-old record set by Jason Robards. (Robards’ eight nominations spanned 1957-1978.) Burstein won his sole trophy in 2020 for “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” His category, best featured actor in a play, expanded to six nominees this year — Burstein joins Christopher Abbott (“Death of a Salesman”), Brandon J. Dirden (“Waiting for Godot”), Alden Ehrenreich (“Becky Shaw”), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (“August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”) and Richard Thomas (“The Balusters”).

Coming off her best actress Oscar nomination earlier this year for Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Rose Byrne landed her first career Tony nomination for best actress in a play in Roundabout’s revival of Noël Coward’s “Fallen Angels.” The Australian actress becomes the 17th woman (and 33rd performer) in history to score Tony and Oscar acting nominations in the same calendar year. The last performer of any gender to do it was Adam Driver in 2019, for “BlacKkKlansman” and “Burn This.”

Byrne shares the category with co-star Kelli O’Hara — the rare same-show double-nomination in lead actress in a play — alongside Carrie Coon (“Bug”), Susannah Flood (“Liberation”) and Lesley Manville (“Oedipus”). The O’Hara nod is also her ninth career Tony nomination, tying Burstein for second-most among living nominees and behind only Audra McDonald (11).

The lead actor in a play category produced one of the day’s more striking lineups. Will Harrison earned a sole nomination for “Punch,” lending him outsider status against a heavyweight slate that includes Radcliffe and Lane, as well as “Giant’s” John Lithgow and “Oedipus’s” Mark Strong.

Lane’s nomination extends a notable pattern around the role across five Tony-recognized portrayals spanning 50 years — George C. Scott (1976), Brian Dennehy (1999), Philip Seymour Hoffman (2012), Wendell Pierce (2023) and now Lane — Loman has produced just one winner, Dennehy. (Lee J. Cobb originated the role in 1949 but did not receive a Tony nomination.) The 1-of-5 conversion places “Death of a Salesman” among the most-nominated yet least-converted male roles in lead actor history.

“Titaníque” co-creator Marla Mindelle earned nominations for both best actress in a musical and best book of a musical, immediately following Cole Escola’s 2025 sweep of the same dual-category structure for “Oh, Mary!” — making it two consecutive years of performer-writers being recognized as both star and author of their own work. Mindelle, who has played Celine Dion in the Titanic-meets-Dion-songbook parody since its 2017 development, will compete for best actress in a musical against Sara Chase (“Schmigadoon!”), Stephanie Hsu (Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show”), Caissie Levy (“Ragtime”) and Christiani Pitts (“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”).

The most prominent snub of the day went to Lea Michele, whose leading role in Michael Mayer’s revival of “Chess” was widely projected to earn the “Glee” star her first Tony nomination. Instead, she failed to make the cut.

“The Lost Boys” director Michael Arden — already a two-time Tony winner for directing “Parade” (2023) and “Maybe Happy Ending” (2025) — pulled off an unusual cross-craft double: He is nominated for both best direction of a musical and best lighting design of a musical, the latter shared with Jen Schriever. Director-as-co-lighting-designer is exceedingly rare at the Tony level. Arden told BuzzFeed during previews that he found himself “thinking about the direction from a lighting perspective.”

Two “Saturday Night Live” alumni landed best featured actress in a musical nods — Rachel Dratch for Richard O’Brien’s “The Rocky Horror Show” and Ana Gasteyer for “Schmigadoon!” — joining Shoshana Bean (“The Lost Boys”), Hannah Cruz (“Chess”) and Nichelle Lewis (“Ragtime”).

“Schmigadoon!” stands as one of the first major streaming-originated musicals to cross over to Broadway. Cinco Paul’s Apple TV series ran for two seasons (2021-23) before getting a Kennedy Center stage premiere in Jan. 2025 and a Nederlander Theatre opening on April 20. Lorne Michaels and Apple TV are credited among the producers.

Metcalf may have earned a featured actress in a play nod for “Death of a Salesman,” but she missed out on lead actress in a play for “Little Bear Ridge Road.” The 70-year-old two-time Tony winner (“A Doll’s House, Part 2,” “Three Tall Women”) would have become only the seventh performer to score acting nominations in two different categories the same year, joining a list that includes Mark Rylance (2014) and Jeremy Pope (2019).

Four musicals have swept the Tony Awards’ so-called “big six” — best musical, score, book, leading actor, leading actress and direction: “South Pacific” (1950), “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (1979), “Hairspray” (2003) and “The Band’s Visit” (2018). Only two plays have achieved a comparable sweep of the “big four” — best play, leading actor, leading actress and direction: “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (1963) and “The Real Thing” (1984).

The eligibility cut-off for the 2025-2026 Broadway season was April 26.

The Tony Awards are presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. The 79th annual ceremony will be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and hosted by Grammy‑winning artist Pink. Raj Kapoor, Sarah Levine Hall and Jack Sussman will serve as executive producers for the theater’s biggest night. The show will air live on the CBS Television Network and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, June 7.

See the full list of nominees below:

Best Musical

“The Lost Boys”

“Schmigadoon!”

“Titaníque”

“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Best Play

“The Balusters”

“Giant”

“Liberation”

“Little Bear Ridge Road”

Revival of a Musical

“Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

“Ragtime”

“Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Revival of a Play

“Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

“Becky Shaw”

“Every Brilliant Thing”

“Fallen Angels”

“Oedipus”

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Nicholas Christopher, “Chess”

Luke Evans, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Joshua Henry, “Ragtime”

Sam Tutty, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Brandon Uranowitz, “Ragtime”

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Will Harrison, “Punch”

Nathan Lane, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

John Lithgow, “Giant”

Daniel Radcliffe, “Every Brilliant Thing”

Mark Strong, “Oedipus”

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Sara Chase, “Schmigadoon!”

Stephanie Hsu, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Caissie Levy, “Ragtime”

Marla Mindelle, “Titaníque”

Christiani Pitts, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Rose Byrne, “Fallen Angels”

Carrie Coon, “Bug”

Susannah Flood, “Liberation”

Lesley Manville, “Oedipus”

Kelli O’Hara, “Fallen Angels”

Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Ali Louis Bourzgui, “The Lost Boys”

André De Shields, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Bryce Pinkham, “Chess”

Ben Levi Ross, “Ragtime”

Layton Williams, “Titaníque”

Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Christopher Abbott, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

Danny Burstein, “Marjorie Prime”

Brandon J. Dirden, “Waiting for Godot”

Alden Ehrenreich, “Becky Shaw”

Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”

Richard Thomas, “The Balusters”

Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Shoshana Bean, “The Lost Boys”

Hannah Cruz, “Chess”

Rachel Dratch, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Ana Gasteyer, “Schmigadoon!”

Nichelle Lewis, “Ragtime”

Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Betsy Aidem, “Liberation”

Marylouise Burke, “The Balusters”

Aya Cash, “Giant”

Laurie Metcalf, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

June Squibb, “Marjorie Prime”

Direction of a Musical

Michael Arden, “The Lost Boys”

Lear deBessonet, “Ragtime”

Christopher Gattelli, “Schmigadoon!”

Tim Jackson, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Direction of a Play

Nicholas Hytner, “Giant”

Robert Icke, “Oedipus”

Kenny Leon, “The Balusters”

Joe Mantello, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

Whitney White, “Liberation”

Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

“Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman” — Music by Caroline Shaw

“August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” — Music by Steve Bargonetti

“The Lost Boys” — Music & Lyrics by The Rescues

“Schmigadoon!” — Music & Lyrics by Cinco Paul

“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” — Music & Lyrics by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan

Book of a Musical

“The Lost Boys” — David Hornsby and Chris Hoch

“Schmigadoon!” — Cinco Paul

“Titaníque” — Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue

“Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” — Jim Barne and Kit Buchan

Choreography

Christopher Gattelli, “Schmigadoon!”

Ellenore Scott, “Ragtime”

Ani Taj, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, “The Lost Boys”

Orchestrations

Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, “Schmigadoon!”

Ethan Popp, Kyler England, Adrianne “AG” Gonzalez and Gabriel Mann, “The Lost Boys”

Lux Pyramid, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Brian Usifer, “Chess”

Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson, Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Scenic Design in a Musical

dots, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Soutra Gilmour, “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)”

Rachel Hauck, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Dane Laffrey, “The Lost Boys”

Scott Pask, “Schmigadoon!”

Scenic Design in a Play

Hildegard Bechtler, “Oedipus”

Takeshi Kata, “Bug”

Chloe Lamford, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

David Korins, “Dog Day Afternoon”

David Rockwell, “Fallen Angels”

Costume Design in a Musical

Linda Cho, “Ragtime”

Linda Cho, “Schmigadoon!”

Qween Jean, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Ryan Park, “The Lost Boys”

David I. Reynoso, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Costume Design in a Play

Brenda Abbandandolo, “Dog Day Afternoon”

Qween Jean, “Liberation”

Jeff Mahshie, “Fallen Angels”

Emilio Sosa, “The Balusters”

Paul Tazewell, “August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”

Lighting Design in a Musical

Kevin Adams, “Chess”

Jane Cox, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Donald Holder, “Schmigadoon!”

Adam Honoré, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Adam Honoré and Donald Holder, “Ragtime”

Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, “The Lost Boys”

Lighting Design in a Play

Isabella Byrd, “Dog Day Afternoon”

Natasha Chivers, “Oedipus”

Stacey Derosier, “August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”

Heather Gilbert, “Bug”

Heather Gilbert, “The Fear of 13”

Jack Knowles, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”

Sound Design of a Musical

Kai Harada, “Cats: The Jellicle Ball”

Kai Harada, “Ragtime”

Adam Fisher, “The Lost Boys”

Brian Ronan, “Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show”

Walter Trarbach, “Schmigadoon!”

Sound Design of a Play

Justin Ellington, “August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone”

Tom Gibbons, “Oedipus”

Lee Kinney, “The Fear of 13”

Josh Schmidt, “Bug”

Mikaal Sulaiman, “Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman”