Another opening, another show, another Tony Awards. On Tuesday, the curtain rose on the nominees for the 2026 American Theatre Wing’s Antoinette Perry “Tony” Awards on Tuesday with some 30 shows jockeying for the love and attention of America’s theater elite.
The big winners from the morning were the original musicals The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon!, both of which picked up 12 nods including Best Musical. The acclaimed revival of Ragtime was close behind with 11 nominations, including Best Musical Revival. That production’s main competition in the musical revival category — Cats: The Jellicle Ball and The Rocky Horror Show — tied with nine nominations.
Over on the play side of the equation, the latest revival of the Arthur Miller classic Death of a Salesman led the way with nine nominations, including Best Actor for its star, Nathan Lane, and Best Featured Actress for Laurie Metcalfe. The honor for most-nominated new play went to David Lidnsay-Abaire’s The Balusters and Bess Wohl’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation, both of which received five nominations apiece, including Best Play.
Top Tony Nominees by Show
| Schmigadoon! | 12 |
| The Lost Boys | 12 |
| Ragtime | 11 |
| Death of a Salesman | 9 |
| Cats: The Jellicle Ball | 9 |
| The Rocky Horror Show | 9 |
| Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) | 8 |
| Oedipus | 7 |
| Joe Turner’s Come and Gone | 5 |
| The Balusters | 5 |
| Chess | 5 |
| Fallen Angels | 5 |
| Liberation | 5 |
The big question facing the Best Musical race is whether voters will ultimately embrace productions adapted from other sources — The Lost Boys gives fresh life to Joel Schumacher’s 1987 vampire favorite, while Schmigadoon! started its life as an Apple TV series — or cast their ballots for the one show written expressly for the stage, Two Strangers. Last year, they went the latter route with Maybe Happy Ending surpassing Buena Vista Social Club and Death Becomes Her. But the pendulum could swing back this year, especially with Schmigadoon! playing to a broad Broadway audience, while The Lost Boys targets the young theatergoers that made The Outsiders a Tony-winning hit two cyles ago.
It’s going to be an equally close battle between Ragtime and Cats: The Jellicle Ball in the musical revival categories. The former show benefits from having more contending actors in its ensemble, but the latter is a popular reincarnation of an era-defining Broadway show. Here’s a rule we abide by: Never bet against Skimbleshanks.
Meanwhile, Death of a Salesman seems poised to dominate the Play Revival race, but Lane faces a formidable Best Actor opponent in the towering form of John Lithgow’s Olivier-winning performance as Roald Dahl in Giant. That Nicholas Hytner-directed drama is also favored to win the Best Play category, although Liberation has a path towards the statuette as well.
The 79th edition of the ceremony will be held on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall with Pink serving as emcee. In addition to the nominees, the 2026 Tony Awards will also honor three Broadway icons with lifetime achievement statuettes. Former artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop; Tony-winning lighting designer Jules Fisher; and Tony-winning playwright and director James Lapine are the trio being feted for their contributions to American theater.
Here’s the full list of 2026 Tony nominees:
Best Musical
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Titanique
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Musical Revival
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
The Rocky Horror Show
Best Play
The Balusters
Giant
Liberation
Little Bear Ridge Road
Best Play Revival
Becky Shaw
Death of a Salesman
Every Brilliant Thing
Fallen Angels
Oedipus
Best Actor in a Musical
Nicholas Christopher, Chess
Luke Evans, The Rocky Horror Show
Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime
Best Actress in a Musical
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)
Best 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
Best 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
Best Actor in a Play
Will Harrison, Punch
Nathan Lane, Death of a Salesman
John Lithgow, Giant
Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
Mark Strong, Oedipus
Best Actress in a Play
Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels
Carrie Coon, Bug
Susannah Flood, Liberation
Lesley Manville, Oedipus
Kelli O’Hara, Fallen Angels
Best Featured Actor in a Play
Christopher Abbott, Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
Brandon J. Dirden, Waiting for Godot
Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Richard Thomas, The Balusters
Best Featured Actress in a Play
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
Aya Cash, Giant
Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman
June Squibb, Marjorie Prime
Best 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
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Death of a Salesman, Caroline Shaw
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Steve Bargonetti
The Lost Boys, The Rescues
Schmigadoon!, Cinco Paul
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York), Jim Barne and Kit Buchan
Best Scenic Design of a Play
Hildegard Bechtler, Oedipus
Takeshi Kata, Bug
Chloe Lamford, Death of a Salesman
David Korins, Dog Day Afternoon
David Rockwell, Fallen Angels
Best Scenic Design of a Musical
dots, 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!
Best Costume Design of a Play
Brenda Abbandandolo, Dog Day Afternoon
Qween Jean, Liberation
Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels
Emilio Sosa, The Balusters
Paul Tazewell, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Best Costume Design of a Musical
Linda Cho, Ragtime
Linda Cho, Schmigadoon!
Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ryan Park, The Lost Boys
David I. Reynoso, The Rocky Horror Show
Best Lighting Design of a Play
Isabella Byrd, Dog Day Afternoon
Natasha Chivers, Oedipus
Stacey Derosier, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Heather Gilbert, Bug
Heather Gilbert, The Fear of 13
Jack Knowles, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Chess
Jane Cox, The Rocky Horror Show
Donald Holder, Schmigadoon!
Adam Honoré, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Honoré and Donald Holder (Lighting Design) and 59 Studio (Projection Design), Ragtime
Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys
Best Sound Design of a Play
Justin Ellington, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Tom Gibbons, Oedipus
Lee Kinney, The Fear of 13
Josh Schmidt, Bug
Mikaal Sulaiman, Death of a Salesman
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Kai Harada, Ragtime
Adam Fisher, The Lost Boys
Brian Ronan, The Rocky Horror Show
Walter Trarbach, Schmigadoon!
Best 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
Best 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
Best Choreography
Christopher Gattelli, Schmigadoon!
Ellenore Scott, Ragtime
Ani Taj, The Rocky Horror Show
Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, The Lost Boys
Best 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
