Tony Awards 2025: Breakout Musicals, Shock Wins & How to Watch the Show Live Tonight

Broadway’s biggest night ended with robot romance on top, as “Maybe Happy Ending” claimed Best Musical at the 78th Tony Awards on Sunday, June 8, 2025, from Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The inventive show about two discarded androids finding love on a cross-country road trip led the evening with six trophies, confirming pre-ceremony buzz that positioned it as a front-runner among this season’s most-nominated productions. Best Musical wasn’t the night’s only headline in the crowded musical categories: • “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Death Becomes Her” and “Maybe Happy Ending” had tied for the most nominations—10 apiece—going into the ceremony. • “Sunset Boulevard,” starring Nicole Scherzinger in a powerhouse turn as Norma Desmond, converted four of its seven nods, including Best Actress in a Musical for the former Pussycat Doll. • Brooks Ashmanskas earned Featured Actor in a Musical for the rollicking “Dead Outlaw,” while Betsy Wolfe’s comedic timing in “Pirates! The Penzance Adventure” secured Featured Actress. Host Cynthia Erivo kept the three-hour telecast moving with soaring vocal tributes, punctuated by a 30-year “Hamilton” anniversary reunion that lit up social media feeds and boosted same-night streaming of the 2015 juggernaut’s cast album. Key winners in musical design and craft: • Score: Will Butler and Élena Kim for “Maybe Happy Ending,” whose synth-folk arrangements beat out the Afro-Cuban grooves of “Buena Vista Social Club.” • Choreography: Sergio Trujillo added a second Tony to his mantel for the propulsive salsa footwork in “Buena Vista Social Club.” • Direction of a Musical: Michael Arden’s fluid staging of “Death Becomes Her” outpaced veteran contenders Susan Stroman (“Gypsy”) and Sam Gold (“Floyd Collins”). What’s next for the winners? A touring production of “Maybe Happy Ending” has already announced a Chicago launch this fall, with London and Seoul engagements in negotiations, underscoring Broadway’s increasing appetite for global crossover stories. Meanwhile, Scherzinger’s “Sunset Boulevard” will release a live-capture film later this year, extending the trend of hybrid stage-screen distribution that began during the pandemic. Search interest in phrases like “Tony Awards winners 2025” and “Best Musical Maybe Happy Ending” surged overnight, signaling sustained traffic opportunities for theater lovers looking to relive the showstopping performances and shop cast recordings. With Broadway box-office up 11 percent this spring, industry insiders are optimistic that the Tonys’ musical triumphs will translate into record summer tourism and a robust 2025-26 season lineup.