2025 Tonys Trends

The takeaway from the 2025 Tony awards for this year of the highest grosses in Broadway history: to paraphrase Norma Desmond: Broadway is big. It's the shows that got small. Also, what's wrong with recognizing Hollywood stars?

The trend for some time has been for smaller shows to take the Best Musical award at the Tonys. Avenue Q in '04, Fun Home in '15, Dear Evan Hansen in '17: the list goes on, and it leads us to this year. In 2025 the Best Musical award went to Maybe Happy Ending, a small show that seemingly came out of nowhere and also got Tonys for Best Actor, Book, Scenic Design, Original Score, and Direction. The Tony for Best Revival of a Musical went to Sunset Blvd., a show that used to be big but now is given the postmodern stark scenic design/video closeup treatment.

Tastes have changed. In the push to put younger, more varied audiences in Broadway seats, not only have casts gotten more diverse, but shows appeal to people who have grown up with the internet and never known a world without music videos. This "less is more" thinking may spell the death of the old-school musical with nary a chorus girl in sight, at least for the Tonys, where Smash got crushed and Boop! got zip. (The other award organizations [Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk] had different opinions; Boop! which is a big, razzle-dazzle-y show, won Choreography and Costume Design from DD and OCC, and its star, Jasmine Amy Rogers, won Outstanding Lead Performer from both organizations.)

Speaking of big: big Hollywood stars came to town, but were completely overlooked at the Tonys. Jim Parsons? No. Denzel? Jake? No. Clooney? No. Big box office, but no awards. Is this an anti-Hollywood bias at work among the Tony voters? Who knows?

Broadway is definitely still big, and still pulling big stars. Next season will feature The Queen of Versailles, a brand new show with Kristin Chenoweth! Theaterscene.com will be there and review.

See you at the theater!

-   Jeanne Lieberman, Publisher

Linda Lavin: 1937-2024

We are sorry to report that the funny, caustic, delightful, Tony-winning Linda Lavin, who had a long career in theater and television, died on Sunday, December 29. She had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer.

Lavin was a frequent performer, on and off-Broadway. Career moments included originating Sondheim's "The Boy From." in The Mad Show in 1966, through starring as Mama Rose in Gypsy in 1990, to You Will Get Sick, in 2022. Of her five Tony nominations, she received the win for her performance in in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound.

Lavin worked extensively in television, where she had the title role in the sitcom Alice; she also sang the show's theme song, "There's a New Girl in Town," each season. Her eclectic TV career spanned everything from The Muppets to Barney Miller to The Sopranos, and at the time of her death, she was still working, shooting the upcoming Hulu sitcom Mid-Century Modern, opposite Nathan Lane.

Lavin's third husband, Steve Bakunas, survives her. Theaterscene sends our sympathy and condolences.

Theaterscene is sad to report that Sandi Durell, the founder and longtime publisher and editor of Theaterpizzazz, has passed after a long, courageous battle with cancer. Many in the theater and cabaret community loved Sandi; she was special, vibrant, and delightful. We send our condolences to her friends and particularly, her family: her husband, Dr. Robert Durell; her daughter, Cooper Lawrence; and her son-in-law, critic and Drama Desk member JK Clarke.

A celebration of life was held on Sunday, October 27.

Theater Loses Two Beloved Stars: Maggie Smith and Gavin Creel

Maggie Smith (Photo: the Everett Collection)

Gavin Creel (Photo: Deadline.com)

Within a single week, the theater world lost Maggie Smith, 89, and Gavin Creel, 48. These beloved actors were extraordinary talented members of the theater community. Smith was a legend, with a long run that spanned decades and garnered multiple awards for her work in film and television as well as on the stage. The other, Creel, had a shorter, but stellar, theater career.

Tributes from those who knew her speak of Maggie Smith's intellect, of how sharp, funny, and clever she was and yet did not suffer fools lightly. Gavin Creel's friends and colleagues talk about his kindness, his huge and singular talent, how he had made Broadway brighter. Gone too soon, yet still had so much greatness still to come.

Obituaries, courtesy of Theatermania, say it all; click photos for links.