Jean Smart, Adrien Brody, Ayo Edebiri and Neil Patrick Harris are among the list of big names ignored for Tony Award nominations for Broadway shows.
Adrien Brody reflects on his record-length Oscar acceptance speech
Adrien Brody explains why his long speech at the 2025 Oscars was important and why perspective is impossible in that moment.
NEW YORK – Broadway’s biggest morning took center stage in Hollywood.
On May 5, the Tony Awards announced nominations for the 2025-26 season, which included numerous films and television adaptations. The Lost Boys, based on the 1987 vampire cult classic starring Kiefer Sutherland and Corey Haim, won best musical.
James Cameron’s “Titanic,” a parody of “Titanic,” which uses Celine Dion’s signature hit song, was also nominated for best musical, as was “Schmiga Doon!,” an adaptation of the Apple TV comedy series about a couple trapped in a town where all the residents do is sing and dance.
In fact, the only all-original musical nominated for the top Tony award was “Two Strangers,” about a bright-eyed English man (Sam Tutti) and a sarcastic Brooklyn woman (Cristiani Pitts) who form an unlikely bond before their wedding.
A number of Tinseltown stars will be recognized across the acting categories, with John Lithgow (“Giant”) and Nathan Lane (“Death of a Salesman”) facing off for Best Actor in a Play, joined by wizard boy Daniel Radcliffe (“Every Brilliant Thing”).
Oscar nominees Lesley Manville (“Oedipus”) and Rose Byrne (“Fallen Angels”) are also competing for Best Actress, ahead of bigger names such as Jean Smart (“Call Me Izzy”) and Ayo Edebiri (“Proof”).
Two-time Oscar winner Adrien Brody was significantly rejected from the lead role in The Fear of 13, a true-story prison drama produced by Kim Kardashian and based on a 2015 documentary.
Several of the biggest stars, whose films ended in theaters months ago, have long been forgotten by Tony Award nominees. “Waiting for Godot” favorites Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, who reunited after the “Bill & Ted” series, were both skipped over for nods, as was “Art” trio Neil Patrick Harris, Bobby Cannavale and James Corden.
“The Bear” star Jon Bernthal, who received dismal reviews for his stage adaptation of “Dog Day Afternoon,” was similarly ignored for Best Actor in a Play.
On the musical front, Lea Michele, best known for her role in “Glee,” has been removed from the lead role in the musical revival of “Chess.” The Emmy nominee has been campaigning heavily in recent months, citing her lifelong theatrical commitment to Broadway productions such as “Ragtime,” “Les Misérables,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Funny Girl.”
The controversial “Queen of Versailles,” about real-life Trump supporter Jackie Siegel, was left out of the Best Musical category, as was “The Beach,” based on the Rainer Dart novel that inspired the 1988 film starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey.
Oscar nominee Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) was a welcome surprise as lead actress in a musical with her outstanding comedic performance as Janet on “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” It was also a relief to be recognized as leading actress in a play, with Kelli O’Hara and Carrie Coon giving some of the season’s most memorable performances in “Fallen Angel” and “Bug,” respectively.
