The Tony Awards 2026 winners are in, the speeches are finished, and Broadway has given us plenty to talk about. Some choices felt inevitable. A few were proper races. One or two made me put down my drink and have a little conversation with the television.
I made my early Tony Awards picks before the ceremony. That is part of the fun. You take a stand, you watch the room, and then you see whether the voters felt the same way. Now that the envelopes have been opened, here is my verdict on the major Tony Awards 2026 winners.
Short version: I agree with almost all of it. Broadway got the big picture right.
Best Musical Winner: Schmigadoon!
Gary agrees.
Schmigadoon! had a difficult job. It had to turn a television favorite into a real Broadway event, not a long episode with expensive seats. It did. The show is funny, musically smart, and knows exactly how much it loves old Broadway without becoming trapped by it.
The Best Musical prize should go to the show that makes people want to bring someone back with them. Schmigadoon! has that energy. It is big, bright, and designed to leave an audience smiling on the way out.
Verdict: The right winner and a very good choice for Broadway.
Best Play Winner: Liberation
Gary agrees.
Liberation was the kind of play that people did not simply watch. They discussed it afterward. That matters. It took a subject with real weight and gave it people, humor, friction, and enough life to avoid feeling like a lecture.
Best Play is often about the work that lingers in your head after you get home. This one did. Bess Wohl gave Broadway a play with a point of view and the confidence to let the audience do some of the work.
Verdict: A thoughtful, deserved win.
Best Revival of a Musical Winner: Ragtime
Gary strongly agrees.
A revival needs a reason to exist. It cannot just show up because enough time has passed. This Ragtime had a reason. It was emotionally enormous, beautifully performed, and painfully current without screaming about it.
Some musicals give you a good night out. Ragtime gives you a good night out and then follows you home. That is the difference.
Verdict: No argument from me. This was the revival to beat.
Best Actor in a Musical Winner: Joshua Henry in Ragtime
Gary agrees.
Joshua Henry has the kind of voice that makes people stop adjusting in their seats. Yet the power was never just the notes. He gave the performance shape, control, and a real human center. You could feel the audience trusting him completely.
That is what a leading-performance Tony should reward. Not just a big voice. A full performance.
Verdict: An excellent win for an actor who made every moment count.
Best Actress in a Musical Winner: Caissie Levy in Ragtime
Gary agrees.
Caissie Levy has a rare gift. She can fill the theater without pushing. In Ragtime, she made the emotional turns feel earned, not announced with flashing lights and a drumroll.
There were several strong women in the running. Still, Levy’s work had the kind of clarity that stays with you. She did not play for the award. She played the truth of the character, which is usually how the awards happen anyway.
Verdict: A classy choice and a performance worth celebrating.
Best Actor in a Play Winner: John Lithgow in Giant
Gary agrees.
John Lithgow is one of those actors who can make intelligence look like action. In Giant, he did not rely on tricks or volume. He built the character piece by piece and let the tension do the talking.
This was a crowded category, but the win makes sense. Lithgow gave a performance that was precise, uncomfortable when it needed to be, and impossible to ignore.
Verdict: A veteran actor at the top of his game.
Best Actress in a Play Winner: Lesley Manville in Oedipus
Gary agrees.
Lesley Manville did not come to Broadway to make a polite entrance. Her work in Oedipus had force, precision, and the sort of control that keeps an entire theater quiet. It was not a performance trying to impress you. It simply did.
That restraint is hard to pull off. Manville made it look easy, which is usually a sign that it is not easy at all.
Verdict: A fully deserved win.
Best Direction of a Musical Winner: Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch for Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Gary agrees.
Reinventing Cats is a dangerous hobby. Everyone has an opinion, and most of them have claws. Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch took that risk and gave the show a new pulse. Cats: The Jellicle Ball felt specific, alive, and unlike the version many people had already filed away in their minds.
This is what direction can do. It can make a familiar title feel like a new invitation.
Verdict: Bold work deserved a bold win.
Best Direction of a Play Winner: Joe Mantello for Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Gary’s one mild disagreement.
Joe Mantello’s win is absolutely defensible. His Death of a Salesman was clean, controlled, and gave the actors space to do serious work. There is nothing wrong with this award.
However, if I were holding the envelope, I might have leaned toward Whitney White for Liberation. Her direction carried a complicated play with real momentum and never let the ideas overpower the people. That is not an outrage. It is simply my pick.
Verdict: A good winner, but not my personal first choice.
Best Original Score Winner: Schmigadoon!
Gary agrees.
This was one of the easier calls among the Tony Awards 2026 winners. Cinco Paul’s score understands the language of classic musical theater and uses it without treating the audience like it needs a history lesson. The songs are clever, but they also do the job songs are supposed to do. They move the story, reveal character, and stay in your head.
A show can parody Broadway and still be in love with Broadway. Schmigadoon! proved that, one sharp song at a time.
Verdict: Exactly right.
My Final Take on the Tony Awards 2026 Winners
The Tony Awards can never satisfy everybody. That would be boring, and Broadway is many things but rarely boring. Still, the Tony Awards 2026 winners rewarded productions that had real craft, strong performances, and clear reasons for being on Broadway now.
My scorecard: nine agreements and one friendly objection. I can live with that.
More importantly, this season gave audiences reasons to keep showing up. From Schmigadoon! to Liberation, from Ragtime to Cats: The Jellicle Ball, there was no shortage of work worth arguing about. That is a healthy Broadway season.
Still in a Broadway mood? If the Tonys left you wanting your next theatre night, start with Gary’s insider tips for cheap Broadway tickets, then see what to wear to a Broadway show. When you want something a little closer to the edge, browse his top Off-Broadway shows in NYC. Just don’t blame Gary if your calendar gets expensive.
