Well, Broadway just threw one heck of a glitter bomb at the 2025 Tony Awards, and honestly, it was everything. It featured chaos, class, and delightfully extra moments. From robot love stories to boozy First Ladies, the night literally had more twists than a Sondheim score.
Though host Cynthia Erivo was a vision and a vocal powerhouse, legends like Keanu Reeves, Oprah, and even Charli D’Amelio just turned up to cheer on the most creatively bonkers Broadway season in years. Of course, the A-listers dazzled, but the real stars? Well, let’s say they were the wildly inventive shows that dared to be different.
Yep, we’re talking about Androids winning Best Musical, Mary Todd Lincoln reimagined as a cabaret queen, and surprise reunions that had theatre nerds in full meltdown mode. With 42 eligible shows, fierce competition, and standing ovations galore, this year’s Tonys wasn’t just a celebration, it was an actual Broadway-sized heart-hug. So, let’s clap up those jazz hands because we’re exploring the most heartwarming moments from the wildest theatre party of the year.
10. Nicole Scherzinger’s nail-biting performance
Let’s talk first about a glow-up, from ‘Don’t Cha’ to ‘Don’t Cha’ forgetting this Tony win. Yep, we’re talking about Nicole Scherzinger trading her pop stardom for high drama and absolutely annihilating her performance of As If We Never Said Goodbye from Sunset Boulevard.
Well, Scherzinger’s vocals were flawless, fog machines were working overtime, and by the end, Broadway was officially hers. It was a night for her of standing ovations, side-eyes, and one of the most hotly debated categories of the night. Even more, Oprah alluded to the buzz before announcing Scherzinger’s win, and when that envelope opened, jaws dropped harder than Norma Desmond’s final scene. And with tears in her eyes, Scherzinger said,
Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong, but you all have made me feel like I belong and I have come home at last.
Cheery on the top? She also beat out Broadway royalty, making her victory a glorious mic-drop moment in rhinestones and revival dreams.
9. Francis Jue’s tuxedo tribute
At Tony’s 2025, Francis Jue wasn’t just winning hearts, he was actually wearing one. Yep, while accepting his award for Best Featured Actor in Yellow Face, Jue came up onstage in a tuxedo stitched with legacy. Apparently, he was wearing a sleek black suit that was originally tailored for Alvin Ing, a pioneering Asian American actor who wore it for the 1976 Broadway opening of Pacific Overtures.
Now, 20 years later, Ing handed it down with one request- wear this when you win your Tony. Well, mission gloriously accomplished. Jue said in his acceptance speech,
He told me he wanted me to wear it when I accepted my Tony Award. I’m only here because of the encouragement and inspiration of generations of wonderful, deserving Asian artists who came before me and never got the opportunities that I’ve had.
It was a moment tailor-made for the history books, proof that some awards are worn on your sleeve or lapel.
8. Gavin Creel Fellowships announcement
Amid the glitter and glam at Tony Awards 2025, one of the most heartwarming, goosebump-inducing moments came without confetti or jazz hands. Yep, while Cynthia Erivo and Sara Bareilles delivered a tender rendition of Tomorrow during the In Memoriam segment, the mood suddenly shifted from Broadway bravado to Broadway heartbreak.
Sadly, Bareilles quietly broke down and Erivo wrapped her in a comforting embrace while the former remembered Gavin Creel. Though the night didn’t end in sorrow, moments later, Celia Keenan-Bolger accepted her humanitarian award and turned tribute into action. To honor Gavin’s legacy, she announced the Gavin Creel Fellowships, $25,000 grants, and mentorship for the next generation of actors.
From spotlight to starlight, Creel’s legacy now lives on in the dreams of others.
7. Jak Malone’s pride shoutout
While Broadway’s never been shy about fabulousness, it’s Jak Malone who turned his Tony moment into a full-blown pride parade in a sentence. Yep, at the time of snagging the featured-actor award for Operation Mincemeat, Malone didn’t just thank his mom and exit stage. Nope. Instead, he handed the audience a glittery little revelation. He said,
You might have just bid farewell to cynicism, to outdated ideas, to that rotten old binary, and opened yourself up to a world that is already out there in glorious technicolor and isn’t going away anytime soon.
Well, that’s how you win hearts and Tonys. Playing the gender-fluid Hester, Malone literally brought all the charm, camp, and clarity to a role that was as much about being human as it was about smashing tired norms. And that too during Pride Month, no less.
6. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins victory lap
Guys, Braden Jacobs-Jenkins is officially on a Tony-winning hot streak, and Purpose has never looked more poetic. Winning Best Play for Purpose, on top of last year’s win for Appropriate, he now joins theatre royalty like Tony Kushner and Terrence McNally as part of the ultra-elite Consecutive Tony Wins Club. Well, not bad for a playwright who casually dropped a Pulitzer this year too.
Purpose featured generational tension, politics, and identity with surgical precision, all wrapped in a Chicago snowstorm. The play is bold, brainy, and blazing with the kind of dialogue that smacks you right in the conscience. And on stage, Jacobs-Jenkins used his moment to cheer for the underdogs, urging people to Google “local theatre near me”.
He even shared,
My obligation is to write to people living in reality with me in the present.
And reality has responded with Tonys, Pulitzers, and standing ovations. Take your bow, sir, twice.
5. Darren Criss’s long-awaited Tony win
Guys, it’s official, Darren Criss is no longer just an Emmy winner. Yep, this Gleek icon and Broadway heartthrob is a Tony Award winner now. After years of delivering pitch-perfect performances, Criss has finally snagged his first Tony for Maybe Happy Ending, playing a charmingly emotional android. Yep, a robot, and he made us cry.
In a hilarious and heartfelt acceptance speech, Criss thanked his co-star Helen J. Shen and gushed about his wife, Mia,
You are the very pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives.
Criss even called the show a long-time dream, saying,
This came to me in 2018… then the pandemic, then a strike—and finally the stars aligned.
Thankfully, so did the votes. Darren, a reboot is complete. Welcome to the winners’ circle.
4. Audra McDonald’s performance
Audra McDonald has literally torn the house down at the 2025 Tonys with her fiery rendition of Rose’s Turn from Gypsy, a performance so powerful, even Patti LuPone probably felt the tremor. Well, McDonald’s didn’t need drama to make headlines, her legendary voice and presence were enough.
While LuPone’s frosty What a beautiful day comment sparked buzz, McDonald just kept it classy. When asked about the alleged rift, she responded, (via CBS Mornings)
If there’s a rift between us, I don’t know what it is.
And let’s not forget the milestone- this nomination marks McDonald’s record-breaking 11th Tony nod. She’s already Broadway’s most decorated performer with six wins. At this point, she might need a separate shelf or wing.
Audra sang her truth, kept it civil, and reminded the world that no amount of backstage chatter can upstage Broadway royalty in full bloom.
3. Hamilton’s 10th anniversary reunion
The room where it happened turned into a reunion wonderland as the Hamilton original cast graced the Tony Awards for a heart-pounding 10th-anniversary performance. Yep, Lin-Manuel Miranda led the charge, joined by Leslie Odom Jr., Renée Elise Goldsberry, Daveed Diggs, and more for classics like My Shot and The Schuyler Sisters.
Emmy Raver-Lampman even shared, (via People),
It was heartwarming and beautiful—just 28 people we love so much.
Tears of joy flowed freely, as Goldsberry recalled,
Every single person brought a bubble of joy to my soul.
With Hamilton still reigning at the Richard Rodgers Theatre and the original cast album certified Diamond, the legacy lives on. Leslie Odom Jr.’s upcoming return as Aaron Burr? Just the icing on this revolutionary cake.
2. Michael Arden’s Happy Pride mic-drop
Michael Arden snagged his second Tony for Best Direction of a Musical with Maybe Happy Ending and gave the kind of acceptance speech that made every theater kid and queer kid want to burst into song. As the heart behind the season’s most-nominated musical, Arden didn’t just thank the usual suspects. He went full mic-drop with a call to arms for art, courage, and Pride. He said, before hitting us with the quote of the night,
Support the arts. Support artists. We need you now more than ever. The darker it gets, the more we need your light. As Daddy Sondheim said, ‘Give us more to see.’ And if there are any queer people watching tonight—Happy Pride.
From school stages to Broadway spotlights, Arden reminded everyone why taking risks (and singing about obsolete Helperbots) matters. And he did it with sparkle, sincerity, and Sondheim in his heart.
1. Cynthia Erivo’s opening and tribute
Cynthia Erivo didn’t just host the 2025 Tonys, she literally baptized it in vocal power, glitter, and gospel glory. In a red-hot gown and hotter vocals, the Wicked star opened the show with an original number that was part tribute, part flex, and all heart. She belted, and with backup from Oprah (and her legendary pointer finger) and surprise riffs from Adam Lambert, the night was instantly unforgettable,
Sometimes all you need is a song.
Erivo even channeled her inner Broadway Oprah, handing the mic to stars like Kristin Chenoweth and Aaron Tveit for on-the-spot solos. But Lambert? He slayed it.
With a gospel choir behind her and a standing ovation in front, Erivo owned that stage like it was her birthright. Oprah told her backstage, and Erivo proved to be herself was more than enough,
The only thing you need to do is just be yourself.
A divine start to a dazzling night.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
