2026 Tony Awards include these 7 quirks, key moments to watch for
2026 Tony Awards include these 7 quirks, key moments to watch for
Ilana Keller, Asbury Park PressFri, June 5, 2026 at 9:15 AM UTC
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It's Broadway's biggest night!
As always, the 2026 Tony Awards, set for Sunday, June 7, at Radio City Music Hall, will be a night of celebration, performances, nail-biting awards races, celebrity stopovers and surprises.
And as always, there will be moments that make this year's awards ceremony stand out from the pack, whether they are category quirks, cast reunions, show-stopping numbers from this year's top-nominated shows, mile-a-minute laughs or remembrances to hold in our hearts.
Full list: Broadway's best honored with 2026 Tony Awards nominations
"The Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" led the way this year, with 12 Tony nominations apiece, while "Ragtime" was close on their heels with 11.
The cast of Broadway's "Schmigadoon."
All seven nominees for Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical will perform during the awards ceremony. Those include: "The Lost Boys"," Schmigadoon!", "Titaníque", "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," "Cats: The Jellicle Ball", "Ragtime" and Richard O'Brien's "The Rocky Horror Show."
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Here are seven things to watch out for at the 2026 Tony Awards.
Joshua Henry, Caissie Levy, Brandon Uranowitz and the cast of "Ragtime" on Broadway.Pink is hosting
In an unusual move, the Tony Awards host has never actually starred on Broadway.
But that doesn't mean the pop singer Pink lacks the pizzazz to sparkle onstage. The Grammy Award-winning icon and lifelong theater fan will bring her energy, talents and powerhouse personality to hosting duties at the 79th annual Tony Awards. And two of the pop star's songs currently appear in Broadway shows — "Raise Your Glass" in "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" and "F**kin' Perfect" in "& Juliet."
"It is the honor of an entire lifetime to host a night celebrating the literal hardest working people in showbiz," said Pink when the news was announced. "Broadway has shaped my life and how I put my own shows together — it is a community that is supportive and inclusive, and full of talent and love. These people give magic every single day, and I cannot wait to celebrate them with the entire world."
There's a pre-show
Prior to the live broadcast, Tony Award winner Laura Benanti and six-time Emmy and SAG-nominated actor, musician, and writer Tituss Burgess will host "The Tony Awards: Act One," a live pre-show available to viewers for free on Pluto TV. That's set for 6:35 to 8 p.m. Eastern. The duo will present the night's first round of Tony Awards.
Best Leading Actress all first-time nominees
Stephanie Hsu, Andrew Durand and the cast of "The Rocky Horror Show" on Broadway.
Incredibly, given the prodigious talent the Best Leading Actress in a Musical nominees display across Broadway every night, and with many of them gracing New York's stages for a decade or more, it's the first nomination for all five contenders in the category.
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With Sarah Chase ("Schmigadoon!"), Stephanie Hsu ("The Rocky Horror Show"), Caissie Levy ("Ragtime"), Marla Mindelle ("Titanique") and Christiani Pitts ("Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)") vying for the trophy, it's certain to be a night to remember.
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Why are plays nominated for best score?
This year, two of the five shows nominated for Best Original Score are plays, not musicals. The category's full official name is Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre, not limiting the nominees to musicals, and this year's nominators rewarded the music that drove "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman" and "August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone" alongside the musicals "The Lost Boys," "Schmigadoon!" and "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)." In the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, all four productions nominated for Best Original Score were plays, leading to a win for Christopher Nightingale's "A Christmas Carol."
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Why is a show that's never been on Broadway a revival?
Daniel Radcliffe in "Every Brilliant Thing" on Broadway.
"Every Brilliant Thing" is nominated in the Best Revival of a Play category. But it's never been performed on Broadway before this season. Why?
Because of the so-called "classics rule," introduced in 2002. That rule states "A play or musical that is determined by the Tony Awards Administration Committee (in its sole discretion) to be a "classic" or in the historical or popular repertoire shall not be eligible for an Award in the Best Play or Best Musical category but may be eligible in the appropriate Best Revival category, if any, provided it meets all other eligibility requirements setforth in these rules."
Prior to its West End and Broadway debuts, "Every Brilliant Thing" played the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, had a run off-Broadway as well as aired as an HBO special, so the Tony committee placed it in the revival category.
Luke Evans and Josh Rivera in "The Rocky Horror Show" on Broadway.
Its competitors in the Best Revival of a Play category are "Becky Shaw," "Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman," "Fallen Angels" and "Oedipus."
Original cast of 'The Book of Mormon' reunites
Andrew Rannells and the cast of "The Book of Mormon" performs on stage during the 65th Annual Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre on June 12, 2011 in New York City.
The entire original cast of "The Book of Mormon" will reunite to celebrate the show's 15th anniversary. Tony Award nominees Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells and Rory O'Malley and Tony Award winner Nikki M. James will return in a special performance that will be introduced by its Tony Award-winning creators Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez.
Special performances
Speaking of big milestones, "Chicago" will offer up a special performance to celebrate 30 years on Broadway.
Queen Latifah, who earned an Academy Award nomination for her role as Matron Mama Morton in the film adaptation, will join host Pink, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Whitney Leavitt, Dylan Mulvaney and more for a tribute performance from the musical.
Marking other milestones, Rachel Zegler, who will return to Broadway next spring in "Evita," will offer a tribute to "A Chorus Line," which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Tony Award winner Leslie Odom Jr. will perform the In Memoriam tribute with "Without You" from "Rent" in honor of the show's 30th anniversary.
2026 Tony nominations
According to the Tony Awards, "legitimate theatrical productions opening in any of the 41 eligible Broadway theatres during the current season may be considered for Tony nominations. The 2025/2026 eligibility season began April 28, 2025 and ended April 26, 2026." The Tony Awards were voted on in 26 competitive categories by 857 designated Tony voters within the theater community.
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Shoshana Bean, Benjamin Pajak and LJ Benet in "The Lost Boys" on Broadway.
Here are the number of nominations by production:
"The Lost Boys" - 12
"Schmigadoon!" - 12
"Ragtime – 11"
"Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman" - 9
"Cats: The Jellicle Ball" - 9
"Richard O'Brien's The Rocky Horror Show" – 9
"Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)" - 8
"Oedipus" – 7
" August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone" – 5
"The Balusters" – 5
"Chess" - 5
"Fallen Angels" – 5
"Liberation" - 5
"Bug" – 4
"Giant" - 4
"Titaníque" - 4
"Dog Day Afternoon" - 3
"Becky Shaw" - 2
"Every Brilliant Thing" – 2
"The Fear of 13" - 2
"Marjorie Prime" - 2
"Little Bear Ridge Road" - 1
"Punch" – 1
"Waiting for Godot" - 1
How to watch the 2026 Tony Awards
The Tony Awards, presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, will be broadcast live from coast to coast on the CBS Television Network at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and stream on Paramount+. Paramount+ Premium subscribers will have access to stream live via the live feed of their local CBS affiliate on the service as well as on demand, organizers said, while essential-tier subscribers will have access to on-demand the day after the special airs.
Ilana Keller is an award-winning journalist and lifelong New Jersey resident who loves Broadway and really bad puns.Reach out: ikeller@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: 2026 Tony Awards preview; watch for these quirks, special moments
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