Tony Awards 2026: Win or lose, these 10 standout performances and shows are worth celebrating
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The 2025-26 Broadway season was characterized by long fallow periods interrupted by an onslaught of eagerly awaited openings.The overall impression was one of a theater industry treading water — the goal being to stay afloat until the culture, the state of national politics and the economics of producing improve.Don’t hold your breath.
The struggle, compounded by technological shifts turbo-charged by AI, won’t be letting up any time soon.But more than ever, the theater seems to be answering the need for collective, in-person experience.
If only ticket prices weren’t such a barrier to true democratic access.The season’s strength was in revivals, a couple of which were so innovative they stretch our understanding of the term.
Robert Icke’s “Oedipus” was hardly a retread of an ancient Greek classic and “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” may have hewed faithfully to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score, but everything else about this production seemed completely reborn.The frenzy of the new attention economy has only inflated the importance of the Tony Awards — to the detriment of the Broadway calendar.During a trip to New York in early March to serve on an award jury, I was frustrated by the dearth of new Broadway productions.
April is always an avalanche, but this year the early parts of the fall and spring season were deserts.Celebrities no longer guarantee a stampede at the virtual box office, but one encouraging development is the range of big-named actors delivering powerhouse performances in plays that were anything but vanity showcases.Highlights of the starry season not listed here include Daniel Radcliffe in “Every Brilliant Thing,” nominated for performance by an actor in a leading role in a play, and Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson in “The Fear of 13.” Progress may be down, but it’s not out.
My Broadway theatergoing had to be selective this year for lo...