‘Maybe Happy Ending’ brings home six Tony Awards

By Lucia Caporalini

Tony-winning actor Cynthia Erivo hosted the 2025 Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday night, when an emotional celebration of US theatre saw Darren Criss and Nicole Scherzinger win some of the top prizes of the night.

Maybe Happy Ending, starring Golden Globe-winning actor Darren Criss (of Glee fame) and Helen J. Shen, won six awards.

The musical brought home the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, and Best Actor in a Musical, amongst others.

The show, created by South Korean musical writer Hue Park, tells the story of two humanoid robots, Oliver and Claire, who fall in love and explore relationships and mortality in future Seoul.

“I have such immense pride to get to be part of this notably diverse, exquisite Broadway season this year,” Criss said on stage.

‘Don’t give up’

British singer Nicole Scherzinger was awarded the prize for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, which also won the award for Best Revival of a Musical. 

Scherzinger, best known as the singer of pop girl band Pussycat Dolls, said on stage: “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.”

“If there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong or your time hasn’t come, don’t give up,” she told the audience in an emotional speech.

“Just keep on giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever.

“This is a testament that love always wins.”

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A first for everything

The 2025 Tonys will also be remembered for their groundbreaking ‘first times’.

Comedian Cole Escola was the first non-binary actor to win the award for Best Actor in a Play for their performance in Oh, Mary!, which they also wrote. 

Oh, Mary! follows the days leading up to Abraham Lincoln’s assassination from the point of view of his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln.

In Escola’s version, Mary is an alcoholic who dreams of being a cabaret performer.

Escola showed up at the ceremony wearing a breathtaking gown and a wig of red curls in homage to Broadway legend Bernadette Peters.

“The first idea is the best idea. […] Trust that voice. Trust that voice that says, ‘I think I’m right, actually. I actually think I do have something. I think I can do this’,” Escola told Broadway.com after the win.

“Even if it might take 12 years to put the pen to paper, that voice is right.”

Kara Young, meanwhile, became the first Black person to win two Tonys consecutively by winning the Best Supporting Actress in a Play award for her performance in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Purpose.

Purpose, a family drama revolving around the members of an esteemed Black family, also earned the prize for Best New Play.

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The ‘Succession’ legacy

Australian actress Sarah Snook won the Tony for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her effort in The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which she plays all 26 roles.

In her acceptance speech, Snook said: “This means so much for a little Australian girl to be here on Broadway.”

“[The Picture of Dorian Gray] is billed as a one-person show, but I don’t feel alone any night that I do this show.

“There are so many people on stage making it work and behind the stage making it work.”

She is the second actor from the family drama Succession to win a Tony.

Last year, co-star Jeremy Strong was honoured with the Best Actor in a Play award for his performance in An Enemy of the People, and Kieran Culkin was among the biggest snubs for this year’s edition.

“Broadway is officially back,” Erivo declared during the show.

“Provided we don’t run out of cast members from Succession!”

Amongst the more memorable moments of the night, Erivo and Sara Bareilles performed a moving version of “The Sun Will Come Out”, from the musical Annie, during the in memoriam segment of the night, while Lin-Manuel Miranda and the cast of Hamilton performed some of the musical’s biggest hits to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

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