Is it lobbying or reveling, or simply revealing? Here are 10 out of the many Tony nominee profiles, interviews, behind-the-scenes and think pieces published or posted within the past week, each connected to a different one of the shows nominated for Best Play and Best Musical.
Best Play
English
Tony Award nominee Marjan Neshat makes history in celebrated Broadway play ‘English’ (AP)
The Hills of California
The Hills of California’ star Laura Donnelly on having to revamp her character in 10 days: ‘I had a minor panic attack’ (Gold Derby)
John Proctor Is The Villain
Inspired by “The Crucible,” Miniatures, and “Harriet the Spy”:Kimberly Belflower, the writer of the Tony-nominated play “John Proctor Is the Villain,” starring Sadie Sink, admires doll houses and pays tribute to a childhood hero (The New Yorker)
Oh, Mary
Mary Todd Lincoln as a cabaret star? How Cole Escola’s ‘stupid’ dream came true(NPR)
Purpose
Kara Young on Her Back-to-Back (to Back to Back) Tony Nominations (Vulture/New York Magazine)
Best Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
How ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ Expands the Language of the Musical (American Theatre)
Dead Outlaw
Andrew Duran Dead Outlaw: What does it take to bring a dead man to life on stage? (PBS’ Great Performances)
Death Becomes Her
‘Death Becomes Her’ Costume Designer Paul Tazewell Leaned Into Old Theater Magic for Helen’s Hole-in-the-Stomach Moment and Other Iconic Looks From the Original Film (Variety)
Maybe Happy Ending
Darren Criss Does The Robot (NY Times)
Operation Mincemeat
The Opening Number for Operation Mincemeat Took 6 Years to Write (Playbill)
All this publicity is leading up to the June 8th ceremony (for which Tony voters must submit their ballots two days earlier.) Meanwhile, what are YOUR Picks?
The Week in New York Theater Awards
2025 Chita Rivera Award Winners: Buena Vista Social Club, Cats
Watch Adam Driver, Sarah Snook, Jasmine Amy Rogers et al accept their OCC Awards
The Week in New York Theater Reviews
Right after Amber Iman finishes her first song, a sudden admirer gasps: “Your voice is like nothing I’ve ever heard.” The reaction is understandable. Iman portrays the title character in this musical inspired by African folklore , and – excuse me for gushing – hers is indeed the voice of a goddess….If “Goddess” is a vehicle for Iman’s talent, there’s LOTS of other traffic. The musical is lively, long and busy. ..
Puppetopia: The Harlem Doll Palace
The Harlem Doll Palace,” an unusual musical that launches the fourth annual Puppetopia Festival at HERE, is not just the true story of Lenon Holder Hoyt, a public school art teacher for 40 years who on her own created a museum in her Harlem brownstone. It’s also the true story of her dolls. A few of the 6,000 or so that were exhibited at Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum have been turned into puppets, and deliver their own songs and scenes. Many of their stories carry a lesson about race or gender. Some are as grim as Grimm.
In “Rhynoceron“, a life-sized rhinoceros comes alive in a whoa moment that’s the climax to another true story, a captivating one (literally for the rhino), involving a king and a pope, a shipwreck and an obsession, told with endlessly inventive puppetry – masks, paper cutouts, elaborate sculptures and hard-to-describe contraptions, from which spring sentences written on unfolded pieces of paper — a newfangled, low-tech form of open captioning.
The Week in New York Theater News
Broadway 2025 2026 Season Preview Guide
The latest announcement for the new season:
Bobby Cannavale, Neil Patrick Harris and James Cordon return to Broadway in a revival of “Art,” by Yasmina Reza (last on Broadway in 1998) It’s a comedy about an argument over an all-white painting. Music Box Theater Aug 28 – Dec 21, 2025. Opens Sept 16
Tom Hanks to star in “This World of Tomorrow,” a play he co-wrote, at The Shed, October 30 to December 21, directed by Kenny Leon. Hanks will portray a scientist at the end of the twenty-first century willing to bend universal law for the sake of love.
Lincoln Center Plans a $335 Million Makeover of Its Western Edge (NY Times)
The center in Manhattan aims to attract new audiences, as it takes down a wall on Amsterdam Avenue and revamps Damrosch Park.
In Memoriam
George Wendt, 76, beloved for his role as the barfly in the TV series “Cheers,” which he loved working on. ” i dream about Cheers, Like when you go on a diet and you dream of pizza. I always thinkg of those wonderful years.” He was also a four-time Broadway veteran, making his debut in 1998 in “Art” (the play that’s being revived this season.)
The Week’s Theater Video
A Broadway Theatergoer for Nine Decades
Two of the Outer Critics Circle Award acceptance speeches:
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Top 13 Posts in the 13 Years of New York Theater
