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Steven McIntosh
Entertainment reporter
Succession star Sarah Snook and singer Nicole Scherzinger were among the big winners at Sunday's Tony Awards.
Scherzinger was named best actress in a musical for her role in Sunset Boulevard, Jamie Lloyd's minimalist reboot of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical.
In an emotional acceptance speech, Scherzinger reflected on her recent Broadway success, which came two decades after shooting to fame with the Pussycat Dolls.
"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," she said. "If there's anyone out there who feels like they don't belong or your time hasn't come, don't give up."
"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."
The singer and former X Factor judge won the same prize at the UK equivalent of the Tonys, the Olivier Awards, for her performance in the show's original West End run.
She said it had been an "honour" to work with composer Lord Lloyd Webber, and paid tribute to director Jamie Lloyd, saying: "You saw in me what no one else did. You have given us all new ways to dream and you have changed my life forever."
Scherzinger also performed As If We Never Said Goodbye during the ceremony, and was introduced by Glenn Close, who played Desmond in Sunset Boulevard when it played on Broadway in 1995.
The Tony Awards, hosted by Wicked star Cynthia Erivo at Radio City Music Hall in New York, celebrate the best in US theatre, and particularly Broadway.
Snook won best leading actress in a play, for performing all 26 roles in a one-woman stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.
In her acceptance speech, the actress 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, and 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."
Other winners included Maybe Happy Ending, which took home best musical, while its lead actor Darren Criss also won a lead acting prize.
"I have such immense pride to get to be part of this notably diverse, exquisite Broadway season this year," he said.
Paying tribute to his wife, he added: "Your love and your support for me and our beautiful children, combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as Maybe Happy Ending, has been and will always be award enough."
Purpose, about an African-American family who reunite in Chicago, was named best play, a month after winning the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Meanwhile, Cole Escola was named best actor in a play for Oh Mary!, a one-act reimagining of Abraham Lincoln's assassination through the eyes of his wife - a raging alcoholic who dreams of life as a cabaret star.
Sunset Boulevard also won best musical revival, while Eureka Day, about a school in California which must confront its vaccination policy after an outbreak of mumps among the pupils, won best revival of a play.
The biggest winners:
- 6 - Maybe Happy Ending
- 4 - Buena Vista Social Club
- 3 - Sunset Boulevard, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
- 2 - Purpose, Oh Mary!, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Elsewhere in the ceremony, Erivo was joined on stage by singer Sara Bareilles for a rendition of Tomorrow from the musical Annie, in tribute to those in the theatre community who had died throughout the year. The song's composer, Charles Strouse, died last month.
Presenters at the event included Samuel L Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Ben Stiller and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The original cast of Hamilton reunited to perform a rapturously received medley, to celebrate the show's 10th anniversary.
In the last year, a string of new shows and stars drew 14.7 million people to Broadway performances, grossing $1.89bn (£1.39bn) at the box office.
Best musical
WINNER: Maybe Happy Ending
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Best play
WINNER: Purpose
English
The Hills of California
John Proctor is the Villain
Oh, Mary!
Best revival of a play
WINNER: Eureka Day
Romeo + Juliet
Our Town
Yellow Face
Best revival of a musical
WINNER: Sunset Boulevard
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Best actress in a musical
WINNER: Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Boulevard
Megan Hilty, Death Becomes Her
Audra McDonald, Gypsy
Jasmine Amy Rogers, BOOP! The Musical
Jennifer Simard, Death Becomes Her
Best actor in a musical
WINNER: Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Andrew Durand, Dead Outlaw
Tom Francis, Sunset Boulevard
Jonathan Groff, Just in Time
James Monroe Iglehart, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical
Jeremy Jordan, Floyd Collins
Best actress in a play
WINNER: Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Laura Donnelly, The Hills of California
Mia Farrow, The Roommate
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Purpose
Sadie Sink, John Proctor is the Villain
Best actor in a play
WINNER: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck
Jon Michael Hill, Purpose
Daniel Dae Kim, Yellow Face
Harry Lennix, Purpose
Louis McCartney, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best direction of a musical
WINNER: Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Saheem Ali, Buena Vista Social Club
David Cromer, Dead Outlaw
Christopher Gattelli, Death Becomes Her
Jamie Lloyd, Sunset Boulevard
Best direction of a play
Knud Adams, English
Sam Mendes, The Hills of California
Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Danya Taymor, John Proctor is the Villain
Kip Williams, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best supporting actress in a musical
WINNER: Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Julia Knitel, Dead Outlaw
Gracie Lawrence, Just in Time
Justina Machado, Real Women Have Curves: The Musical
Joy Woods, Gypsy
Best supporting actor in a musical
WINNER: Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas, SMASH
Jeb Brown, Dead Outlaw
Danny Burstein, Gypsy
Taylor Trensch, Floyd Collins
Best supporting actress in a play
WINNER: Kara Young, Purpose
Tala Ashe, English
Jessica Hecht, Eureka Day
Marjan Neshat, English
Fina Strazza, John Proctor is the Villain
Best supporting actor in a play
WINNER: Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Glenn Davis, Purpose
Gabriel Ebert, John Proctor is the Villain
Bob Odenkirk, Glengarry Glen Ross
Conrad Ricamora, Oh, Mary!
Further updates to this story to follow.
