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- "The Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" led the Tony Awards nominations with 12 each on Tuesday.
- June Squibb, 96, became the oldest Tony-nominated actor, while Danny Burstein set the male record for most Tony nominations.
- The Tony Awards will air June 7 and will be hosted by Pink.
NEW YORK — "The Lost Boys" and "Schmigadoon!" each earned a leading 12 Tony Award nominations Tuesday, as nominators also made June Squibb the oldest Tony-nominated actor in history at 96. Danny Burstein is now the most-nominated male actor in Tony history.
"The Lost Boys," an adaptation of a 1987 teen movie vampire thriller, and "Schmigadoon!," an adaptation of an Apple TV series that gently mocks Broadway musicals, were followed by a revival of "Ragtime," a big, soaring musical celebrating early 20th-century America, with 11 nominations, and "Death of a Salesman," Arthur Miller's masterpiece that looks at the unraveling of the American Dream, starring Nathan Lane, which nabbed nine nods.
Twenty-four shows got at least one nomination across the 26 Tony categories, a revival of "Chess," the Cold War-set love triangle between two chess grand masters and the woman who loved both, and "Cats: The Jellicle Ball," which reimagines Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic feline musical into a celebration of queer ballroom culture.
"I'm over the Jellicle moon about this!" said Bill Rauch, who secured his first Tony nomination for codirecting the reimagined "Cats." "I've spent my whole career trying to connect the dots between classics and the place and time we're living in, and so to have 'Cats' have this life on Broadway right now just really feels like an affirmation of everything I've been trying to do for decades."
Best new musical and play nominees
The best new musical crown will be between "The Lost Boys," "Schmigadoon!," "Titanique," a camp musical comedy that reimagines the 1997 megahit movie "Titanic," and "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)," an opposites-attract rom-com set during a New York City weekend.
Ali Louis Bourzgui, nominated for best featured role in a musical playing a seductive vampire in "The Lost Boys," took a bite on why his show was so well received: "I think that people, including myself, love a villain that they can care for," he said. "Some of my favorite performances are technically villains on paper, but the person who's playing them actively makes them a full 3D person that you can root for. I think that's the most interesting kind of character."
The best new play nominees are the John Lithgow-led "Giant," which explores accusations of antisemitism against children's author Roald Dahl; "Liberation," about a consciousness-raising women's group in 1970s Ohio that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama on Monday; "The Balusters," a wry comedy about a small-town neighborhood association that descends into chaos over whether to install a stop sign; and "Little Bear Ridge Road," about a struggling writer who returns to his rural hometown to settle his dead father's estate.
Playwright Mark Rosenblatt conceived of "Giant" in 2018 and started writing it in 2020, and it seems remarkably relevant in 2026, following the fallout from the war in Gaza and the spotlight on antisemitism in America.
"The ideas in the play, the concerns in the plays, the pain in the play, is perennial," he said. "But I could never have imagined that it would, when it finally was produced, would be playing against the backdrop of what's happening now."
"The Fear of 13," the true story of a man who spent more than two decades on death row, didn't get any acting nods, despite starring Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson in their Broadway debuts. Former "Glee" star Lea Michele will still be seeking her first Tony nomination after having missed out for her work on "Chess."
Squibb is now the oldest Tony-nominated actor in history, besting the record set by Lois Smith, who was 89 when she was nominated in 2020 for "The Inheritance." Squibb's Broadway resume reaches back to a stint in the original production of "Gypsy" in 1960 with Ethel Merman, and she recalls rehearsing a musical by dancing on a concrete floor. It is her first Tony nomination.
In Jordan Harrison's play "Marjorie Prime," a widow played by Squibb is brought an artificial companion who looks precisely like her dead husband. Premiering in 2014, the work in 2026 capitalizes on the recent frenzy over technological advancements like ChatGPT. Squibb said she saw the original, but only now fully comprehends the implications of things like AI.
As for her age, she said she doesn't really think about it: "I can't ignore my body is different than it was when I was young. And when I read a script now, I have to think can I physically do what they're asking me to do. And that's about it," she said. "As long as it's not dancing on concrete floors."
Burstein becomes the most-nominated male actor in Tony history with nine nods after his work in "Marjorie Prime," beating the record set by Jason Robards. Kelli O'Hara got her ninth career nomination for a revival of the comedy "Fallen Angels," tying her with Rosemary Harris for third on the all-time acting nominations list.
The Tony Awards will be handed out June 7 at Radio City Music Hall during a telecast hosted by Pink. The awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+.
Last year's show — hosted by "Wicked" star Cynthia Erivo — drew 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years, according to Nielsen.
