The 2026 Tony Awards: If We Were Nominators

 

The 2026 Tony Awards:

If We Were Nominators

For us, theater awards season is what it must be like for football fans around Super Bowl time. We get super excited by every announcement, every eligibility notice. If it's a detail, we are interested! Tomorrow is the day we look forward to after every season: The Tony Awards Nominations announcement. 

I'll bet we aren't the only ones who try to predict which shows will make the cut, which of our favorite performers will get a flurry of texts and calls when their name is called. which of our favorite designers will be honored with a nod. This year, Mike and I only made it to each of the 10 major musical openings (6 new musicals, 4 revivals). We didn't see the return engagements of either Mamma Mia! or Beetlejuice. Given that, we are only sharing our thoughts on the musical categories this season.

We are not predicting who the nominating committee with choose; we are simply naming those shows and artists that we would nominate if we were nominators. Mike and I made our lists separately, so it is interesting to see how much we matched. It was often!

JEFF WOULD NOMINATE	MIKE WOULD NOMINATE
Best Musical	Best Musical
Schmigadoon!	Schmigadoon!
The Lost Boys	The Lost Boys
Titanique	Titanique
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)	Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Revival of a Musical	Best Revival of a Musical
Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Chess	Chess
Ragtime	Ragtime
*The Rocky Horror Show	* The Rocky Horror Show
Best Original Score (Music &/or Lyrics)	Best Original Score (Music &/or Lyrics)
Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon!	Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon!
The Rescues - The Lost Boys	The Rescues - The Lost Boys
Stephen Schwartz - The Queen of Versailles	Stephen Schwartz - The Queen of Versailles
Jim Barne & Kit Buchan - Two Strangers	Jim Barne & Kit Buchan - Two Strangers
Best Orchestrations	Best Orchestrations
Andrew Lloyd Webber, et al - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Andrew Lloyd Webber, et al - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Brian Usifer - Chess	Brian Usifer - Chess
Doug Besterman & Mike Morris - Schmigadoon!	Doug Besterman & Mike Morris - Schmigadoon!
The Rescues & Ethan Popp - The Lost Boys	The Rescues & Ethan Popp - The Lost Boys
Best Book	Best Book
Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon!	Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon!
David Hornsby & Chris Hoch - The Lost Boys	David Hornsby & Chris Hoch - The Lost Boys
Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli - Titanique	Tye Blue, Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli - Titanique
Jim Barne & Kit Buchan - Two Strangers	Jim Barne & Kit Buchan - Two Strangers
Best Direction of a Musical	Best Direction of a Musical
Zhailon Levingston & Bill Rauch - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Zhailon Levingston & Bill Rauch - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Lear deBessonet - Ragtime	Lear deBessonet - Ragtime
Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon!	Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon!
Michael Arden - The Lost Boys	Michael Arden - The Lost Boys
Tye Blue - Titanique	Tye Blue - Titanique
Best Choreography	Best Choreography
Omari Wiles & Arturo Lyons - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Omari Wiles & Arturo Lyons - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Lorin Latarro - Chess	Lorin Latarro - Chess
Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon!	Christopher Gattelli - Schmigadoon!
Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant - The Lost Boys	Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant - The Lost Boys
Ellenore Scott - Titanique	Ellenore Scott - Titanique
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
LJ Benet - The Lost Boys	LJ Benet - The Lost Boys
Nicholas Christopher - Chess	Nicholas Christopher - Chess
Joshua Henry - Ragtime	Joshua Henry - Ragtime
Sam Tutty - Two Strangers	Sam Tutty - Two Strangers
Brandon Uranowitz - Ragtime	Brandon Uranowitz - Ragtime
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Sara Chase - Schmigadoon!	Sara Chase - Schmigadoon!
Caissie Levy - Ragtime	Caissie Levy - Ragtime
Lea Michele - Chess	Lea Michele - Chess
Marla Mindelle - Titanique	Marla Mindelle - Titanique
Christiani Pitts - Two Strangers	Christiani Pitts - Two Strangers
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical	Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgui - The Lost Boys	Ali Louis Bourzgui - The Lost Boys
Max Clayton - Schmigadoon!	Andre deShields - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Sydney James Harcourt - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Sydney James Harcourt - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Benjamin Pajak - The Lost Boys	Benjamin Pajak - The Lost Boys
Layton Williams - Titanique	Jim Parsons - Titanique
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical	Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Melissa Barrera - Titanique	Shoshana Bean - The Lost Boys
Shoshana Bean - The Lost Boys	Hannah Cruz - Chess
Ana Gasteyer - Schmigadoon!	Nichelle Lewis - Ragtime
McKenzie Kurtz - Schmigadoon!	Isabelle McCalla - Schmigadoon!
"Tempress" Chastity Moore - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	"Tempress" Chastity Moore - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Best Scenic Design of a Musical	Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Rachel Hauck - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Rachel Hauck - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Scott Pask - Schmigadoon!	Scott Pask - Schmigadoon!
Dane Laffery - The Lost Boys	Dane Laffery - The Lost Boys
Gabriel Hanier Evansohn, Grace Laubacher, Iron Bloom - Titanique	Dane Laffery - The Queen of Versailles
Soutra Gilmour - Two Strangers	Soutra Gilmour - Two Strangers
Best Costume Design of a Musical	Best Costume Design of a Musical
Qween Jean - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Qween Jean - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Linda Cho - Ragtime	Linda Cho - Ragtime
Linda Cho - Schmigadoon!	Linda Cho - Schmigadoon!
Ryan Park - The Lost Boys	Ryan Park - The Lost Boys
David I. Reynoso - The Rocky Horror Show	Alejo Vietti - Titanique
Best Lighting Design of a Musical	Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Adam Honoré - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Adam Honoré - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Kevin Adams - Chess	Kevin Adams - Chess
Jen Schriever & Michael Arden - The Lost Boys	Donald Holder - Schmigadoon!
Jane Cox - The Rocky Horror Show	Jen Schriever & Michael Arden - The Lost Boys
Paige Seber - Titanique	Paige Seber - Titanique
Best Sound Design of a Musical	Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada - Cats: The Jellicle Ball	Kai Harada - Cats: The Jellicle Ball
John Shivers - Chess	Kai Harada - Ragtime
Adam Fisher - The Lost Boys	Walter Trarbach - Schmigadoon!
Lawrence Schober - Titanique	Adam Fisher - The Lost Boys
Tony Gayle - Two Strangers	Tony Gayle - Two Strangers

* - If the Tony committee opts not to nominate a 4th musical revival, The Rocky Horror Show would be our 4th choice, leaving the other three,

Jeff's Nomination Totals:

The Lost Boys - 14

Schmigadoon! - 12

Cats: The Jellicle Ball - 10

Titanique - 10

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 7

Chess - 7

Ragtime - 6

The Rocky Horror Show - 2

The Queen of Versailles - 1

Beaches - 0

Mike's Nomination Totals:

The Lost Boys - 14

Schmigadoon! - 12

Cats: The Jellicle Ball - 11

Titanique - 8

Ragtime - 8

Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) - 7

Chess - 7

The Queen of Versailles - 2

The Rocky Horror Show - 0

Beaches - 0

Friday 5: The Bands of Broadway

 

The Bands of Broadway

Throughout its history, Broadway has seen many bands on the boards. Probably the most famous is the River City marching band, led by Harold Hill in The Music Man. Bands of all shapes and sizes have been seen on the stages of the theater district. This week we celebrate some of the most recent, including one from the current season.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Hedwig's back up band, The Angry Inch, doesn't say much of anything, but it would be difficult to imagine this show without them! Hard rocking and super supportive, Hedwig needs them as much as we do.

School of Rock

Child prodigies as part of the story, played by child prodigies are the perfect Broadway storm! It was exciting to watch and even better to listen to. Led by their teacher to rock and roll glory, these kids stole the show/

Stereophonic

With this band, we got to see how they made a record and much more. A lot more. Like a Behind the Music documentary, but much darker, we got to see what made these rock geniuses tick, warts and all. We were captivated for the entire time. Plus, we got some pretty good tunes to play over and over, too!

The Band's Visit

A story about how music brings strangers together, the lessons learned from this beautiful musical resonate as much today as ever. Getting to know these men and how they became community almost instantly was heart-warming and inspiring. And the music? Sublime!

The Lost Boys

Broadway's newest rockers, this boy band is dark, hard-edge and brooding. They sound great...just the kind of music your parents warned you was dangerous. The perfect way to gather a fan base...and victims. One might even say their music is...biting.

Review: Titanique

Review of the Sunday, April 26, 2026 evening performance at the St. James Theatre in New York City. Starring Jim Parsons, Marla Mindelle, Deborah Cox, Melissa Berrera, Frankie Grande, John Riddle, Layton Williams and Constantine Rousouli. Inspired by the film Titanic and the songs of Céline Dion. Co-authored by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue. Orchestrations and arrangements by Nicholas James Connell. Scenic design by Gabriel Hainer Evansohn for Iron Bloom. Costume design by Alejo Vietti. Lighting design by Paige Seber. Sound design by Lawrence Schober. Choreography by Ellenore Scott. Direction by Tye Blue. 100 minutes, with no intermission.

I would have loved to have been in the room when Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue got together and came up with the idea for lampooning both the film Titanic and Celine Dion. It had to have been an absolute tear-down-your-face laugh fest. But it also must have been a lot of work. Something this simultaneously smart and irreverent cannot be that easy to create.

The show famously arrives on Broadway following a genesis from way off-Broadway to off-Broadway, where it was a smash hit, extended many times, and beloved by a devoted fan base. Broadway, on the other hand, was a bit of a gamble, as the Main Stem is littered with plenty of shows that couldn't survive the upscale treatment. Well, I'm happy to say that this time the gamble paid off.

Directed to within an inch of its life by Blue and choreographed with a zany fervor by Ellenore Scott, the little show that could thrives on the big stage. Fast paced and bursting at the seams with sight gags and creative entrances and exits, Titanique steamrolls its way through 90 minutes of craziness with a dexterity that should be studied.

Technically, the production got a full Broadway-sized upgrade - no longer does the show take place on a half-rate set from Anything Goes. Now it has all the bells and whistles of its new locale, the set of The Voice. Well, not really, but who's going to quibble when there's the dazzling staircases and multi-levels of Gabriel Hainer Evansohn (for Iron Bloom)'s set design which covers the enormous St, James stage and beyond? One can only imagine the price tag of Paige Seber's dazzling lighting design or Lawrence Schober's perfect sound design. As brilliant as all of that is, it is a stroke of genius to leave most of the props and Alejo Vietti's costume designs as cheesy as the off-Broadway originals. It just adds to the comedy that a send up of the richest people in the world on the grandest ship ever look like they are wearing thrift shop finds (the DeWitt Bukater ladies look especially hilarious). It would have been easy to upgrade all of the props, but where is the fun in that?

The song choices, from the film, Dion's catalog and beyond (even Beauty and the Beast gets a spin) mostly work, and are delightfully shoe-horned into the script, whether they work entirely or not. As with any good parody, it's the context that makes each song choice so inspired. The book, such that it is, is as irreverent as the rest: all the best lines from the movie are here ("draw me like one of your French girls, Jack" got a round of applause), and nearly everything Celine says in the show is recognizable as something the beloved singer repeats often. They make some fun choices, too, with the characters including Rose's mother played in drag, the captain of the ship is now Victor Garber who played the ship designer in the film, but is much funnier steering the boat, and a Tina Turner-inspired iceberg. Nothing goes unscathed here, except...

  

The music and singing are top-notch. The band is spectacular and joins in on the fun occasionally, too. And the cast is full of amazing vocalists - save for one, but entirely appropriately. They definitely brought their casting "A" game to Broadway. There are three backup singers (Sara Gallo, Polanco Jones, Kristina Leopold) who are simply amazing and I can't imagine this without them. West End transplant and 2025 Olivier Award winner Layton Williams makes a show-stopping (literally) Broadway debut in a trio of roles, the tour guide, the seaman and the iceberg. He's amazing as all three, but really brings down the house with his smoking hot iceberg drag. Welcome to Broadway! Frankie Grande is a riot as Luigi (yes, Super Mario Brothers) and as Victor Garber, who is a sassy queen here and stops the show cold (literally and figuratively) with his rendition of "I Drove All Night" as he steers the ship into the iceberg.

  

In a comic turn that I hope won't be his last, John Riddle brings his glorious voice and superb timing to the role of the villainous Cal Hockley. Sexy as always, he all but twirls his mustache with dastardly glee as he stomps, flounces and preens his way around the set. Former real-life Celine Dion backup singer and Grammy-winning icon Deborah Cox is another shockingly good comedienne taking on the role of the Unsinkable Molly Brown. I wasn't shocked at her gorgeous voice (especially in her big solo, "All By Myself") as much as I couldn't believe how genuinely funny she was! 

Jim Parsons appears to be having the time of his life as Ruth DeWitt Bukater, here a foul-mouthed social climber with abusive tendencies and a few surprising kinks. Somehow, he makes his thin singing voice work as part of the character, and he is especially funny when he has a complete meltdown about halfway through the show, taking on Patti LuPone, Carol Channing, Nicole Scherzinger and Marla Mindelle herself in the process. Inspired casting here.

Aside from Williams, the only other principal making their debut is Melissa Berrera, as Rose. She is the find of the season! I found her to be a delight in every aspect - her comic timing is razor-sharp and her singing is superb. She also has incredible energy - one imagines a complete exhausted crash for her after every performance! I loved everything about her performance and can't wait to see what she does next.

Two of the show's creators and original cast members are here chewing the scenery with gusto and style, and despite a more than three year association with the piece are as fresh as opening night. What can I say about them that probably hasn't already been said? Ok, I'll try. Constantine Rousouli is, well, so sexy and charming, I had trouble concentrating on much else when he was on stage. The swagger, the impossibly tight pants, and a goof ball smile are irresistible. His timing, affected dumb guy looks and his gorgeous voice are the perfect storm for such a terrific performance. He has a new fan in me, for sure. 

Then there is the absolutely sparkling performance of Marla Mindelle as a megalomaniac version of Ms. Dion (she swears she was on the Titanic...). There is nothing she isn't willing to send up about this beloved singer - from her thick accent to her over the top mannerisms. One thing she doesn't attack is Celine's singing voice (well, not too much), as she belts her way through one pop hit after another. Her last bit (after a terrific "My Heart Will Go On" sing along) is a crazy riot that I will not spoil here. I've been a fan of Mindelle since her stint in Sister Act, and this makes me love her even more.

Whether you sit in First Class or steerage, this is one insane boat ride you will not want to miss!

📸: E. Zimmerman