The Tony Awards.

The 24/25 season was middling for the most part. There were some really great shows, however, and I want to sum up the year and what and who I think should win.

Best New Musical: all the shows could win and with the exception of Buena Vista Social Club and I would be fine with anyone of these...Dead Outlaw, Death Becomes Her, and Operation Mincemeat (Maybe Happy Ending was fair).

Best New Play will probably go to "Oh, Mary". "John Proctor" or "Purpose" could win, but look to "Oh, Mary" for the win.

Best Leading Actress in a Play will go to Sarah Snook in "The Picture of Dorian Gray". She was incredible in this role. The play would get boring and slow, however, she was outstanding.

Best Actor in a Play. This season they gave two nods to leading actor in a play for the same show. Purpose has John Michael Hill and Harry Lennix. I will go with one of these two because I am playing the numbers here. The Tony Committee may go with Daniel Dae Kim for DEI reasons; he was good, but, not great in his role.

Leading Actress/ Musical should go to Nicole Scherzinger for Sunset Blvd. She was terrific in her role as was Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard in "Death Becomes Her", I thought Audra McDonald in "Gypsy" was fair, certainly not as good as Patti Lupone when she commanded the role. Ms. Scherizinger made headlines when she liked a "Make Jesus Great Again". She liked someone's Twitter feed and Adam Feldman from Time Out made a huge issue over it. I wrote Time Out calling for Feldman's firing stating that if it was the other way around, that, that person would be fired and vilified. Feldman was never fired for such a stupid statement which is an indictment on just how woke Time Out is.

Best Leading Actor. I think Jeremy Jordon for Floyd Collins should win. Yes, Johnathan Groff was excellent, but Jordon was above the rest. Andrew Durand and Tom Francis were excellent, Jordon was better.

Best Direction/Musical. Christopher Gattelli should run away with this. "Death Becomes Here" was a spectacle and far better than anything else this year. While "Sunset" and "Dead Outlaw" were very good to some note, "Death" was a cut above.

Best Direction of a Play could go to either "English" or "Oh, Mary". "John Proctor" and "Hills of California" are dark horses in this category.

Best Featured Actress/Play. "English" has two nominees, so the odds favor "English", but Kara Young could very well win for "Purpose". Tala Ashe in "English" was very good, not great. I think this field was not particularly strong this season.

Best Featured Actor/Play. Conrad Ricamora in "Oh, Mary!" should win this award. "Oh, Mary!" has great fanfare both critically and audience wise. I think that this show will do extremely well at the Tony's.

Best Featured Actress/Musical should go to Gracie Lawrence of "Just In Time". Her role in this competitive crowded field was first rate. Justina Machado of "Real Woman" and Julia Knitel of "Dead Outlaw" can easily win this award as well. In fact, any nominee can win this Tony as they were all sensational. I just think that Lawrence was a cut above the rest.

Best Featured Actor/ Musical, Jak Malone of "Operation Mincemeat" , Taylor Trensch of "Floyd Collins" and Jeb Brown of "Dead Outlaw" could all win this and each would deserve it.

Best Play. I really didn't love any of the nominations. Kenny Leon killed "Our Town", "Eureka Day" was flat, Romeo& Juliet" was too woke for my taste and "Yellow Face" was ordinary at best.

Best Musical Revival. Should go to Sunset Blvd.

Best Scenic Design/Musical. Derek Mclane for either "Just In Time" or "Death Becomes Her". "Death" was terrific, but so was "Just In".

Stay tuned!

Johnathan Groff, Nicole Schrazinger, "Just In Time", Time Out, Othello, Lion King, Aladdin, The Outsiders, Death Becomes Her, New York City, Tony Awards.