The 2025 Tony-Nominated Broadway Shows That Actually Deserve the Hype
- May 18, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: May 20, 2025
Okay, listen. I don’t know what the water is laced with on Broadway this season, but the girls have been performing. Like — not just singing, dancing, emoting — but delivering full-body, time-stopping, costume-snatched artistry. I came in as a regular theatergoer. I left committed to this lifestyle.
So if you’re wondering which of the Tony-nominated shows are actually worth your hard-earned coin, here’s my unfiltered ranking of the top five I saw this season (plus a few honorable mentions).
5. Gypsy
This is Audra McDonald’s world, and we’re lucky to be sitting mid-orchestra in it. She’s officially the most Tony-nominated performer in Broadway history (iconic behavior), and her take on Mama Rose is somehow both terrifying and tender.
The set design gives vintage vaudeville — flickering footlights, traveling trunks, and that moody backstage glow. And the costumes? Let’s just say the rhinestones are rhinestoning. It’s classic, but not dusty — and the choreography breathes new life into a musical that’s all about chasing spotlight shadows.
4. Boop! The Musical
I had zero expectations walking into Boop! and left wondering if Betty Boop was my new style icon. This show is sassy, self-aware, and surprisingly heartfelt.
The magic of Boop! lives in its transformation — not just of Betty, but of the entire stage. One moment you’re in grayscale animation land, the next you’re plunged into a pastel dreamworld where every sequin sparkles with main-character energy. The costumes flip the switch — from classic black-and-white Betty to a technicolor explosion of mid-century glam. Her signature red dress? A Tony-worthy moment all by itself. But the ensemble? Literal rainbow runway. Think polka dots, peplums, and power poses in motion.
The set design leans into the comic strip fantasy — oversized props, animated backdrops, and scene changes that feel like flipping pages in a graphic novel. It blurs reality and ink in the most stylish way possible.
3. Death Becomes Her
This show did not come to be subtle. It came to slay, die, resurrect, and then slay again — in heels. Based on the cult film, this one is pure classic musical comedy: big original songs, raunchy one-liners, and outstanding stage production.
Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard are unhinged perfection, giving camp, chaos, and killer belting — sometimes literally. The humor is delightfully inappropriate, and the musical numbers feel like splashy showstoppers from another, glossier dimension.
The costumes are Broadway drag magic — illusion gowns, dramatic trains, and spooky sparkle with a death drop twist. And the set? It shapeshifts like a haunted vanity mirror: one minute it’s old Hollywood glam, the next it’s giving graveyard chic. Every reveal, every effect, every potion-induced meltdown is crafted to be seen. It’s theatrical, it’s unhinged, and it’s having the time of its undead life.
And seeing THEE Michelle Williams — yes, Destiny’s Child royalty — up on that stage? A moment.
2. Buena Vista Social Club
This one moved me. Truly. It’s rich, warm, alive — like stepping into a memory that doesn’t belong to you, but somehow still feels familiar. Buena Vista Social Club doesn’t play like a museum piece. It plays like a late-night party your grandmother once told you about but never fully explained. Now I’m deep in a research spiral, trying to learn everything I can about the real band behind the legend.
The music is hypnotic — lush, lived-in, unforgettable. The choreography is soul in motion, and the costumes? Pure Afro-Cuban elegance. Earth tones, vintage cuts, fabrics that move like smoke. There’s a golden warmth to the whole production — not loud, just legendary. And the set — with its rustic textures and dim, flickering glow — feels like home, even if you’ve never set foot in Havana.
1. Purpose
Coming in at the top spot: the heavy hitter, Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. This play? It cracked something open in me. This show is about legacy, pressure, identity, and the quiet yearning of being seen. Set in the home of a prominent Black political family in Chicago, it’s layered, personal, and eerily timely.
And let’s be clear — this is Phylicia Rashad’s directorial debut on Broadway, and it was amazing. The pacing, the emotional depth, the casting? Flawless. The set feels lived-in and haunted by unspoken words. And the acting — especially from Jon Michael Hill and LaTanya Richardson Jackson — is so real, I felt like I shouldn’t be watching. Like I stumbled into someone’s actual grief.
This brilliant show has already won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and it should sweep at the Tonys.
Honorable Mentions:
Maybe Happy Ending — Two robots fall in love and somehow ruin your life. Minimalist set, maximum feels.
Sunset Boulevard — Nicole Scherzinger devours the stage in this smoky, noir-ish revival. That final staircase scene? My jaw’s still there.
I love that this year’s Tony noms celebrate such a range: generational Black drama, Cuban music history, high-camp satire, vintage revival, and even a robot love story. Whether you’re here for the drama or the dopamine, Broadway is broadening in the best ways.
Save this post if you’re planning your next show, and comment below: which Tony nominee are you rooting for?
Comments