Tony nomination 2025 snubs and surprises: Kieran Culkin, Idina Menzel

It's a busy season on Broadway, packed with big stars, Boffo's hits, and a strong reward contender. This year’s Tony Award nomination seems hard to predict, and when the nominee reveals the full list, it doesn’t disappoint, its unexpectedly twisted share is more than just disappointing. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises of Tony's nomination this year:

Neglected: All closed states of “Othello”
Broadway’s revival “Othello” has attracted attention this spring because of its celebrity actors (Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal), record box office and premium premium ticket prices. But perhaps in the biggest snub of the morning, the show simply didn’t get the attention of Tony nominees, who ignored “Othello”’s best drama revival, while both Washington and Gyllenhaal left the lead actors in the competition. Critics absolutely mix this critic, so it’s not surprising that this show isn’t a nominee’s favorite, but the complete closing is still shocking.

Snub: Kieran Culkin's Triple Crown Will Have to Wait
Culkin won the “Real Pain” revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross” at his Academy Awards, while the timing won the award for whether the actor who won the “Successor” of the Emmy Awards in January 2024 will win the “Triple Champions” of “Triple Champions”, which is Oscar, Oscar, Emmy, Emmy, Emmy and Tenny, relatively less than 18 months. But that's not the case, and the nominees exclude Culkin from the drama's featured actors (although they did nod to his “Glengarry” co-star Bob Odenkirk).

Surprise: “Our Town” sneaks in
During this sparse year in this category, “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Othello” expect everyone to get the best-played nod with the best-played works of “Eureka Day” and “Yellow Face.” But neither Othello nor Glengarry advanced, opening up space for “Our Town” and also directed by Kenny Leon, who staged “Othello” and took a spot with the season's strong sales Shakespeare Revival, “Romeo + Juliet.”

Narrow: Idina Menzel and “Redwood”
Menzel is a Broadway favorite, and “Redwood” is a passionate project she conceives and headlines together. The show’s notifications are mixed together, so it looks unlikely to be a major contender this season – and, surely, the musical is not only completely closed to the main actresses in the super-packaged music category, but also from the design category, “Roodwood” seems to be a possibility, thanks to its tech-ambitious stage.

Surprise: James Monroe Iglehart gets some love
One of the strongest elements of biomusic “A Beautiful World: Louis Armstrong Musical” is Iglehart as the lead character of Louis Armstrong – but the brief musical ends in February and tends to get lost in the prognosis of the awards season. However, the nominee remembers and hires Ighart (already Tony's “Aladdin” champion), one of six contenders for the best actor in the musical.

Snub: George Clooney's “Good Night, Good Luck” missed the best match
Like “Othello,” Broadway’s “Good Night and Good Luck” has gained a lot of media in its box office success this spring and its starry lineup. Adapted by Clooney and Grant Heslov from their co-written 2005 film Good Night, benefiting from a sleek, impressive work (directed by David Cromer, who also staged “Dead Outlaw”) and timely themes, which seemed to make the show a contender for its competitors. But in a crowded season with a new show, the nominee left the list. (However, Clooney still has a chance to get a podium: he won the best actor in the drama.)

Surprise: “Purpose” exceeds high expectations
The “Purpose” is a new script by Tony’s award-winning “proper” writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins last year and has always looked very prepared to do well with the nominees. But it even performed better than expected in some of the crowded performance categories this year: Jon Michael Hill, Latanya Richardson Jackson and Kara Young (the expected name for Kara Young last year, Tony winner “Purlie Victorious”), Castmate Harry Lennix joined Hill for the campaign for lead actor and Glenn Davis, and won a great cast.

Neglected: Helen J. Shen is squeezed out A tense game
One of the most buzzing first performances of the season came from Shen, who starred in “Maybe Ending” with Darren Criss. But, among the 10 nominations for that show, sunk wasn't among them, not in the crowded powerful performances, including Audra McDonald (“Gypsy”), Nicole Scherzinger (“Sunset Boulevard”), and the main ladies of “Death Death”, Megan Hilty and Jennerty simard. Another worthy debut was Jasmine Amy Rogers (“Boop”) layoffs – but only five nominees this year, Shen was excluded.

Surprise: Fina Strazza turns around in “John Proctor is a Little Man”
One of the strongest contenders of the season is “John Proctor is the Little Man”, who has a tight performance ensemble, with most of his attention focused on his lead, “Stranger Things” star Sadie Sand Sink. She and co-star Gabriel Ebert (Tony Champion of “Matilda”) also won NOM, as did their co-star Fina Strazza, with outstanding work in the show seemingly likely to be lost in chaos. The nominee made sure not, knocking her into the actresses in the competition.

Snub: “Real Women Have Curves” will not be part of the biggest match of the night
Tony Night’s top trophy (and the only one that reliably moves the needle at the box office – is the Best Musical Award, and the attention brought by the nomination is often a key part of building sales momentum. Every new musical of the season wants to have a place on the charts, and this year, four shows (“Maybe the Happy Ending,” “Death’s Breaker,” “Death’s Become Her,” “Buena Vista Social Club”) look like locks, so the final match fell on two shows, and there seemed to be a shot: “Operation Mincemeat” and “Real Female Curve.” Finally, the nominees perfected with the popular West End import “Operation Mincemeat.” “Real Women” scored two NOM points, one Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez scored him, one of whom was Justina Machado for the actress in the musical.