Tony Award 2026 nominees announced

Published 5 May 2026

The nominees for the 2026 Tony Awards were announced this afternoon and they feature a number of productions that will be familiar to West End audiences, with many having already been nominated and winners of Olivier Awards.

Can I see 2026 Tony Award nominees in the West End?

Layton Williams wins Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Titanique. Layton holds the Olivier statue up on stage, smiling.
Layton Williams winning the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for Titanique, a prize he can win again at this year’s Tony Awards (c) Danny Kaan

One of this year’s Best Musical nominees is Titaníque. This camp musical fantasia rewrites the hit film Titanic, with Céline Dion insisting she was on board the famous voyage – and it only gets crazier from there.

The show started out in LA, before heading Off-Broadway and then coming into the West End, where it won the Noël Coward Award for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play at the Olivier Awards 2025. The show is now performing in both London and New York. Layton Williams, who won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical for his role as the Iceberg, is currently reprising the role on Broadway and has been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.

Titaníque is currently booking until August in the West End.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball is the a radical reimagination of the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit musical that was first staged in 1981. While The Jellicle Ball doesn’t have current plans to come to London, the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is staging their own reimagined version of Cats from July, directed and choreographed by artistic director Drew McOnie.

What other transfers from the West End have been nominated for Tony Awards?

Lesley Manville and John Lithgow looking at each other, each holding an Olivier Awards trophy
Lesley Manville and John Lithgow have both been nominated for Tony Awards in the same roles for which they won Olivier Awards in 2025 (c) Joanne Davidson

Just like at the Olivier Awards 2025, two of the hottest plays at this year’s Tony Awards are Mark Rosenblatt‘s original play Giant and Robert Icke‘s adaptation of the Greek tragedy Oedipus.

In Giant, John Lithgow plays the children’s author Roald Dahl during a period that shook his legacy. Lithgow and the play itself won Olivier Awards, with both now being nominated for Tony Awards. The show has further nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Aya Cash (Romola Garai was nominated for the same role at the Oliviers, losing out to herself in The Years) and Best Direction of a Play for Nicholas Hytner.

Oedipus, meanwhile, has seven nominations, including Best Revival which it won at the Olivier Awards 2025. Lesley Manville, who won Best Actress, has been nominated alongside Mark Strong in the lead role, Best Scenic Design, Lighting Design, Sound Design and Direction of a Play.

From this year’s cohort of Olivier Award winners and nominees, James Graham‘s Punch has been had a nomination for Will Harrison in the lead role. In a unique move, the play was staged simultaneously in the West End and on Broadway, meaning none of the cast could transfer their roles. David Shields, who played the same role as Harrison, was also nominated for Best Actor, while Julie Hesmondhalgh won Best Actress in a Supporting Role winner and Graham won Best New Play.

Every Brilliant Thing, which was which was nominated for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play in this year’s Oliviers, transferred to Broadway and has been nominated for Best Revival of a Play. Danielle Radcliffe has also been nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role of a Play.

What previous Tony Award winners are still on in London?

There are a number of long-running shows on in London that won a Tony Award before crossing the pond to join us in the West End.

Beatrice Penny-Touré performs at the Olivier Awards 2026, wearing a dramatic costume with theatrical lighting.
Phantom Of The Opera celebrated their 40th anniversary with a special performance at the Olivier Awards 2026 with Cunard (c) Danny Kaan

These include a number of shows that did the double by winning both of theatre’s most prestigious awards. Long-runner Phantom Of The Opera won the Best New Musical Olivier Award in 1986 before sweeping seven Tonys, including Best Musical, in 1988. Phantom is joined by The Book Of Mormon and Hamilton as winners of both Best New Musical awards.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, meanwhile, won the Best New Play Olivier Award in 2017 and the Best Play Tony Award the following year. It is in New York that the play was revised during the 2020 lockdown and staged as a one-part version. The play is still in two parts in London, until 6 October, after which it will evolve into the one-part version.

Other Tony Award Best Musical winners you can see in the West End include Les Misérables, Disney’s The Lion King, The Producers, Avenue Q, Kinky Boots, Hadestown and Moulin Rouge, while Six won the Best Original Score.

Nominees in full

Best play

The Balusters 
Giant 
Liberation
Little Bear Ridge Road

Best musical

The Lost Boys 
Schmigadoon!
Titanique 
Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)

Best revival of a play

Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
Becky Shaw 
Every Brilliant Thing 
Fallen Angels 
Oedipus

Best revival of a musical

Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show

Best book of a musical

David Hornsby and Chris Hoch, The Lost Boys 
Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon!
Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousoulí and Tye Blue, Titanique
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 

Best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theatre

Caroline Shaw, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
Steve Bargonetti, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone 
The Rescues, The Lost Boys 
Cinco Paul, Schmigadoon!
Jim Barne and Kit Buchan, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play

Will Harrison, Punch 
Nathan Lane, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
John Lithgow, Giant 
Daniel Radcliffe, Every Brilliant Thing
Mark Strong, Oedipus 

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play

Rose Byrne, Fallen Angels 
Carrie Coon, Bug 
Susannah Flood, Liberation
Lesley Manville, Oedipus 
Kelli O’Hara, Fallen Angels 

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical

Nicholas Christopher, Chess
Luke Evans, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Joshua Henry, Ragtime
Sam Tutty, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 
Brandon Uranowitz, Ragtime

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical

Sara Chase, Schmigadoon!
Stephanie Hsu, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Caissie Levy, Ragtime 
Marla Mindelle, Titanique
Christiani Pitts, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play

Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime 
Brandon J Dirden, Waiting For Godot
Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone
Richard Thomas, The Balusters

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play

Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
Aya Cash, Giant
Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
June Squibb, Marjorie Prime

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical

Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys 
André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Bryce Pinkham, Chess
Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime 
Layton Williams, Titanique 

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical

Shoshanna Bean, The Lost Boys 
Hannah Cruz, Chess
Rachel Dratch, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!
Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime

Best scenic design of a play

Hildegard Becthler, Oedipus 
Takeshi Kata, Bug 
David Korins, Dog Day Afternoon 
Chloe Lamford, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman 
David Rockwell, Fallen Angel 

Best scenic design of a musical

dots, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Soutra Gilmour, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 
Rachel Hauck, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Dane Laffrey, The Lost Boys 
Scott Pask, Schmigadoon!

Best costume design of a play

Brenda Abbandandolo, Dog Day Afternoon
Qween Jean, Liberation 
Jeff Mahshie, Fallen Angels 
Emilio Sosa, The Balusters
Paul Tazewell, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone 

Best costume design of a musical

Linda Cho, Ragtime
Linda Cho, Schmigadoon!
Qween Jean, Cats: The Jellicle Ball 
Ryan Park, The Lost Boys 
David I Reynoso, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 

Best lighting design of a play

Isabella Byrd, Dog Day Afternoon 
Natasha Chivers, Oedipus 
Stacey Derosier, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone
Heather Gilbert, Bug
Heather Gilbert, The Fear of 13
Jack Knowles, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman

Best lighting design of a musical

Kevin Adams, Chess
Jane Cox, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Donald Holder, Schmigadoon!
Adam Honoré, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Adam Honoré and Donald Holder (lighting design) and 59 Studio (projection design), Ragtime 
Jen Schriever and Michael Arden, The Lost Boys 

Best sound design of a play

Justin Ellington, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come And Gone
Tom Gibbons, Oedipus 
Lee Kinney, The Fear of 13
Josh Schmidt, Bug 
Mikaal Sulaiman, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman 

Best sound design of a musical

Kai Harada, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Kai Harada, Ragtime
Adam Fisher, The Lost Boys 
Brian Ronan, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Walter Trarbach, Schmigadoon!

Best direction of a play

Nicholas Hytner, Giant
Robert Icke, Oedipus 
Kenny Leon, The Balusters
Joe Montello, Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman
Whitney White, Liberation

Best direction of a musical

Michael Arden, The Lost Boys 
Lear deBessonet, Ragtime
Christopher Gatelli, Schmigadoon!
Tim Jackson, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 
Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Best choreography

Christopher Gatelli, Schmigadoon!
Ellenore Scott, Ragtime
Ani Taj, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show 
Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons, Cats: The Jellicle Ball 
Lauren Yalango-Grant and Christopher Cree Grant, The Lost Boys 

Best orchestrations

Doug Besterman and Mike Morris, Schmigadoon!
Ethan Popp, Kyler England, Adrianne ’AG’ Gonzalez and Gabriel Mann, The Lost Boys 
Lux Pyramid, Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York) 
Brian Usifer, Chess
Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Wilson, Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt, Cats: The Jellicle Ball 

Tagged:

  • cats
  • every brilliant thing
  • Giant
  • hamilton
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
  • layton williams
  • lesley manville
  • Mark Strong
  • oedipus
  • Olivier Awards
  • the book of mormon
  • the phantom of the opera
  • Titanique
  • tony awards