The envelopes are open, the after-parties are over, and we went 9 for 12 on the big categories. We said if our picks went 0-for-9 we were never here. We’re here. We’re insufferable about it. The 79th Tony Awards landed at Radio City Sunday night, P!NK hosted, and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman walked off with the night’s biggest haul — six Tonys, including Best Revival of a Play.
Here’s how the night actually went, scored against the picks we made with the confidence of people who would not be answering questions Monday morning. (We are answering questions Monday morning.)
The scorecard: our picks vs. the winners
| Category | Our pick | The winner | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Musical | The Lost Boys | Schmigadoon! | ❌ Miss |
| Best Play | Liberation | Liberation | ✅ Hit |
| Best Revival of a Musical | Ragtime | Ragtime | ✅ Hit |
| Best Revival of a Play | Death of a Salesman | Death of a Salesman | ✅ Hit |
| Lead Actor, Musical | Joshua Henry | Joshua Henry, Ragtime | ✅ Hit |
| Lead Actress, Musical | Caissie Levy | Caissie Levy, Ragtime | ✅ Hit |
| Lead Actor, Play | Nathan Lane | John Lithgow, Giant | ❌ Miss |
| Lead Actress, Play | Lesley Manville | Lesley Manville, Oedipus | ✅ Hit |
| Featured Actress, Musical | Shoshana Bean | Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys | ✅ Hit |
| Featured Actor, Musical | André De Shields | Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys | ❌ Miss |
| Featured Actress, Play | Laurie Metcalf | Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman | ✅ Hit |
| Featured Actor, Play | Alden Ehrenreich | Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw | ✅ Hit |
Where we whiffed
Best Musical — we said The Lost Boys, voters said Schmigadoon! We called the late vampire momentum and the road-producer math told the truth instead: a title with a built-in Apple TV audience tours like a dream, and Broadway loves nothing more than a musical about musicals. Cinco Paul also took Best Book and Best Original Score. The Lost Boys didn’t go home empty — Michael Arden’s direction, the scenic and lighting design, and Shoshana Bean all landed — but the top prize went to the fizzy one.
Lead Actor in a Play — we said Nathan Lane, voters said John Lithgow. We called it “Lane by a nose, because the Tonys love a career-capper.” Turns out they loved a different career-capper: Lithgow’s monstrous Roald Dahl in Giant earned him his third Tony. Two legends, zero weak arguments, and we backed the wrong one.
Featured Actor in a Musical — we said André De Shields, voters said Ali Louis Bourzgui. We wrote “you don’t bet against André De Shields, that’s not analysis, it’s policy.” We should’ve revised the policy. Bourzgui’s turn in The Lost Boys took it — the one category the vampires flipped on us in the featured ranks.
The night’s big winners
- Death of a Salesman — 6 Tonys. Best Revival of a Play, Joe Mantello’s direction, Laurie Metcalf, plus a sweep of the design categories. Attention was paid.
- Ragtime — Best Revival of a Musical, and the night the Vivian Beaumont needed a minute. Joshua Henry and Caissie Levy both won leads.
- Schmigadoon! — Best Musical, Best Book, Best Original Score.
- Cats: The Jellicle Ball took Best Direction, Choreography, and Costume Design — the boldest swing of the season got its flowers.
- Liberation — Best Play, the one people couldn’t stop arguing about at dinner. Exactly what a Best Play winner does.
Now the prices climb — get in before the bandwagon
Here’s the Monday-morning truth: every winner’s ticket prices just went up, and every lottery is about to get ten times more crowded. The move is to enter now, before the rest of the city catches up. Death of a Salesman, Ragtime, Schmigadoon!, Cats: The Jellicle Ball, and The Lost Boys are all running lotteries or rush right now — our Broadway lottery hub has every live entry link in one place.
Enter a lottery, congratulate yourself for the nine we got right, and we’ll do this again next June — same confidence, fresh chance to be wrong.
