Tony awards 2026: Death of a Salesman triumphs, as Lesley Manville and John Lithgow also win

A stripped-back take on Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman dominated this year’s Tonys, winning six awards, while Lesley Manville and John Lithgow took home lead acting trophies.Death of a Salesman was named best revival of a play, with the award-winning director Joe Mantello praising Miller’s story as one that “still talks to us through time”. Star Nathan Lane accepted the award on behalf of the cast, and called it a play that “continues to teach us who we are as humans and Americans”.Lane’s co-star Laurie Metcalf also won her third Tony award, beating out June Squibb and Aya Cash to be named best featured actress in a play.The six wins makes it the most awarded play revival in Tonys history.Death of a Salesman has previously won for best play back in 1949 and then for best revival in 1984, 1999 and 2012.Manville saw off competition from Rose Byrne and Carrie Coon to take home the leading actress in a play award, for the Broadway transfer of Oedipus. The actor previously won an Olivier for her performance. “I’m a bit overwhelmed, it was my first time on Broadway so this is such a big deal,” Manville said on stage.Lesley Manville accepts her Tony award. Photograph: Charles Sykes/APLithgow was named best leading actor in a play for his role as Roald Dahl in antisemitism drama Giant after also winning an Olivier award during the show’s West End run. The actor beat out Lane, Mark Strong and Daniel Radcliffe.“It’s an extraordinarily important play of this moment,” he said on stage, winning his third Tony. At 80, Lithgow has also made history as the oldest man to ever win a competitive acting Tony.Bess Wohl’s intergenerational feminism epic Liberation was named best play after recently winning the Pulitzer prize for drama. “This is the honour of a lifetime,” Wohl said. It’s the first time a female playwright has won the award since 2009; Wohl is only the fourth woman to have won.The award for best musical went to the stage version of cancelled Apple TV series Schmigadoon!. “Sometimes singing, dancing, a lot of jokes and a happy ending is really all you need,” the producer Lorne Michaels said in his speech. The show also picked up three other awards.A new take on Ragtime won four Tonys, including best revival of a musical and for leading actor and leading actress in a musical, for Joshua Henry and Caissie Levy, respectively. It marked Henry’s first win after four nominations. “Every artist in this room, every artist at home, fight, fight, fight to be heard,” Henry said in his speech.The Lost Boys, an adaptation of the hit 80s vampire movie, also won four trophies including featured actor and featured actress from a musical. Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the queer ballroom reinvention of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic musical, picked up three awards, including best direction of a musical.Alden Ehrenreich was named best featured actor in a play for his Broadway debut in a revival of 2008 dating comedy drama Becky Shaw, beating Christopher Abbott and Ruben Santiago-Hudson.Pink performs at the Tony Awards. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/ReutersThe ceremony was hosted by the singer Pink, who poked fun at her acrobatic reputation by kicking off the evening as Peter Pan flying into the theatre, before leading a star-packed version of her Moulin Rouge hit Lady Marmalade with guests including Lea Michele and Megan Thee Stallion.The star called herself “Broadway’s biggest fan” who wanted to pay tribute to “the hardest-working people in showbiz”.The awards come after the most recent Broadway season broke a new record with nearly $1.91bn in ticket sales.Nominated shows that left empty-handed included The Rocky Horror Show, Chess, The Balusters, Titaníque, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) and Every Brilliant Thing.Last year’s ceremony saw major wins for robot musical Maybe Happy Ending, and actors including Nicole Scherzinger and Cole Escola.