Fil-Am Actors Win Big at Tony Awards 2025
Filipino-American actors Nicole Scherzinger and Darren Criss have once again showcased that Pinoy talent shines on the global stage. At the 78th Tony Awards held on June 8 at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, both stars earned the Best Actress and Best Actor awards for a musical, respectively.
Nicole Scherzinger, aged 46, received the Best Actress Tony for her captivating role as Norma Desmond in the musical “Sunset Blvd,” which also snagged the Best Musical Revival award. During her heartfelt acceptance speech, Nicole expressed how winning the Tony was a dream come true. “I wanna thank all of you so much for making this little Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipino girl’s dream come true. I’m so proud to present,” she shared, tears brimming in her eyes. She added, “Growing up I always felt like I didn’t belong but you all made me feel like I belong and I have come home. At last. So if there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong or that their time hasn’t come up yet, don’t give up. Just keep giving and giving because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever.”
In a red-carpet interview, Nicole credited her faith, saying, “I’m just grateful, I’m grateful to God, because God has carried me when I wanted to give up. He has helped me through this entire process, so I give all the glory to him.”
Darren Criss Shines in Tony Awards 2025
Meanwhile, Darren Criss earned his Best Actor Tony for his role as Oliver in the musical “Maybe Happy Ending,” which grabbed five additional awards including Best Musical. Darren, 38, thanked his wife Mia for her unwavering support. “The real hero for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing in allowing me to do this. To allow this crazy upheaval in our life, to make this logistically possible, and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under three, so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theatre eight times a week,” he said.
He continued, “You’re the very pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives, and your love and your support for me and our beautiful children, combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as Maybe Happy Ending, has been and will always be award enough.”
Notable Wins and Recognitions
Darren Criss is also making strides toward the prestigious EGOT club, having won his first Emmy in 2018 for his role in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.”
Here is the complete list of the Tony Awards 2025 winners as reported by sources:
– Best Play: Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
– Best Musical: Maybe Happy Ending
– Best Book of a Musical: Maybe Happy Ending (Will Aronson and Hue Park)
– Best Original Score: Maybe Happy Ending (Will Aronson and Hue Park)
– Best Revival of a Play: Eureka Day (Jonathan Spector)
– Best Revival of a Musical: Sunset Blvd.
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Cole Escola for Oh, Mary!
– Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Sarah Snook for The Picture of Dorian Gray
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Darren Criss for Maybe Happy Ending
– Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Nicole Scherzinger for Sunset Blvd.
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Francis Jue for Yellow Face
– Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Kara Young for Purpose
– Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Jak Malone for Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
– Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Natalie Venetia Belcon for Buena Vista Social Club
– Best Scenic Design of a Play: Miriam Buether and 59 for Stranger Things: The First Shadow
– Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve for Maybe Happy Ending
– Best Costume Design of a Play: Marg Horwell for The Picture of Dorian Gray
– Best Costume Design of a Musical: Paul Tazewell for Death Becomes Her
– Best Lighting Design of a Play: Jon Clark for Stranger Things: The First Shadow
– Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Jack Knowles for Sunset Blvd.
– Best Sound Design of a Play: Paul Arditti for Stranger Things: The First Shadow
– Best Sound Design of a Musical: Jonathan Deans for Buena Vista Social Club
– Best Direction of a Play: Sam Pinkleton for Oh, Mary!
– Best Direction of a Musical: Michael Arden for Maybe Happy Ending
– Best Choreography: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck for Buena Vista Social Club
– Best Orchestrations: Marco Paguia for Buena Vista Social Club
– Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre: Harvey Fierstein
– Special Tony Award: Musicians of Buena Vista Social Club and The Illusions & Technical Effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow
– Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award: Celia Keenan-Bolger
– Regional Theatre Tony Award: The Muny
– Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre: Great Performances, Michael Price, New 42, and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
For more news and updates on Tony Awards, visit Filipinokami.com.