2025 Tony Awards eligibility rulings (round one): ‘The Hills of California’ and ‘Oh, Mary!’ confirm lead performers
The Tony Awards Administration Committee met today to confirm the eligibility status of eleven Broadway productions for the 2024-2025 season. This was the first time this season that the Tony Awards Administration Committee met to decide the eligibility for the 78th Annual Tony Awards.
The productions discussed were: “Home,” “Oh, Mary!,” “Job,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” “The Roommate,” “The Hills of California,” “McNeal,” “Yellow Face,” “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town,” “Left on Tenth,” and “Romeo + Juliet.”
The committee made the following determinations:
Tory Kittles will be considered eligible in Best Lead Actor in a Play for his performance in “Home.”
Cole Escola will be considered eligible for Best Lead Actor in a Play for their performance in “Oh, Mary!”
Peter Friedman and Sydney Lemmon will be considered eligible in Best Lead Actor/Actress in a Play for their respective roles in “Job.”
Laura Donnelly will be considered eligible in Best Lead Actress in a Play for her role in “The Hills of California.”
Michael Yeargan (scenic design) and Jake Barton (scenic and projection design) will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Scenic Design of a Play category for their work on “McNeal.”
“Yellow Face” will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category. David Henry Hwang will be considered eligible as author.
Jim Parsons will be considered eligible in Best Lead Actor in a Play for his performance in “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town.”
Beowulf Boritt (scenic design) and Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew (projection design) will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Scenic Design of a Play category for their work on “Left on Tenth.”
As a reminder: Tony eligibility aligns with a performer’s opening night billing in the Playbill. Actors listed above the title are considered lead while those below the title are considered featured, unless otherwise stated in a determination above.
This round of category placements went mostly according to industry predictions. Perhaps the most significant confirmation is that Laura Donnelly (“The Hills of California”) is the sole lead of her production and won’t have to compete against any costars. Leanne Best, Ophelia Lovibond, and Helena Wilson, who all star as her sisters in the Jez Butterworth drama, will vie for a spot in Best Featured Actress. Additionally, non-binary “Oh, Mary!” star Cole Escola will compete as lead actor, following past non-binary Tony winners J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell who both competed under the “actor” designation. Since the Tony Awards divides their acting races by gender, they generally allow any non-binary performers to decide whether they want to be considered in an actor or actress category.
No determinations were made regarding the performers of “McNeal,” “Once Upon a Mattress,” or “The Roommate.” So their respective above-the-title stars Robert Downey Jr., Sutton Foster, Mia Farrow, and Patti LuPone will all compete in lead acting races, while their costars will contend in the featured acting races.
The 2025 Tony Awards will take place on Sunday, June 8, at the famed Radio City Music Hall. In order to be eligible for this year’s awards, Broadway productions must host their opening night by Sunday, April 27. Nominations will be announced on Thursday, May 1.