We all know the links between Jews and Broadway. Some of the most successful, well-known shows have included contributions from Jewish playwrights, lyricists, composers and creatives: West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Little Shop of Horrors, Rent, Wicked and Dear Evan Hansen are only a small handful of them.
That history continued at this year’s biggest night on Broadway, the 79th Annual Tony Awards, held Sunday at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, as numerous Jewish performers and creatives earned nominations in their respective categories, and some took home Tonys.
Besides the physical presence of Jewish performers and creatives in the room, there were other Jewish elements, with shows that grappled with antisemitism and Judaism, like Giant and Ragtime, which won some of the biggest awards of the night.
Jewish singer-songwriter Pink opened the award ceremony with an extravagant opening number set to the tune of “Lady Marmalade” which had music and lyrics by Mark Sonnenblick with Dear Evan Hansen duo Benj Pasek, who is Jewish, and Justin Paul. Pink featured nominees and actors from this year’s nominated shows in her opening number including several Jewish actors and actresses. Shaina Taub, Shoshana Bean, Marla Mindelle and Sara Chase all made appearances with the ensembles of shows including Cats: The Jellicle Ball and Ragtime performing the song written with themes of leading ladies on Broadway.
This was a sentiment echoed throughout the night in multiple speeches by Broadway’s leading ladies. Bean, when accepting her award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical, said that her award was for the mothers and the community of women that uplifts and supports her.
“This is for every woman who ever felt like she was too much or not enough,” Bean said. “I beg you not to wait for permission to be all of who you are. Take up space. Make your own path, make mistakes, make messes, make new things. Be free, be loud, be brave.”
As per tradition, the Tonys included an “In Memoriam” segment that paid tribute to Broadway community members who died this past year. During the segment, Leslie Odom Jr. performed “Without You,” which was written by Jewish composer and playwright Jonathan Larson for the 1996 Tony Award-winning Best Musical Rent.
Schmigadoon! won four awards including Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Book of a Musical. The musical features Jewish actors Sara Chase (Melissa Gimble), who was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical, and Alex Brightman (Josh Peterson) in the lead roles. The show made its world premiere in January 2025 as a Broadway Center Stage Production at The Kennedy Center and opened on Broadway at the Nederlander Theater in late April 2026.
Ragtime, which tells the story of three fictional families at the beginning of the 20th century—a wealthy white family, the African American family and the Jewish immigrant family all seeking the American dream—also took home multiple awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Caissie Levy, a Jewish Canadian performer, won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her role as Mother, and Brandon Uranowitz was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical playing Tateh, a Jewish immigrant. Ben Levi Ross was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for his role as Mother’s Younger Brother. The cast also includes former Tony winner Shaina Taub, who plays Emma Goldman.
Liberation, which was written by playwright Bess Wohl and opened in October 2025 at the James Earl Jones Theater, won the Tony for Best Play. Jewish actress Betsy Aidem, who played Margie, was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. Two Jewish producers, Daryl Roth and Eva Price also contributed to producing the play. Liberation won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in May 2026.
Giant was nominated for four awards this season. The Olivier Award winning play grappling with the beloved children’s author’s antisemitism first premiered in London in 2024 before transferring to Broadway in March 2026. The show is led by John Lithgow as Roald Dahl, author of children’s classics Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. For her role in the show, Jewish actress Aya Cash was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. Lithgow won the only award that the show received in the category of Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.
The Lost Boys, which opened at the Palace Theater in April 2026, was nominated for 12 awards and took home four of them. Jewish actress Shoshana Bean secured the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. While Bean has received multiple Tony nominations, she has also recorded and released Jewish music including “Hatikvah” and “Sabbath Prayer.” Ali Louis Bourzgui who won Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical gave a passionate speech where he spoke about political issues of our time including Palestine.
Bourzgui dedicated his award to immigrant families, which he hopes one day will be given empathy freely, to the queer and trans communities which he said will always exist despite people in power and to the people of Palestine who Bourzgui said deserve to live a full life free of occupation.
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman earned the most Tony Awards wins of any other show this season at six, including Best Revival of a Play. Jewish producers Scott Rudin and Barry Diller worked on the producing team for the play.
Jewish actor Alden Ehrenreich made his Broadway debut this season in the play Becky Shaw which earned him his first Tony nomination and win in the category Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play.
Daniel Radcliffe, who is best known for portraying Harry Potter, earned a nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role in Every Brilliant Thing. Radcliffe previously won a Tony Award in 2024 for his performance in Merrily We Roll Along.
Marjorie Prime earned two Tony nominations this season including Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play. Jewish actress June Squibb earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play making her the oldest Tony nominee at 96 years old. Jewish actor Danny Burstein earned his ninth Tony nomination by being nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play making him the most nominated male actor in Tony Awards history.
Jules Fisher, a Jewish lighting designer, was awarded the 2026 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Over his career, Fisher has been nominated for 24 Tonys and has won nine Tonys which is the record for his category. Jewish playwright James Lapine was also awarded the 2026 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre this year. Lapine has been nominated for 12 Tonys and has won three of them for Falsettos, Into the Woods and Passion. Lapine was a longtime collaborator of Stephen Sondheim.
Lorne Michaels, the Jewish creator of Saturday Night Live who worked as the lead producer for Schmigadoon!, perhaps summed up the night when accepting the award for Best Musical speaking about the show’s optimism. “Sometimes singing, dancing, jokes and a happy ending are all you need,” Michaels said.
(Top image credit: Dick Thomas Johnson (CC BY 2.0) / PhillipRomanoPhoto (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Ralph_PH (CC BY 2.0) / YouTube (CC BY 4.0) / Harald Krichel/WikiPortraits (CC BY-SA 4.0) / Smart Destination (CC BY-SA 2.0))