It’s a big night for Pinoy musical theater fans: on June 8 (EST), Filipino-American theater actors Darren Criss and Nicole Scherzinger won their first Tony Awards.
Scherzinger’s performance as the troubled, faded star Nora Desmond in Sunset Boulevard earned her not only her first-ever Tony nomination, but also the win for Best Actress in a Musical. The former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman triumphed over theater heavyweights, including Gypsy’s Audra McDonald, Death Becomes Her’s Megan Hilty and Jennifer Simard, and BOOP! The Musical’s Jasmine Amy Rogers. “Thank you for making this little Hawaiian-Ukranian-Filipino girl’s dream come true,” Scherzinger said as she accepted the award onstage at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Sunset Boulevard also bagged the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical.
Criss, best known for his breakout role on the musical comedy-drama series Glee, also earned his first Tony nomination and win for his performance as the helper-robot Oliver in Maybe Happy Ending. Receiving the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, Criss won against Sunset Boulevard’s Tom Francis, Dead Outlaw’s Andrew Durand, Just in Time’s Jonathan Groff, A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical’s James Monroe Iglehart, and Floyd Collins’ Jeremy Jordan. Maybe Happy Ending, a story about two robots finding love in the heart of futuristic Seoul, also won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Musical.
With their wins, Scherzinger and Criss join a distinguished circle of Filipino and Filipino-American artists honored at the Tonys — a group that includes Lea Salonga, the first Filipina to win in 1991 for Miss Saigon, and producer Jhett Tolentino, a multi-Tony Award winner for productions like A Raisin in the Sun and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
Hosted by Cynthia Erivo, this year’s ceremony delivered some of the most unforgettable milestones in recent theater history. The evening kicked off with Erivo delivering a powerful rendition of “Sometimes All You Need Is a Song,” setting the stage for a night full of standout moments. Among them were Succession’s Sarah Snook winning her first Tony for her gripping solo performance in The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the original Hamilton cast reuniting onstage to mark the musical’s tenth anniversary.
