The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the second time during 2025-26 Broadway season to determine the eligibility status of five Broadway productions ahead of the 2026 Tony Awards.
The productions discussed today were: Oedipus; Chess; Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York); Marjorie Prime; and Bug.
The committee made the following determinations:
Oedipus will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category. Robert Icke will be considered eligible as author.
Danny Strong (new book) will be considered eligible in the Best Book of a Musical category for Chess.
David Rockwell (scenic designer) and Peter Nigrini (video designer) will be considered jointly eligible in the Best Scenic Design of a Musical category for Chess.
Brian Usifer will be considered eligible in the Best Orchestrations category for Chess.
Christian Pitts will be considered eligible in the Best Lead Actress in a Musical category for Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
Sam Tutty will be considered eligible in the Best Lead Actor in a Musical category for Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).
Marjorie Prime will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category. Jordan Harrison will be considered eligible as author.
Bug will be considered eligible in the Best Revival of a Play category. Tracy Letts will be considered eligible as author.
Carrie Coon will be considered eligible in the Best Lead Actress in a Play category for Bug.
Namir Smallwood will be considered eligible in the Best Lead Actor in a Play category for Bug.
As is common with these announcements, their biggest impact on the awards race is courtesy of what is left out the eligibility decisions.
Second Stage Theater, the nonprofit behind the revival of Marjorie Primefollowed their standard billing practice of not listing any performer above the title. The Tony Administration did not make any ruling for the actors in this show, which means they will all compete in the featured acting races, according to their opening night billing. June Squibb had been widely expected to contend as the play’s sole lead, but now she will compete alongside her co-stat Cynthia Nixon for Featured Actress in a Play.
The one winter show that was not mentioned at all in today’s eligibility decisions is All Out: Comedy About Ambition. This production features a rotating cast of celebrities reading a collection of Simon Rich stories. It’s a sequel of sorts to last season’s All In: Comedy About Love. Rich’s love stories did boffo box office and the production was eligible for the Best Play Tony, but failed to yield any nominations. This year, producers opted not to submit All Out for Tony consideration, so the play and its opening night actors, including Jon Stewart and Abbi Jacobsonwon’t be eligible for the 2026 awards.
While All Out was unlikely to earn any nominations itself, the fact that its ineligible will likely have major ramifications on the Best Play race. Competitive categories at the Tony Awards must have a minimum of nine eligible contenders in order to guarantee a lineup of five nominees. The absence of All Out means that there are a mere eight new plays in contention this year, which is only enough to guarantee four nominees for Best Play.
The new scripts on the hunt for a Best Play nomination are: The Balusters, Call Me Izzy, Dog Day Afternoon, The Fear of 13, Giant, Liberation, Little Bear Ridge Road, Punch. Exactly half of this crop will make the cut in the now-shrunken lineup for the top prize.
