Beached: Who Didn’t Get Nominated for a 2026 Tony Award?

It wasn’t a surprise, but it still must sting like a jellyfish: Beaches, the new Broadway musical based on Iris Rainer Dart’s novel (but not, it must be stressed, the far more popular Bette Midler movie) received not one Tony nomination this morning—not even for Jessica Vosk, who was widely praised for her leading performance as Cee Cee Bloom, the one bright spot in mostly dismal reviews (to be perfectly transparent, I loved it).

The show has been performing terribly at the box office, grossing $476,871.20 in the final week of April. That’s a deadly number in a big theater like the Majestic. The producers were almost certainly holding out for a Tony nom or two as a lifeline. Now that we know that door has been shut, a closing notice cannot be far behind.

Some big names were also excluded from the nominations: Neither Lea Michele not Aaron Tveit were nominated for Chess, although their castmates Nicholas Christopher, Bryce Pinkham, and Hannah Cruz were. That much-talked-about revival of a famously irksome musical received five total nominations—but not for Best Revival.

Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, both making their Broadway debuts in Proof, were excluded from the list. The revival of David Auburn’s Tony-winning play received no nominations—not even for Kara Young, who has been nominated every year since 2022.

Jon Berenthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach of Dog Day Afternoon were left out, as were playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis and director Rupert Goold, although the stage adaptation of Frank Pierson’s 1975 film did pick up a few well-earned design noms.

Micah Stock and Laurie Metcalf were not nominated for their performances in Little Bear Ridge Road, but playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s Broadway debut was included in the Best Play category just days after it was named Best Play by the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. And Laurie Metcalf will still be there as a nominee in the Featured category for her performance in Death of a Salesman—her seventh career nomination.

The only actor to be nominated from the revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone was Ruben Santiago-Hudson, leaving out Cedric the Entertainer, Taraji P. Henson, and Joshua Boone. The production did receive five total nominations, including Best Original Score for Steve Bargonetti.

Two-time Academy Award winner Adrien Brody was not nominated for his Broadway debut in The Fear of 13.

The nominators also passed over the Art boys: Bobby Cannavale, James Corden, and Neil Patrick Harris. The producers of that now-closed revival will have to content themselves with financial success: It actually recouped!

Neither Keanu Reeves nor Alex Winters was nominated for the revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot. But in the anti-snubs column, I’m thrilled the nominators remembered Brandon J. Dirden for his superb performance as Pozzo.

Jean Smart, who opened the season with a moving performance in Call Me Izzy, was also passed over by the nominators, further frustrating Deborah Vance’s quest to EGOT.

Cynthia Nixon was not nominated for her performance in Marjorie Prime, but Danny Burstein picked up his ninth career nomination for his portrayal of Jon, making him the most-nominated male actor of all time. And 96-year-old June Squibb will join him that night as the oldest nominee ever for her performance in the title role.

I’m a little bummed the nominators didn’t recognize Madeline Brewer for her portrayal of the title role in Becky Shaw, which critic Hayley Levitt described as “a twinkling human grenade.” Her co-star Alden Ehrenreich was nominated, however, and so was the production for Best Revival of a Play.

We knew Revival of a Play would be a tough category this year, and the list of snubs bears that out: Acclaimed productions like Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Marjorie Prime, and Bug were left out (although all three shows received multiple noms in other categories). Most surprising was the inclusion of Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s feelgood solo show Every Brilliant Thing, and Daniel Radcliffe also received a nod for his performance, which has him running through the house eight times a week.

As expected, the nominators treated The Queen of Versailles like a bad dream, with not one nomination going to Stephen Schwartz and Lindsey Ferrentino’s white elephant musical, which opened to bad reviews in November and unceremoniously closed in December. Kristin Chenoweth starred in the production; and in an echo of what happened to her Wicked co-star Idina Menzel last season, when she was passed up for Redwood, Chenoweth was not nominated.

That show’s director, Michael Arden, will still be prominently featured at the televised awards ceremony on June 7. He was nominated for helming The Lost Boys, the biggest new musical this season and a favorite (though not guaranteed) to win Best Musical. Several of the categories will be real nail-biters this year, which should make this an interesting month. Check back in with TheaterMania for our complete coverage of the 2026 Tony Awards.