Predictions: Which Featured Actors Are Going to Win a Tony in 2026?

All week, TheaterMania’s critics will share their predictions ahead of the Tony Awards on Sunday, June 7. You can read their thoughts on leading actors here.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play 

THE NOMINEES
Betsy Aidem, Liberation
Marylouise Burke, The Balusters
Aya Cash, Giant
Laurie Metcalf, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
June Squibb, Marjorie Prime

David Gordon
Will win: June Squibb, Marjorie Prime
Should win: Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman

There are meatier roles in this category than Marjorie in Marjorie Prime, but let’s face it: you’re not not going to vote for the 96-year-old.

Zachary Stewart
Will win: Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman
Should win: Laurie Metcalf, Death of a Salesman

This was a great season for Laurie Metcalf, who in addition to her revelatory performance as Linda in Death of a Salesman also starred in Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road, a performance for which she was snubbed by the nominators. I suspect the voters will correct the error by giving her the win here.

Pete Hempstead
Will win: June Squibb, Marjorie Prime
Should win: Marylouise Burke, The Balusters

That Laurie Metcalf deserves to win for Salesman is beyond question. But I’m looking at June Squibb and Marylouise Burke for likelier wins this year: Squibb had my heart in my throat in Marjorie Prime, and Burke had me in stitches every time she uttered a line in The Balusters. Both are theater legends, and neither has ever won a Tony. I would love to see either of them win, but I give a slight edge to Squibb.

 Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play 

THE NOMINEES
Christopher Abbott, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime
Brandon J. Dirden, Waiting for Godot
Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Richard Thomas, The Balusters

David Gordon
Will win: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Should win: Danny Burstein, Marjorie Prime

This is the category where Marjorie Prime should take it, for Danny Burstein’s heartbreaker of a performance. But nothing beats watching an actor sink their teeth into the perfect role. That’s Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Bynum in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, delivering the poetry of August Wilson like it was written with him in mind.

Zachary Stewart
Will win: Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Should win: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

I concur with David about Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s perfect and surprisingly subtle portrayal of Bynum Walker in Joe Turner. But Alden Ehrenreich is delivering the kind of get-under-your-skin performance in Becky Shaw that I’m sure voters will still be thinking about when they cast their ballots.

Pete Hempstead
Will win: Alden Ehrenreich, Becky Shaw
Should win: Ruben Santiago-Hudson, August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

This is a tough one, but I’m going to concur with Zach here. This may be the win for Becky Shaw, one of the most talked about plays of the season. Ehrenreich’s performance is hypnotic. Santiago-Hudson’s performance is stunning and he deserves to win, but something tells me Ehrenreich is going to stand out more in voters’ memories.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical 

THE NOMINEES
Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Hannah Cruz, Chess
Rachel Dratch, Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Ana Gasteyer, Schmigadoon!
Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime

David Gordon
Will win: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Should win: Hannah Cruz, Chess

Shoshana Bean has the “she’s due” narrative on lock this season, and her performance in The Lost Boys is the glue that holds the show together. I hope this win expands the perception of what she can do as a performer — she’s capable of much more than just belting and cooking (that’s two shows now). Still, I think I’d vote for Hannah Cruz, who has 23 minutes of stage time in Chess and walks away with the whole show.

Zachary Stewart
Will win: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Should win: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys

She’s a once-in-a-generation vocal talent. She’s cornered the market on Broadway single moms. She’s the best part of The Lost Boys. This is Shoshana’s year.

Pete Hempstead
Will win: Shoshana Bean, The Lost Boys
Should win: Nichelle Lewis, Ragtime

I think Shoshana Bean is going to ride on a wave of Lost Boys love and take this one. Yes, she is due, but her performance justifies it too. I have to call out Nichelle Lewis, however, for her stirring performance in Ragtime. Her duet with Joshua Henry (“Wheels of a Dream”) was unforgettable. To see the two of them win would be magic.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical 

THE NOMINEES
Ali Louis Bourzgui, The Lost Boys
André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Bryce Pinkham, Chess
Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime
Layton Williams, Titaníque

David Gordon
Will Win: André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Should Win: Ben Levi Ross, Ragtime

André’s nomination is both a recognition of the entire Cats company, and his sheer presence: he gets a built-in standing ovation just for coming on stage and milks it like the star he is. It’s almost unfair to put his unflappable magnetism in competition with anyone else, but if there’s any nominee who can pounce, it’s Ben Levi Ross and his thoughtful turn as an aimless rich kid who gets radicalized in Ragtime.

Zachary Stewart
Will win: André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Should win: Layton Williams, Titaníque

André De Shields is a genuine Broadway star, and like the audience at the Broadhurst Theatre, the voters won’t be able to resist showering him with love. But in the role of the iceberg bitch in Titaníque, British stage talent Layton Williams has leapt over the pond and landed on Broadway in a flying split. It’s the kind of debut that really ought to be commemorated with a Tony, if only to convince him to come back.

Pete Hempstead
Will win: André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Should win: André De Shields, Cats: The Jellicle Ball

At the moment, no other performer on this list has the theatrical grandeur of André De Shields. He is one with the stage and the audience from the moment he comes out as Old Deuteronomy—true Broadway royalty. Ali Louis Bourzgui won’t win, but he gets a nod from me for rocking the music of the Rescues in The Lost Boys. What can I say? When it comes to vampires, I’m a sucker.