Alan Cumming, Alex Timbers and more Broadway talent win 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards

The 78th Emmy Awards kicked off on Sept. 5 at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Over two days, the Television Academy recognized talented artists in categories such as costume design, casting and hosting. Broadway names were among the winners of these 2026 awards.

Tony Award-winning actor and producer Alan Cumming took home the Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program for hosting Peacock’s series “The Traitors.” This marked Cumming’s third consecutive win in this category, all of which have been for “The Traitors.”

Tony-winning director Alex Timbers, who recently celebrated the end of the seven-year Broadway run of his “Moulin Rouge!,” won his first Emmy. Timbers won Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) as one of the executive producers of the Disney+ single-episode reboot of “The Muppet Show.” The special, directed by Timbers, also took home trophies for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special, Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special and Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming.

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Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Tony-winning co-book writers, co-composers and co-lyricists of “The Book of Mormon” alongside Robert Lopez, won Outstanding Animated Program for “South Park.” (Parker is also a Tony-winning co-director of the long-running Broadway musical.) This award marked “South Park”’s first win in this category since 2013. 

Newly minted Broadway performer Mariska Hargitay, who made her Broadway debut earlier this year in “Every Brilliant Thing,” won two Emmys. Her documentary “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay” won Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Hargitay won in that category as a producer of the film. She also won Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program for helming the doc. 

A selection of acting awards were bestowed during these early ceremonies. Dame Julie Andrews, a three-time Tony nominee, won Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance for her turn as the voice of Lady Whistledown in Netflix’s “Bridgerton,” specifically the episode “The Waltz.”

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Finally, Betty Gilpin, who made her Broadway debut as the titular first lady in “Oh, Mary!,” won Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her turn in the Apple TV+ series “Widow’s Bay,” specifically the episode “Our History.”

These two nights of awards, known as the 78th Creative Arts Emmy Awards, will be edited into a single broadcast, which will air on Sept. 12 on FXX at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The broadcast will be available to stream via Hulu beginning on Sept. 13. 

The main Emmys ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC on Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The show will be hosted by Hargitay at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Check out the list of nominees.