Recipients of the 2025 Theatre World Awards have been revealed. The awards body recognizes outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway acting debuts in the 2024-2025 season. The winners will be feted at a June 2 ceremony. The event, which will be hosted by Peter Filichia and produced by Dale Badway, will be held at Hard Rock Cafe Times Square at 7 p.m. Michael Lavine will serve as music director.
The winners include newly minted 2025 Tony Award nominees Tom Francis for “Sunset Boulevard,” Jak Malone for “Operation Mincemeat,” Louis McCartney for “Stranger Things: The First Shadow,” Marjan Neshat for “English,” Jasmine Amy Rogers for “Boop! The Musical,” Nicole Scherzinger for “Sunset Boulevard” and Sarah Snook for “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” as well as Alana Arenas for “Purpose,” Kit Connor for “Romeo + Juliet” and Helen J Shen for “Maybe Happy Ending.” Honorees from Off-Broadway productions include Patsy Ferran and Paul Mescal, both for “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
The recipients of three special awards were also named. Shailene Woodley, who made her Main Stem debut in “Cult of Love,” will receive the Dorothy Loudon Award for Excellence in the Theater. George Clooney will receive a citation for Outstanding Broadway Debut as Performer and Playwright for his performance in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” a play he adapted with Grant Heslov from their screenplay. Finally, the 12th annual John Willis Award for Lifetime Achievement will go to Leslie Uggams, whose near-six-decade career in the theater began with a 1967 Theatre World Award for “Hallelujah, Baby!”
The Theatre World Awards was established in 1945 by John Willis, editor in chief of the former Theatre World (and Screen World) book series, which served as a physical record of each theater season, both on and Off-Broadway.
The annual 12 winners are chosen by a committee that includes Linda Armstrong, David Cote, Joe Dziemianowicz, Peter Filichia, David Finkle, Elysa Gardner, Harry Haun, Cary Wong and Frank Scheck.
The Theatre World Awards board of directors is led by president Badway, vice presidents Tom Lynch and Michael Kostel, secretary Stephen Wilde as well as members James Sheridan, Karen Johnston and Jeffrey Grove. The late Ilene Zatkin-Butler was a former member of the board.
