“Haven’t You Heard? The Flying Twinks Are All Vampires Now”—The Best Moments From the 2026 Tony Awards

Reported by Harper's Bazaar.

The 79th Tony Awards landed at Radio City Music Center last night with the kind of evening Broadway does best: a few genuine surprises, several deeply correct choices, and enough camp to fill a ballroom — which, as it turns out, is exactly where Cats lives now.

The night's most unexpectedly inspired decision was Pink as host. Skepticism was reasonable — no Broadway credits, no obvious theatrical pedigree — but she walked in as Peter Pan, executed full aerial acrobatics while holding Neil Patrick Harris between her legs, and delivered an opening number riffing on "Lady Marmalade" with lines like "Gitchie, gitchie Carrie Coon." Instant, improbable classic. Cole Escola and Maya Rudolph presented the first award in matching Mary Todd Lincoln energy — Escola in a Pepto-pink Christopher John Rogers jumpsuit and Agnes Moorehead wig, describing their look as "the gay baby of Dorothy Loudon and Molly Ringwald that they left outside a garbage can" — and the bar for the rest of the evening was set aggressively high.

The Real Awards Race Was Always Between the Revivals

According to Harper's Bazaar, Death of a Salesman was the evening's biggest winner with six Tonys, including Best Revival of a Play. Nathan Lane's Willy Loman was notably snubbed in the acting categories, but he still took the mic when he accepted on behalf of the production — a deliberate workaround for lead producer Scott Rudin, who was absent after workplace abuse allegations surfaced in 2021 and has not, apparently, rehabilitated enough for prime time. Lesley Manville, accepting Best Actress in a Play for Oedipus in a shimmering orange Loewe gown, delivered the line of the night: "Would someone like to write a play for five women? We are quite bankable." The real horse race, though, was between Ragtime and Cats: The Jellicle Ball — one a sweeping American epic, the other a scrappy ballroom reimagining cast almost entirely with artists from that world. Ragtime won by a hair. Cats made history: Qween Jean became the first openly trans person to win Best Costume Design for a Musical, and her speech — about legacy, visibility, and permanent change — was the room's emotional peak.

The Best New Musical category raised uncomfortable questions about what "new" even means on Broadway anymore. Three of four nominees — Titanique!, The Lost Boys, and Schmigadoon! — were adapted from existing IP. Schmigadoon! won, based on a cancelled Apple TV series that was itself based on classic musicals. Meanwhile, Rachel Zegler performed "What I Did for Love" in honor of A Chorus Line's 50th anniversary, but make no mistake: it was also an unmistakable preview of the Jamie Lloyd-directed Evita revival she's headlining in 2027, which already ran on the West End and will almost certainly dominate next year's ceremony.

Broadway's best nights remind you that spectacle and substance aren't mutually exclusive — and last night, between a trans costume designer making history and a 70-year-old British actress demanding better roles for women, the stage delivered both.

Read the original at Harper's Bazaar.