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Tony Awards Lock In Eligibility for Metcalf, Cheadle, Hsu, and Evans

The committee finalized category placements for 13 productions ahead of the May 5 nominations announcement.

Director Jon Favreau and cast members Robert Downey, Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell promoting the film Iron Man 2 at the 2009 San Deigo Comic-Con International.
Director Jon Favreau and cast members Robert Down…      960px Iron_man_2_comic Con_panel    Jasmin Hunter / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
By Free News Press Editorial Team
Published April 29, 2026 at 8:03 PM PDT

The Tony Awards Administration Committee held its fourth and final eligibility meeting before nominations are announced, locking in category placements for some of the season's most closely watched performances.

Laurie Metcalf will compete for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play for her work in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Christopher Abbott was placed in the same production's featured actor in a play category. Don Cheadle, making his Broadway debut in Thomas Kail's production of Proof, was also confirmed eligible in the featured actor in a play race.

Luke Evans and Andrew Durand will both compete for best actor in a leading role in a musical for the Studio 54 revival of The Rocky Horror Show. Stephanie Hsu was ruled eligible in the leading actress in a musical category for the same production, setting up what Variety described as one of the season's most distinctive eligibility situations.

Schmigadoon!, the stage adaptation of the Apple TV musical comedy series, drew a full slate of rulings. Co-creator Cinco Paul is eligible in best original score, while Alex Brightman and Sara Chase will compete in the leading actor and leading actress in a musical categories respectively.

Gina Gionfriddo's dark comedy Becky Shaw, starring Patrick Ball and Madeline Brewer and making its Broadway debut, was classified as a revival of a play. That places it alongside Oedipus and Proof under the "new-to-Broadway" titles being treated as classics this season.

Anika Noni Rose was confirmed eligible in the leading actress in a play race for The Balusters. Marla Mindelle goes into the same musical category for Titaníque, and LJ Benet will compete for leading actor in a musical for Michael Arden's production of The Lost Boys. Andrew Lloyd Webber and collaborators were confirmed jointly eligible in best orchestrations for Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

Tony nominations will be announced on May 5.

Laurie Metcalf on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards 1993 - Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can
Laurie Metcalf on the red carpet at the Emmy Awar…      Laurie Metcalf    Alan Light / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)