2025 Tony Awards: How ‘Romeo + Juliet’ could break a surprising Shakespearean shutout

Since premiering in 1597, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet has endured as one of the greatest and most tragic love stories ever written. It's been performed countless times all over the world. On Broadway alone, there's been a grand total of 37 productions. Since the Tony Awards were established in 1947, there have been six revivals up for consideration, and all were snubbed for the prize.

• 1951: starring Douglas Watson and Olivia De Havilland; directed by Peter Glenville
• 1956: starring John Neville and Claire Bloom; directed by Robert Helpmann
• 1962: starring John Stride and Joanna Dunham; directed by Franco Zeffirelli
• 1977: starring Paul Ryan Rudd and Pamela Payton-Wright; directed by Theodore Mann
• 1986: starring Rene Moreno and Regina Taylor; directed by Estelle Parsons
• 2013: starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad; directed by David Leveaux

A seventh revival is in the running at the 2025 Tonys. Will it be lucky this time around? The remounting of Romeo + Juliet took place last fall, starring Children's & Family Emmy winner Kit Connor and Golden Globe winner Rachel Zegler as the titular star-crossed lovers, and was directed by Tony winner Sam Gold.

In Gold Derby's predictions, the production is currently not expected to receive any Tony nominations. It's in sixth place for Best Play Revival, and there are expected to be four nominees. The show ended its limited run in February, and received mixed critical reviews. Chris Jones (Chicago Tribune) called it "an ill-focused mess." Naveen Kumar (Washington Post) felt it lacked "clarity or a pulse." Trish Deitch (Variety) thought it was "missing a heart."

Zegler is in sixth place for Best Actress in a Play, standing right outside of the predicted five: Sarah Snook (The Picture of Dorian Gray), Laura Donnelly (The Hills of California), Sadie Sink (John Proctor is the Villain), Mia Farrow (The Roommate), and LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Purpose). It's possible she could sneak in, but there is the question of whether enough voters are willing to look past some recent controversial comments she's made regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Donald Trump's threats to democracy.

Connor is in eighth place for Best Actor in a Play. He does face competition from film/TV stars such as George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck), Jake Gyllenhaal (Othello), Daniel Dae Kim (Yellow Face), Jim Parsons (Our Town), and Denzel Washington (Othello), as well as current frontrunner Cole Escola (Oh, Mary!), and previous nominee Jon Michael Hill (Purpose).

Even critics who didn’t care for the production at least found Connor's performance to be a key takeaway. Johnny Oleksinski (New York Post) thought he gave "an impressive, heart-stopping Broadway debut," citing him as "the sole reason" to see the show. Patrick Ryan (USA Today) called Connor "a revelation." Emlyn Travis (Entertainment Weekly) felt he gave "a star-making performance." If this classic tragedy finally gets Tony nominated this year, Romeo might be their best shot in doing so.

Watch the classic Romeo + Juliet balcony scene:

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