You can listen to The Way Too Early Oscar Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Anchor, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, and Google Podcasts.
Don’t forget to check out our other podcast: And The Winner Still Is… a retrospective Oscar podcast hosted by Marisa Carpico (Film Editor at ThePopBreak.com) and Matt Taylor.
Season 8 of The Way Too Early Oscar Podcast has bgun under way! Pop Break film editor (and Rotten Tomatoes Certified Critic) Marisa Carpico and Pop Break senior writer Matt Taylor return to discuss all the potential 2026 Oscar hopefuls…and more this season!
Matt and Marisa pivot into a whole new awards season: The 2025 Tony Awards! The duo talk about all the buzzy shows this like Oh Mary!, Maybe Happy Ending, and the controversial Othello revival. Find out what show this season is one of the worst they’ve ever seen! And which Broadway star inspired them to take the show in a new direction?
The 2025 Tony Awards (aka the 78th Tony Awards) take place on June 8 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Nominees comes from the 2024-2025 season. The show will air on traditional television on CBS and streams live on Paramount+. Cynthia Erivo hosts.
2025 Tony Award Nominees Are:
Best Play
English
The Hills of California
John Proctor Is the Villain
Oh, Mary!
Purpose
Best Musical
Buena Vista Social Club
Dead Outlaw
Death Becomes Her
Maybe Happy Ending
Operation Mincemeat
Best Revival of a Play
Eureka Day
Thornton Wilder’s Our Town
Romeo + Juliet
Yellow Face
Best Revival of a Musical
Floyd Collins
Gypsy
Pirates! The Penzance Musical
Sunset Boulevard
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck as Edward R. Murrow
Cole Escola – Oh, Mary! as Mary Todd Lincoln
Jon Michael Hill – Purpose as Nazareth “Naz” Jasper
Daniel Dae Kim – Yellow Face as DHH
Harry Lennix – Purpose as Solomon “Sonny” Jasper
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Louis McCartney – Stranger Things: The First Shadow as Henry Creel
Laura Donnelly – The Hills of California as Veronica / Joan
Mia Farrow – The Roommate as Sharon
LaTanya Richardson Jackson – Purpose as Claudine Jasper
Sadie Sink – John Proctor Is the Villain as Shelby Holcomb
Sarah Snook – The Picture of Dorian Gray as Dorian Gray, et al.
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Darren Criss – Maybe Happy Ending as Oliver
Andrew Durand – Dead Outlaw as Elmer McCurdy
Tom Francis – Sunset Boulevard as Joe Gillis
Jonathan Groff – Just in Time as Bobby Darin
James Monroe Iglehart – A Wonderful World as Louis Armstrong
Jeremy Jordan – Floyd Collins as Floyd Collins
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Megan Hilty – Death Becomes Her as Madeline Ashton
Audra McDonald – Gypsy as Rose
Jasmine Amy Rogers – Boop! The Musical as Betty Boop
Nicole Scherzinger – Sunset Boulevard as Norma Desmond
Jennifer Simard – Death Becomes Her as Helen Sharp
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Glenn Davis – Purpose as Solomon “Junior” Jasper
Gabriel Ebert – John Proctor Is the Villain as Mr. Carter Smith
Francis Jue – Yellow Face as HYH, et al.
Bob Odenkirk – Glengarry Glen Ross as Shelly Levene
Conrad Ricamora – Oh, Mary! as Mary’s Husband
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Tala Ashe – English as Elham
Jessica Hecht – Eureka Day as Suzanne
Marjan Neshat – English as Marjan
Fina Strazza – John Proctor Is the Villain as Beth Powell
Kara Young – Purpose as Aziza Houston
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmanskas – Smash as Nigel Davies
Jeb Brown – Dead Outlaw as Bandleader / Walter Jarrett
Danny Burstein – Gypsy as Herbie
Jak Malone – Operation Mincemeat as Hester Leggatt and Others
Taylor Trensch – Floyd Collins as Skeets Miller
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Natalie Venetia Belcon – Buena Vista Social Club as Omara Portuondo (adult)
Julia Knitel – Dead Outlaw as Helen McCurdy / Maggie Johnson / Millicent Esper
Gracie Lawrence – Just in Time as Connie Francis
Justina Machado – Real Women Have Curves as Carmen Garcia
Joy Woods – Gypsy as Louise
