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\n\tEarly in the 2025 Tony Awards<\/a>, host Cynthia Erivo<\/a> singled out an \u201cup-and-comer\u201d who landed his first nomination this year: George Clooney<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tThe Oscar-winning actor-director was going places, Erivo suggested, but just hours later Clooney, who got a number of onstage shout-outs during the awards<\/a> ceremony that aired live on CBS, left the Tonys<\/a> without the Broadway<\/a> play receiving a single award, despite being nominated for five honors including a best actor in a play nod for Clooney, which he lost to Oh, Mary!<\/em>\u2018s Cole Escola.<\/p>\n \n\tThe play, which has been breaking records with its multi-million-dollar weekly box office grosses<\/a>, closed out its run with a matin\u00e9e performance before Sunday\u2019s awards, after which Clooney quickly went back<\/a> to his natural hair color<\/a> after dying it brown for the show, and Saturday night\u2019s performance aired live on CNN<\/a> in a highly-touted special.<\/p>\n \n\tSimilarly, the latest revival of Gypsy<\/em>, which landed five nominations, including an historic 11th nod for Audra McDonald<\/a>, making her the most Tony-nominated performer in history in addition to holding the record for most awarded performer in Tonys history, was also shut out Sunday night, with McDonald losing the best actress in a musical award to Nicole Scherzinger<\/a> for Sunset Blvd<\/em>.<\/p>\n \n\tOther notable shutouts included Dead Outlaw<\/em> and John Proctor Is the Villain<\/em> (seven nominations each), Floyd Collins<\/em> and Just in Time <\/em>(six nominations each) and Real Women Have Curves<\/em> (two nominations), with Real Women<\/em>\u2018s best shot at a win coming in the score category, where it lost to Maybe Happy Ending.<\/em><\/p>\n \n\tIndeed, though Maybe Happy Ending<\/em> had already received multiple awards<\/a> by the time Darren Criss<\/a>\u2018 name was called as the best actor in a musical winner, his win, on his first nomination, was still somewhat of a surprise as he was in a tight race with Jonathan Groff, who was gunning for his second Tony in a row.<\/p>\n \n\tDeath Becomes Her<\/em> only won one award, for best costume design, given to Oscar winner Paul Tazewell, despite the musical going into the Tonys in a three-way tie with Maybe Happy Ending<\/em> and Buena Vista Social Club<\/em> for the most nominations with 10 apiece.<\/p>\n \n\tIn an upset,\u00a0Purpose<\/a><\/em>\u00a0won the Tony Award for best play, besting Oh, Mary!\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0John Proctor Is the Villain<\/em>, starring Sadie Sink, which had both been buzzed about, both at the box office and in the industry, and considered top contenders for the Tony. But\u00a0Purpose<\/em>,\u00a0which follows a powerful family in Black American politics recovering from scandal, won the Pulitzer Prize for drama earlier this year and saw five of its cast members nominated for Tony Awards<\/a>, including Kara Young<\/a>, who won a Tony for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n