Cover Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Marco Paguia at the 2025 Tony Awards
Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Marco Paguia at the 2025 Tony Awards
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Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Marco Paguia take home Tony Awards for ‘Sunset Blvd.’, ‘Maybe Happy Ending’ and ‘Buena Vista Social Club’
It was a night of firsts and full circles at the 78th Annual Tony Awards in New York, as three Filipino-Americans—Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss, and Marco Paguia—claimed the stage and earned their first-ever Tony trophies, setting a historic milestone for the Filipino diaspora on Broadway.
Scherzinger, 46, took home Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her role as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd., Andrew Lloyd Webber’s darkly glittering revival of the 1950 Hollywood-noir film. It’s a part that demands both grandeur and vulnerability—something Scherzinger, a former pop idol turned West End mainstay, seemed to summon from somewhere deeply personal.
“Thank you,” she said at Radio City Music Hall. “For making this little Hawaiian Ukrainian Filipino girl’s dream come true.” She thanked her mother, who gave birth to her at 18, her entire ohana and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Between nervous glances at the ticking countdown clock, Scherzinger spoke of the weight and the exhaustion of eight Broadway shows a week, before closing with a message to anyone still waiting for their moment: don’t give up.
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For Criss, too, the win for Best Leading Actor in a Musical was long in the making. He was honoured for his role in Maybe Happy Ending, a wistful, original production set in a future where robots recall fragments of human love. The show also won Best Musical. Criss not only starred in it—opposite newcomer Helen J Shen—but produced it as well.
“Helen, I’m so proud of you,” he said from the stage. Then, turning his attention to his wife, Mia, he offered perhaps the most heartfelt thanks of the evening. “You took a massive swing letting me do this... raising two tiny friends under three while I raise a singing robot eight times a week. Mia, you are the pedestal that upholds the shiny spinny bit in our lives.”
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And as if the night hadn’t already marked a breakthrough for Filipino representation on Broadway, Marco Paguia—music director, conductor and pianist—made his own mark with Buena Vista Social Club, winning Best Orchestrations. A musical that traces the journey of four Cuban musicians from the 1950s to the 1990s, Buena Vista pulsed with life, thanks in no small part to Paguia’s masterful musical direction.
As if that weren’t enough, Paguia was also honoured with a special Tony Award alongside the rest of the musicians who make up the show’s onstage band—a rare recognition for artists who work in the margins of the spotlight but form the soul of the performance.
For a trio of performers who have each wrestled with the fickle nature of fame—Scherzinger in pop superstardom’s glare, Criss through television’s cult acclaim and Paguia behind the orchestral curtain—Sunday night’s wins offered a rare still point. Scherzinger, once cast off as “just a Pussycat Doll”, is now hailed as one of the most compelling stage actresses of her generation; Criss, who rose to fame on Glee, has further proven his mettle as both artist and architect of story; and Paguia, long a quiet force on Broadway, now stands front and centre as a key cultural voice.
The triumphs come amid a banner year for Filipino-American representation on Broadway. Also nominated were Conrad Ricamora (Oh Mary) and Clint Ramos (costume design for Maybe Happy Ending), while Tony legend Lea Salonga returned to the stage as a presenter.
“I never felt like I belonged as a child,” Scherzinger told the audience, “but you all have made me feel that I belong—that I’ve come home at last.”
Angela Nicole Regis Guiral is a digital editor at Tatler Philippines. She studied journalism and has since written features that look closely at how culture, lifestyle and social impact converge, while occasionally wandering into the worlds of style and travel.
