Whether it’s music or acting, Filipinos can’t seem to stop winning. At the 78th Tony Awards held on June 8, 2025, Filipino-American artists Nicole Scherzinger and Darren Criss scored their first Tony wins and demonstrated Filipino pride.
Nicole Scherzinger, the former lead singer of the American girl group The Pussycat Dolls, won Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as bygone silent-screen actress Norma Desmond in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Sunset Blvd.”
“Thank you for making this little Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipino girl’s dream come true,” said Scherzinger in her acceptance speech onstage at the Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
She accepted the award clad in a dazzling off-the-shoulder red dress. She may have channeled faded actress Nora Desmond for her red carpet look, but it is clear that her star continues to shine.
Meanwhile, actor Darren Criss, best known for appearing in the hit TV show “Glee,” also won Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical as the robot Oliver in “Maybe Happy Ending.” Both the awards for leading roles were cinched by Filipinos.
Criss also served as a producer on “Maybe Happy Ending,” and it ended up taking home the award for Best Musical. Not only that, but it won Best Direction of a Musical for Michael Arden, Best Book of a Musical for Will Aronson and Hue Park, Best Original Score for Park and Aronson, and Best Scenic Design for Dane Laffrey and George Reeve.
Similarly, “Sunset Blvd” took home the award for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Lighting Design in a Musical for Jack Knowles.
A Filipino named Marco Paguia also won Best Orchestrations for “Buena Vista Social Club.”
If these awards are any indication, Filipinos are going to continue making their mark in the entertainment industry.
