Broadway’s biggest night ended with a familiar late-night name at the microphone.
Lorne Michaels accepted the final award of the 2026 Tony Awards Sunday as Schmigadoon! took home Best Musical, giving the Saturday Night Live creator yet another addition to his very crowded trophy case.
“It’s been a long night,” Michaels said, drawing laughs from the room. “So I just want to say, on behalf of all the people who are standing here, and the others who work every night at Schmigadoon, we are really grateful for this, and it means everything. Sometimes singing, dancing, a lot of jokes, and a happy ending is really all you need. Thank you.”
The win marked Michaels’ second Tony. He previously won as one of the producers of Leopoldstadt, which took Best Play in 2022.
Not that Michaels was hurting for hardware. He already holds the all-time Emmy record for an individual, with 112 nominations and 24 wins, and has also collected multiple Peabody Awards, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, a Kennedy Center Honor, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (For anyone keeping EGOT score, he remains a Grammy and an Oscar away.)
Schmigadoon! began as the Apple TV+ musical comedy series created by Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, with Michaels executive producing through Broadway Video. The first season lovingly spoofed Golden Age musicals like Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The Music Man; the second, retitled Schmicago, moved into darker, ’60s and ’70s-inspired territory.
After Apple TV+ canceled a planned third season, Michaels helped Paul shepherd the property to the stage. The musical premiered at the Kennedy Center last year before opening on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre in April 2026.
The stage version also keeps the show’s SNL connection intact. Ana Gasteyer, one of the great musical-comedy ringers in Saturday Night Live history, is featured in the Broadway production, extending a lineage that began with Cecily Strong starring in the Apple TV+ series while she was still a cast member at Studio 8H.
Michaels’ own Broadway résumé dates back decades. His stage credits include Gilda Radner: Live From New York, which he produced, directed, and wrote in 1979; Colin Quinn: An Irish Wake; Mean Girls; Leopoldstadt; All In: Comedy About Love; and All Out: Comedy About Ambition.
Still, Schmigadoon! winning Best Musical is a particularly tidy crossover moment: a TV-born musical comedy, produced by the man who has spent 50 years turning live comedy, music, and theatrical nonsense into late-night television, closing Broadway’s biggest night with a happy ending.
Watch Michaels’ full acceptance speech at the top of this post.
