Broadway made a strong showing across awards, performances and appearances at the March 2 Academy Awards. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the 97th annual awards were held at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre. Broadway alums Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, both nominated for their turns in the screen adaptation of the musical “Wicked,” kicked off the evening by performing a medley of songs from different adaptations of L. Frank Baum’s original 1900 “Wizard of Oz” novel. Grande lent her vocals to a version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” made famous in the 1939 “Wizard of Oz” motion picture, and Erivo followed up with a rendition of “Home,” the 11 o’clock number from 1975 Best Musical Tony Award winner “The Wiz.” The duo concluded with a performance of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.”
Keeping with the Oz theme, Oscar nominee Queen Latifah later performed “Ease on Down the Road” from “The Wiz” as a tribute to the late Quincy Jones. Jones, whose Broadway résumé includes producing both the original and revival productions of “The Color Purple,” posthumously received an honorary award at the Academy’s 2024 Governor’s Awards for his lifelong work as a film composer and conductor.
The Academy also paid homage to Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, producers of the James Bond franchise (and Tony-winning producers of “Once”). At the aforementioned Governor’s Awards, the half-siblings were named recipients of the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement. A montage of “Bond” film clips was accompanied by a series of dance performances, led by Margaret Qualley, known for playing Tony-winning choreographer and performer Ann Reinking in the “Fosse/Verdon” miniseries.
The evening’s top prize, Best Picture, went to “Anora.” Sean Baker took home four statuettes (a record for a single film) for the comedy-drama, including Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing and as a producer for Best Picture. The film’s star, Mikey Madison, was named Best Actress.
The first part of the two-part motion picture adaptation of Broadway’s “Wicked,” which broke box office records, was nominated for 10 awards, winning two. The film won Best Production Design, which encompasses Nathan Crowley production design as well as Lee Sandales’ set decoration.
“Wicked”’s second award went to costume designer Paul Tazewell, who became the first Black man to win the Oscar for Best Costume Design. “This is absolutely astounding,” Tazewell said in his acceptance speech, noting this was “a very significant honor.”
Tazewell, who won a 2016 Tony for his work on “Hamilton,” is now one of only eight individuals to have collected a Tony and an Oscar for costume design (the others being Theoni V. Aldredge, Cecil Beaton, Anthony Powell, Ann Roth, Irene Sharaff, Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, the latter two who jointly won both awards). Finally, Tazewell is the first Black costume designer to win both a Tony and an Oscar. “I’m so proud of this. This is everything,” Tazewell added.
Kieran Culkin, who is slated to return to Broadway in March in a revival of “Glengarry Glen Ross,” took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Benji Kaplan in “A Real Pain.” Culkin, who earlier this year was honored with Golden Globe, Critics Choice and SAG Awards for this performance, was nominated alongside 2024 Tony Award winner Jeremy Strong.
Additional acting accolades went to Best Actor Adrian Brody (for “The Brutalist”) and Best Supporting Actress Zoe Saldaña (for “Emilia Pérez”). Brody beat out two-time Tony nominee Colman Domingo for “Sing Sing,” Tony winner Ralph Fiennes for “Conclave,” Main Stem veteran Sebastian Stan for “The Apprentice” and Off-Broadway alum Timothée Chalamet for “A Complete Unknown.” Saldaña’s win was one of two trophies for the original movie musical, which went into the evening with 13 nominations, the most of any film this year. “Emilia Pérez” picked up the Best Original Song, a category in which it received two nominations, for “El Mal” (featuring music by Clément Ducol and Camille and lyrics by Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard).
The complete list of winners can be found below, noted in bold and with an asterisk.
Best Picture
“Anora,” Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, producers*
“The Brutalist,” Nick Gordon, Brian Young, Andrew Morrison, D.J. Gugenheim and Brady Corbet, producers
“A Complete Unknown,” Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers
“Conclave,” Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, producers
“Dune: Part Two,” Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, producers
“Emilia Pérez,”Pascal Caucheteux and Jacques Audiard, producers
“I’m Still Here,” Maria Carlota Bruno and Rodrigo Teixeira, producers
“Nickel Boys,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, producers
“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat and Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, producers
“Wicked,” Marc Platt, producer
Best Director
Sean Baker — “Anora”*
Brady Corbet — “The Brutalist”
James Mangold — “A Complete Unknown”
Jacques Audiard — “Emilia Pérez”
Coralie Fargeat — “The Substance”
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody — “The Brutalist”*
Timothée Chalamet — “A Complete Unknown”
Colman Domingo — “Sing Sing”
Ralph Fiennes — “Conclave”
Sebastian Stan — “The Apprentice”
Actress in a Leading Role
Cynthia Erivo — “Wicked”
Karla Sofía Gascón — “Emilia Pérez”
Mikey Madison — “Anora”*
Demi Moore — “The Substance”
Fernanda Torres — “I’m Still Here”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Yura Borisov — “Anora”
Kieran Culkin — “A Real Pain”*
Edward Norton — “A Complete Unknown”
Guy Pearce — “The Brutalist”
Jeremy Strong — “The Apprentice”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Monica Barbaro — “A Complete Unknown”
Ariana Grande — “Wicked”
Felicity Jones — “The Brutalist”
Isabella Rossellini — “Conclave”
Zoe Saldaña — “Emilia Pérez”*
Adapted Screenplay
“A Complete Unknown”, screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
“Conclave,” screenplay by Peter Straughan*
“Emilia Pérez,” screenplay by Jacques Audiard in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
“Nickel Boys,” screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
“Sing Sing,” screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield
Original Screenplay
“Anora,” written by Sean Baker*
“The Brutalist,” written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
“A Real Pain,” written by Jesse Eisenberg
“September 5,” written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum, Co-Written by Alex David
“The Substance,” written by Coralie Fargeat
Animated Short Film
“Beautiful Men,” Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
“In the Shadow of Cypress,” Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi*
“Magic Candies,” Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
“Wander to Wonder,” Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
“Yuck!,” Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Costume Design
“A Complete Unknown,” Arianne Phillips
“Conclave,” Lisy Christl
“Gladiator II,” Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
“Nosferatu,” Linda Muir
“Wicked,” Paul Tazewell*
Live Action Short Film
“A Lien,” Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
“Anuja,” Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
“I’m Not a Robot,” Victoria Warmerdam and Trent*
“The Last Ranger,” Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent” Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
Makeup and Hairstyling
“A Different Man,” Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
“Emilia Pérez,” Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
“Nosferatu,” David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne StokesMunton
“The Substance,” Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli*
“Wicked,” Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth
Original Score
“The Brutalist,” Daniel Blumberg*
“Conclave,” Volker Bertelmann
“Emilia Pérez,” Clément Ducol and Camille
“Wicked,” John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
“The Wild Robot,” Kris Bowers
Animated Feature Film
“Flow,” Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman*
“Inside Out 2,” Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen
“Memoir of a Snail,” Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham and Richard Beek
“The Wild Robot,” Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
Cinematography
“The Brutalist,” Lol Crawley*
“Dune: Part Two,” Greig Fraser
“Emilia Pérez,” Paul Guilhaume
“Maria,” Ed Lachman
“Nosferatu,” Jarin Blaschke
Documentary Feature Film
“Black Box Diaries,” Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
“No Other Land,” Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham*
“Porcelain War,” Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety
“Sugarcane,” Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn
Documentary Short Film
“Death by Numbers,” Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard
“I Am Ready, Warden,” Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp
“Incident,” Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven
“Instruments of a Beating Heart,” Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra,” Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington*
Film Editing
“Anora,” Sean Baker*
“The Brutalist,” David Jancso
“Conclave,” Nick Emerson
“Emilia Pérez,” Juliette Welfling
“Wicked,” Myron Kerstein
International Feature Film
“I’m Still Here,” Brazil*
“The Girl with the Needle,” Denmark
“Emilia Pérez,” France
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Germany
“Flow,” Latvia
Original Song
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez,” music by Clément Ducol and Camille, lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard*
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight,” music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing,” music and lyrics by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez,” music and lyrics by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late,” music and lyrics by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Production Design
“The Brutalist,” production design: Judy Becker; set decoration: Patricia Cuccia
“Conclave,” production design: Suzie Davies; set decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
“Dune: Part Two,” production design: Patrice Vermette; set decoration: Shane Vieau
“Nosferatu,” production design: Craig Lathrop; set decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
“Wicked,” production design: Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Lee Sandales*
Sound
“A Complete Unknown,” Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
“Dune: Part Two,” Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill*
“Emilia Perez,” Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
“Wicked,” Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
“The Wild Robot,” Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts
Visual Effects
“Alien: Romulus,” Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
“Better Man,” Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
“Dune: Part Two,” Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer*
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
“Wicked,” Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
