Cinco Paul schmarvels at his two ‘Schmigadoon!’ Tony wins

The co-creator of the same-named TV series won double as the sole writer of the Best Musical-winning stage adaptation — in his Broadway-debut season.

Cinco Paul has truly made the most of his Broadway debut with Schmigadoon!, based on the first season of his same-named TV series about a New York couple, Melissa and Josh, who stumble into a magical town where it’s a Golden Age musical every day.

On June 7, Paul won two 2026 Tony Awards for the musical’s smart, sweet, and funny book and pastiche score, which is filled with songs that nod to classic musicals like Brigadoon, Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, and Carousel. The show itself won Best Musical shortly after. At a press conference following his win, he told reporters his mom paved his way to Broadway.

“My mom introduced me to cast recordings at a very early age,” he said. “It was Camelot and South Pacific and Guys and Dolls, and I just freaking loved them.”

“This was a way for me to kind of honor that,” he added. “They're so important to me. I learned what romance was. It's sort of my way to say thank you to them, and then try to add my own little bit of musical theatre to the legacy.”

Cinco acknowledged that the TV series ran only for two seasons and didn’t realize its third planned chapter. “We wrote season 3, and it didn't happen,” he said. “I said, ‘I'm going to do a stage adaptation so that high schools can do this.’” Little did he know Schmigadoon! would find much bigger homes.

Getting Schmigadoon! to Broadway was, in a word, “crazy," he said. "You dream crazy dreams, and you never think they’re going to happen. But every once in a while, they do.”

He relates to the show’s dynamics in the fact that Melissa loves musicals and Josh does not, though those roles are reversed in real life.

“I did say it in my [acceptance] speech, but my wife does not hate musicals,” he clarified. “But she does not like them in the way that I do. In our marriage and relationship, I am the Melissa.”

Asked if he could see adapting season 2 of the TV show, titled Schmicago, Paul teased, “I wouldn't say no if someone offered it to me.” Wouldn't that be schmarvelous?

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