Cedric "The Entertainer" is savoring a full-circle moment with Taraji P. Henson in a five-time Tony-nominated revival of August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone. In the drama set in 1911 Pittsburgh, they play spouses Seth and Bertha Holly, proprietors of a boarding house where strangers collide and connect while seeking a place in the world.

“We played a married couple before,” said Cedric in reference to their roles in the 2011 movie Larry Crowne. “So, this was kind of cool. We just got right back in the saddle.” New York Theatre Guide concurred in its review, noting that the production “feels lived-in thanks to the immediately established chemistry” between Cedric and Henson.

“Taraji is special as an actress. As a person, she’s so dynamic, full of energy, so much love and beauty and craziness,” Cedric told New York Theatre Guide. “She’s just a good person. The fact that we’re able to do this, to play Bertha and Seth Holly in this wonderful play, has been dynamic.”

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The 12-time Tony-nominated Schmigadoon! stars Alex Brightman and Sara Chase play a struggling couple who get trapped in a town where everyone behaves like they’re in a Golden Age musical. They first collaborated over a decade and a half ago on another spoof: Spidermusical.

“In Sara I have found my comedic equal,” Brightman, a two-time Tony nominee from previous seasons, told New York Theatre Guide. “Someone who is willing to commit to any bit. Someone who can ‘yes, and’ better than the rest. And someone whose comedy is thoughtful and never reckless.”

“It's a joy to be opposite Sara again after 15 years,” he added. “We complement each other deliciously and continue to encourage one another to be better, funnier, quicker, sillier, and so on [...] I'm tickled every shade of pink to be basking in her glow.”

The feeling is mutual, assured Chase, who’s up for Best Actress at this year's Tonys. “I knew Alex was special the first time I got to play opposite him in the unauthorized Spiderman musical parody as Peter Partker and Mary Joan,” she told New York Theatre Guide.

“We instantly recognized the same sense of humor in each other and I would work with him in anything a thousand times over. Except in anything about women’s sports. He really has this unnatural hatred for them for some reason. He says there just isn’t enough fighting.”

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For real-life spouses Reeve Carney and Eva Noblezada, now performing together in The Great Gatsby, collaborating on stage has a confidence-building effect. The actors met while playing lovers in Hadestown in NYC and London, and later co-starred in Cabaret in London. Before taking on the role of Jay Gatsby, Carney saw Noblezada, who originated the role of Daisy Buchanan, 12 times between the pre-Broadway and Broadway runs.

Noblezada told New York Theatre Guide that Carney lifts her performance — and the whole show. “[Gatsby] has such a heartbreaking level of faith, which very much is like Reeve in real life. That’s a really beautiful part of the show that invites everyone else to elevate their storytelling and their connection to the piece.”

Carney, too, is her biggest fan. “It's so enjoyable getting to watch the skill with which Eva can change things every night," he said. "Not that the goal is ever to change things, but to keep it alive and fresh.”

While they said they don’t bring any of their offstage relationship to their roles, their mutual faith trickles into their work in a big way. “The only thing we're lucky to have on stage as a foundation is just the trust, which leads us to be able to play with each other,” Noblezada said.

“I'm obsessed with this guy. We quite literally always have the best time,” she added. “Who doesn't want to spend all day with their best friend?”

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Stephen Adly Guirgis’s play Dog Day Afternoon dramatizes a 1972 botched bank robbery, previously chronicled in Life magazine and an Oscar-winning movie starring Al Pacino and John Cazale.

John Ortiz plays the supporting role of Detective Benny Fucco in the three-time Tony-nominated play. He has acted in several Guirgis works, including Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train and The Motherfu--er With the Hat. Fifteen years ago, Ortiz took on the role of Sonny in a reading of Dog Day Afternoon.

“Working with Stephen again is like coming home to the comfort of my Abuela’s home-cooked meals,” Ortiz told New York Theatre Guide. “His stories, his characters, and his words have given me the rare opportunity of seeing my band of castaway brothers and sisters front and center.”

“I love the shorthand of how well we know each other,” Ortiz added. “Yet every time the bar is set a little higher in the challenges we pose to one another.”

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Ortiz and Guirgis aren't the only longtime collaborators on Dog Day Afternoon. Fans of The Bear or The Punisher will recognize two familiar faces sharing the stage: partners-in-crime Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. After sharing the screen multiple times, they're now making their Broadway debuts together as would-be crooks Sonny and Sal.

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Actors and directors can have a way of bringing out the best in each other, as seen with Joe Mantello and Laurie Metcalf, who've worked together eight times and counting. They teamed up for two Broadway dramas this season alone: Samuel D. Hunter’s new play Little Bear Ridge Road in the fall, and the current Nathan Lane-led revival of Arthur Miller’s classic Death of a Salesman. The production is nominated for nine Tonys, including nods for Metcalf, Lane, and Mantello.

“Collaboration is everything in the theatre. I am lucky to be going from one exciting project to another with Joe Mantello — and in the very same season,” Metcalf said in a statement about Salesman. “Joe and Nathan are longtime collaborators, and my shared history with — and deep respect for — them makes what might otherwise feel daunting feel familiar, and absolutely thrilling.”

Lane and Mantello first worked together on the play Love! Valour! Compassion! 30 years ago, when they first talked about doing Salesman someday. Additionally, all three worked together in 2008 on David Mamet’s politically charged November.

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Nailing comedy is always tricky, and it helps to actors and directors who click. Case in point: the revival of Noël Coward’s 1925 farce Fallen Angels, starring Oscar nominee Rose Byrne and Tony winner Kelli O’Hara. Both nominated for a Tony Awards (as is the production, for Best Play Revival), the stars are at their funniest, booziest best under Scott Ellis’s direction.

Ellis previously staged Byrne in her 2014 Broadway debut in You Can’t Take It With You, and O’Hara in her Tony-nominated turn in 2019's Kiss Me, Kate. “I saw sides of them that I thought were right for Fallen Angels, including the comedy side,” Ellis told New York Theatre Guide.

Previous collaborations are invaluable in both directions. “You know how they work. They know how you work,” Ellis said. “There’s a collaborative way of working together that I really like. There’s a shorthand that’s really great to have in a rehearsal room. There’s also a trust of trying something that might work, or might not work, but let’s try it.” Luckily, here, it's working.

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Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winning writer David Lindsay-Abaire and actress Marylouise Burke have collaborated on seven of his plays, starting with A Devil Inside off Broadway in 1997. Burke is Lindsay-Abaire's frequent muse, and she now co-stars in The Balusters, a comedy about a contentious neighborhood association. He created the role of Penny with her in mind. She’s now up for a Best Featured Actress Tony Award, her first nomination and one of the production’s five nods.

“There are a few plays where I actually got stuck and I thought, ‘What happens if I put Marylouise in the play?’” Lindsay-Abaire told New York Theatre Guide. “And you know, the magic doors opened and I was able to walk in because of what she brings to my work.” Theatregoers feel exactly the same way.

Read our full interview with Lindsay-Abaire and Burke.

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Chess star Lea Michele and director Michael Mayer have developed a special working dynamic over three Broadway shows together. The five-time Tony-nominated revival is their latest collaboration.

“Our relationship has grown in both breadth and depth from the earliest days of developing Spring Awakening, her debut as leading lady on Broadway,” he said, “through her spectacular triumph in Funny Girl, to creating an iconic portrayal of Florence Vassy in our new version of Chess.”

Michele ends her run in the show, in which she stars with Aaron Tveit and Tony nominee Nicholas Christopher, in the Cold War-themed musical on June 21. “We’ve traveled together on all three of these journeys with a high degree of personal connection and creative exploration,” Mayer told New York Theatre Guide. “I have loved every minute.” Fans have, too.

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Titanique creators Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue met years ago while working together on the L.A. cabaret scene. They have the kind of long-running relationship that fosters unsinkable faith in each other.

Currently, their over-the-top musical spoof of Titanic, set to Céline Dion's hits, is docked at the St. James Theatre under Blue's direction. Mindelle and Rousouli also performed in Titanique's original Off-Broadway cast and, later, shared a downtown stage in Mindelle's The Big Gay Jamboree.

After the 2026 Tony Award nominees were announced, Mindelle reflected on the joys of the trio's creative journey. "I'm so proud of the three of us. Our friendship has lasted over the 10 years.

"This show is a byproduct of that friendship, and so to now be at the highest pinnacle — where we were just trying to make each other laugh, and now we have the most talented cast on Broadway, and everyone is so kind and wonderful — I am beyond proud, not for me as much as for them."

The Broadway production is a four-time Tony nominee, including for Best Musical, the performances of Mindelle and Layton Williams, and Blue, Mindelle, and Rousouli's book. Not to mention that the show's already enjoyed successful runs around the world. To borrow from a Dion hit, that’s what comes from “Taking Chances.”

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The Lost Boys director Michael Arden and scenic designer Dane Laffrey share a friendship and professional partnership spanning 25 years. They’ve gone from roommates at Interlochen Arts Academy to frequent Broadway collaborators to co-founders of the production company At Rise Creative. They're also a pair of multiple Tony winners, most recently in 2025 for Maybe Happy Ending.

During an interview with New York Theatre Guide, Laffrey said the challenge they set for themselves in The Lost Boys was to create something “really robust” and “unexpected and interesting.” One look at the show’s eye-popping, three-story scenic world shows they hit that mark. The new musical spectacle is up for 12 Tonys, including for Laffrey’s set and Arden’s direction and lighting.

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