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Meet the 2026 Tony Award winners with back-to-back victories

Three artists who took home prizes at this year's ceremony must be having deja vu, as they also won statuettes in 2025. Plus, one earned two prizes in one night.

Gillian Russo
Written byGillian Russo

Their work is no nice, they won Tony Awards twice — in a row. Three of this year's Tony Award-winning designers are celebrating once again after having won awards in 2025. Alongside them, one writer became a back-to-back winner in the span of 30 minutes by winning two prizes for the same show.

From the creatives behind this season's biggest musical blockbusters to a designer shedding new light on a classic, learn more about the back-to-back winners at the 2026 Tony Awards below.

Summary

  • Lighting designers Jack Knowles and Michael Arden and set designer Dane Laffrey are all back-to-back Tony Award winners
  • All three took home prizes in both 2025 and 2026
  • Arden won his first Tony for lighting after winning twice for directing
  • Cinco Paul also won two awards in 2026 for Schmigadoon!
1.

Jack Knowles: Death of a Salesman

2.

Michael Arden: The Lost Boys

3.

Dane Laffrey: The Lost Boys

4.

Cinco Paul: Schmigadoon!

1.

Jack Knowles: Death of a Salesman

Jack Knowles deserves a spotlight as one of two lighting designers to secure back-to-back Tony wins this year. He triumphed in 2025 with director Jamie Lloyd's slick, noir-inspired Sunset Boulevard, and he won this year for his evocative, desolate work on Arthur Miller's classic tragedy Death of a Salesman.

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Jack Knowles: Death of a Salesman

2.

Michael Arden: The Lost Boys

What can't Michael Arden do? He's a two-time Tony Award-winning director, and The Lost Boys marked his debut as a co-lighting designer (with Jen Schriever) alongside directing the production. Now, he and Schriever are Tony winners for their bloody great design of the vampire musical.

Arden has won all three of his Tonys within four years, triumphing last year for his direction of Maybe Happy Ending and in 2023 for Parade.

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Michael Arden: The Lost Boys

3.

Dane Laffrey: The Lost Boys

Dane Laffrey's multi-level, sky-high Lost Boys set would be impressive even if it didn't move. But it's got enough tricks up its sleeve to secure Laffrey his second win, a year after notching his first for Maybe Happy Ending alongside longtime collaborator Arden.

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Dane Laffrey: The Lost Boys

4.

Cinco Paul: Schmigadoon!

Cinco Paul is a different kind of back-to-back winner than the rest, as he didn't win last year. He just made his Broadway debut with the musical Schmigadoon! this April, after all.

That makes it all the more impressive that, within the span of 30 minutes, he clinched the prizes for Best Book of a Musical and Best Original Score, both adapted for the stage from his beloved Schmigadoon! TV series. What a great note to schtart a Broadway career on.

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Cinco Paul: Schmigadoon!

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