Ana Gasteyer earned her first Tony nomination for her performance as Mildred Layton, the rigid and domineering antagonist in the Broadway musical Schmigadoon!, which leads the 2026 Tony Awards with 12 nominations.
Quick Facts
- Gasteyer is nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, her first Tony nomination
- Schmigadoon! received 12 Tony nominations, tying it for the most-nominated musical of 2026
- She has worked in theater for 25 years, spanning comedy, television, and musical theater
- Her SNL co-star Rachel Dratch was also nominated this year in the same featured actress category
The veteran performer has spent decades balancing sketch comedy and musical theater, with six Broadway shows under her belt. In a recent interview, Gasteyer reflected on how her role in Schmigadoon! finally made her feel accepted by the Broadway community. “To take stock and say, ‘Oh, my God, I’ve been doing this for 25 years,’ is so validating,” she said.
Gasteyer has long felt the need to constantly reintroduce herself to the theater world after becoming widely known through Saturday Night Live. “I feel like I’ve been trying to prove to the camp that I was worth it for so long,” she explained. “It’s so cool because this role and this nomination feels very cohesive all of a sudden. It’s the best of both worlds.”
Ana Gasteyer earns first Tony nomination for Schmigadoon! role
Sarah Paulson presents at 2026 Tony Awards in New York
Overcoming Self-Doubt and Retraining Her Voice
The nomination comes after Gasteyer overcame significant obstacles in her musical theater career. She dropped out of music school early on, which left her feeling behind other performers. “I had to actually study, study, study,” she recalled. “I really was afraid, ‘I’m coming to this too late.’ It was a steep learning curve at the beginning.”
Her Broadway resume includes roles in Wicked as Elphaba, Passion as Fosca, Annie as Miss Hannigan, and Once Upon a Mattress as Queen Aggravain. For Schmigadoon!, Gasteyer intentionally avoided studying Kristin Chenoweth’s portrayal of Mildred in the original Apple TV series, preferring to develop the character independently. She describes Mildred as “this kind of morally intractable, finger-wagging” authority figure whose emotional eruption arrives in the second act. “She explodes,” Gasteyer said. “It’s an actual volcanic eruption in act two.”
Celebrating With a Fellow SNL Alum
Gasteyer’s nomination is particularly significant as she shares the featured actress category with Rachel Dratch, her former Saturday Night Live castmate. Dratch earned a nomination for playing the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show. “We were on the phone together when it happened,” Gasteyer shared. “She really wanted me to get nominated.”
Beyond the Tony nomination, Gasteyer has an Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice Performer in a Preschool Program for RoboGobo, and she’s pursuing a full EGOT. Schmigadoon! could potentially make her a Grammy winner for Best Musical Theater Album, bringing her closer to that elite status.
Sources
- Broadway.com — Detailed interview with Ana Gasteyer about her first Tony nomination, her 25-year career, overcoming self-doubt, and her role as Mildred Layton
- Playbill — Confirmation of Gasteyer’s nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Schmigadoon!’s 12 total nominations
- Variety — Reporting on Schmigadoon! and The Lost Boys leading the 2026 Tony nominations with 12 nods each
- People.com — Coverage of the 2026 Tony nominations including Ana Gasteyer’s first nomination
