Lea Michele Takes Home Three Awards at Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards

Lea Michele swept the audience-voted categories at the 2026 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards, held Thursday in New York City, even as Tony voters looked elsewhere.

The performer captured three honors for her turn in Chess: Favorite Leading Actress in a Musical, Favorite Diva Performance, and Favorite Performance of the Year (Musical). The revival itself also earned recognition, taking home the Favorite Musical Revival prize—a category where it faced snubbing at the Tony Awards.

Michele's tenure in Chess concludes on June 21. Initially, producers had planned to continue the production with JoJo stepping into the Florence Vassy role following Michele's departure. However, box office performance ultimately determined a different outcome. The show will now shutter entirely when Michele takes her final bow, with recent weekly sales data revealing significant drops whenever she was absent from performances—a clear indication of her drawing power with audiences.

Chess claimed four awards total at the ceremony, tying it with Death of a Salesman and Hadestown for the evening's most decorated productions. Daniel Radcliffe earned two wins for his work in Every Brilliant Thing, while Sam Tutty collected dual honors for Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York).

Other standout winners included Joshua Henry for Favorite Leading Actor in a Musical in Ragtime, Ayo Edibiri for Favorite Leading Actress in a Play in Proof, and Luke Evans and Juliette Lewis for Favorite Breakthrough Performances in The Rocky Horror Show. Hadestown secured the Favorite Long-Running Show and Favorite Tour categories, while The Lost Boys took home Favorite New Musical honors.