Tina Fey Reveals the SNL Group Chat Has Taken Over Broadway
Tina Fey stopped by The Tonight Show and delivered what may be the most satisfying piece of Broadway news this season: three of her closest friends from their Saturday Night Live years are all on stage in New York right now, two of them with Tony nominations, and the group chat already has a shirt.
The women in question areAna Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch, and Maya Rudolph. Gasteyer earned her first Tony nomination for playing the imperious Mildred Layton in Schmigadoon!, the Apple TV-series-turned-12-time-nominated Broadway musical. Dratch is nominated in the same category, Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for her turn as the Narrator in the Roundabout Theatre Company's revival of The Rocky Horror Show. And Rudolph is making her Broadway debut in Oh, Mary! at the Lyceum Theatre, playing a gloriously chaotic Mary Todd Lincoln through July 5.
Fey broke it down for host Jimmy Fallon with characteristic sharp wit. 'Our SNL lady group chat is called the 'SNL Tang,'" she told the audience. 'It's unfortunate. Paula Pell named it.' With all three women on Broadway simultaneously, Fey said she and Amy Poehler felt the occasion demanded merchandise. The result is a T-shirt printed in deliberately cheesy font reading 'SNL Tang on Broadway,' with all three shows listed, showing the SNL women's takeover of Broadway. 'We tried to find the cheesiest font,' Fey said, holding the shirt up for the crowd.
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The Tony Awards ceremony airs June 7. Gasteyer and Dratch are both nominated in the Best Featured Actress in a Musical category, competing against each other for the first time despite decades of friendship. Fey noted that Rudolph missed the nominations cycle because Oh, Mary! was already open when the eligibility window closed. 'She can't be nominated for a Tony 'cause the show's already open,' Fey said. 'Otherwise, she would totally be nominated.'
Schmigadoon! leads this Broadway season with 12 nominations alongside The Lost Boys, making it one of the most decorated new musicals in years. Gasteyer, who spent six seasons on SNL before the show's 2002 departure, told Broadway.com the nomination was 'the one thing I didn't ever expect.' For Dratch, it is her second Tony nomination.
Fey was at 30 Rock to promote Season 2 of The Four Seasons, her Netflix series currently sitting at number one.
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 1:18 PM.