Key Points
- Alex Newell won the Tony for best featured actor in a musical for their performance in Shucked.
- J. Harrison Ghee, who stars in Some Like it Hot, was awarded the Tony for leading actor in a musical.
- The event, held amid the Hollywood writers' strike, leaned heavily on musical performances.
Tony Awards history was made Sunday by J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell, who became the first non-binary people to win Tony Awards for acting, in a ceremony held amid the Hollywood writer's strike.
Newell, who plays Lulu - an independent, don't-need-no-man whiskey distiller in Shucked - has been blowing audiences away with their signature number, Independently Owned. They won for best featured actor in a musical.
"Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer, non-binary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts," Newell said to an ovation.
"And to anyone that thinks that they can't do it, I'm going to look you dead in your face that you can do anything you put your mind to."
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J. Harrison Ghee, who stars in Some Like It Hot, the adaptation of the classic cross-dressing comedy film, was awarded the Tony for leading actor in a musical. They played a musician - on the run from gangsters - who tries on a dress and is transformed.
"When I saw the script, I saw an opportunity to be an inspiration, to be that representation, to be someone who could be a part of people’s lives where they could see themselves and grow and learn and live and expand, and it’s not something I take lightly. It's something that I cherish and it’s a dream come true, truly," Ghee said.
"Thank you for the humanity. Thank you for my incredible company who raised me up every single day," they said.
Last year, composer and writer Toby Marlow of Six became the first non-binary Tony winner.
J. Harrison Ghee accepted the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical for "Some Like It Hot". Source: AP / Charles Sykes
Leopoldstadt wins Best Play in writer-less award night
Kimberly Akimbo, about a teenager who ages in reverse, won best musical, and Tom Stoppard's autobiographical Leopoldstadt received the best new play award, in a night that went on despite .
The event was hosted by Tony and Academy Award-winner Ariana DeBose. Held for the first time at the United Palace in Washington Heights in northern Manhattan, it leaned heavily on musical performances from the nominated shows.
Patrick Marber, who won best director of a play for Leopoldstadt, was among several winners who used their acceptance speeches to express support for the strike.
Marber added the evening was going well without writers because "actors are great improvisers and yeah, it’s fun. I wouldn’t like it to become a trend, but I’m not surprised."
