History was made Sunday night. Actors Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first openly nonbinary performers to win Tony awards.
Newell won their Tony for best-featured actor in a musical for their role as Lulu in the Broadway musical, “Shucked.” Newell’s performance and singing have been highly lauded. Especially for their rendition of “Independently Owned.”
As a review in the Guardian notes, “Lulu’s barn-storming anthem Independently Owned stopped the show; Newell, a veteran of late-stage Glee, is vocally so far beyond the rest of the cast that they drew a standing ovation.” Newell plays a self-sufficient whiskey distiller in “Shucked.”
Ghee was awarded a Tony for lead actor in a musical for their role in “Some Like It Hot.” The play is an adaptation of the 1959 comedy film.
In their acceptance speech, Ghee dedicated their award to other nonbinary and gender nonconforming people like themselves.
“For every trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn’t be, you couldn’t be seen, this is for you,” Ghee said.
Newell on the other hand highlighted the huge landmark of their award.
“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here, as a queer nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone that thinks that they can’t do it, I am going to look you dead in your face that you can do anything you put your mind to,” Newell said.
WGA Concerns
The 76th Tony Awards ceremony took place in the backdrop of an ongoing writer’s strike. Writers are an integral part of the Broadway community. However, the Broadway community consistently expressed their solidarity with the writers on strike. Award attendees wore pins on the red carpet and on stage. Some also showed support of the ongoing strike during their speeches.
Host Ariana DeBose revealed to the audience before the show kicked off that the only words that would be shown on the teleprompter, were “Please wrap up.”