Kimberly Akimbo, Leopoldstadt and Some Like it Hot were the big winners at the 2023 Tonys, which also featured the show’s traditional showstopping numbers and some very historical wins for first-time nominees J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell, the first non-binary performers to win acting prizes.
Kimberly Akimbo, the story of a teenage girl suffering from a condition that causes her to age rapidly, was named Best Musical among its five prizes, the most of any show, including a lead win for Victoria Clark and a featured for Bonnie Milligan. Leopoldstadt won Best Play and Featured Actor in a Play for Brandon Uranowitz among its four awards. Some Like it Hot also won four awards, Life of Pi earned three and the revivals of Parade and Sweeney Todd won two apiece.
It was a night of 1000 stars and no writers at the 76th Tony Awards last night, as the American Theater Wing’s celebration of the best on Broadway became the season’s first fully-fledged awards show to go on in the midst of the Writer’s Guild strike.
Without the benefit of a written opening number, host Ariana DeBose cleverly began the show with the ‘Tony Awards script’ in front of her, opening the book to a series of blank pages, further underscoring the show’s support. That turned into a whirlwind of choreography from the lobby of the United Palace in Washington Heights into the theater itself.
After a period of of ‘will they or won’t they cancel the show,’ Tony producers committed not to include material written specifically for the awards show and the Writers Guild of America agreed not to picket the ceremony. The WGA then made a follow-up request, asking Tony-nominated guild members not to attend the show in strike solidarity, and to pre-tape acceptance speeches or have a non-member accept on their behalf. After conferring with the Dramatists Guild, many of those union members opted to attend the Tonys anyway and to use the opportunity to vocally support their writers and for writers in the WGA. Several, including lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire (winner for Kimberly Akimbo) and playwright Tom Stoppard (Leopoldstadt) jumping at the chance to laud them. Stoppard went further, attacking the idea of AI taking over writing jobs, saying, “I’m teeming with emotions that ChatBots wouldn’t begin to understand.”
Tom Stoppard is the most awarded playwright in Tony Awards history, bringing his total wins in the category to five, from eight nominations. His first was in 1968 for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.
Rhonda LaChanze Sapp, known professionally as LaChanze, scored a major coup, winning both Best Musical (Kimberly Akimbo) and Best Revival of a Play (Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog) as a producer in the same night. She also has a 2006 Lead Actress in a Musical Tony Award for the original production of The Color Purple. LaChanze joins Debra Martin Chase (a winner this season for Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog) as the only two Black women to win Tonys for a combination of two different productions of plays, musicals and/or revivals in history.
Like many awards shows, the Tonys are famous for winners making grand pleas for social and political change and this year was no different as the U.S. is in a tumultuous era of anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation. Beowulf Boritt, winners for set design of a musical for his work “New York, New York,” made a plea for abortion rights and for gender parity in the theater industry; winning director Michael Arden (Parade) spoke up for queer and trans rights, exclaiming, “We must battle this, or else we are doomed to repeat the horrors of our history,” remarking his own life being called ‘the f-word’ more times than he can remember and then saying to his bullies, “Now I’m a faggot with a Tony!” to raucous applause. Actress Denée Benton went hard in her introduction of the Excellence in Theatre Education Award on Ron DeSantis, governor of her home state Florida, saying, “Earlier tonight, CMU and the Tony Awards presented the 2023 Excellence in Theatre Education Award. And while I am certain that the current Grand Wizard… I’m sorry, excuse me, governor of my home state of Florida will be changing…. I am sure that he will changing the name of this following town immediately. We were honored to present this award to the truly incredible and life-changing Jason Zembuch Young, enhancing the lives at students at South Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida.”
Former Glee alum Alex Newell joined his co-stars from the hit Fox show and the reality show, The Glee Project, that spawned their success, Jenna Ushkowitz and Ali Stroker, as fellow Tony winners. Newell’s Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical win, for their lauded performance in Shucked, marked the first win by an openly non-binary performer in Tony history.
“Thank you for seeing me Broadway,” Newell said. “I should not be up here as a queer, non-binary, fat, Black, little baby from Massachusetts.”
But Newell was quickly followed with the second non-binary performing winner when J. Harrison Ghee won Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for their star turn in Some Like it Hot, who nervously and anxiously tapping their Tony echoed Newell’s thoughts, saying, “For every trans, nonbinary, gender non-conforming human — whoever was told they couldn’t be seen, this is for you.”
All season has been set up as a fight between Jodie Comer in Prima Facie and Jessica Chastain in A Doll’s House for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play and after winning every possible theater pre-cursor for her one-woman show for her performance about sexual assault and the justice system, Comer triumphed in her first major stage production ever. Comer had won the Laurence Olivier Award when the play was staged in London as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award. Comer adds a Tony to her BAFTA TV and Emmy Award wins for Killing Eve, giving her two notches in her EGOT belt.
Also halfway to EGOT, Sean Hayes won the Tony for Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Good Night, Oscar. Hayes previously won an Emmy Award for his work on the NBC hit series Will & Grace in 2000 then another in 2011 as the host of the 64th Tony Awards.
Legendary artists Joel Grey, Tony and Oscar winner for Cabaret, and John Kander, who with Fred Ebb created Cabaret and Chicago, each received the 2023 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Grey, who was presented his award by his daughter actress Jennifer Grey, closed his speech with the final lines from the iconic Tony and Oscar-winning musical that put them both on the map; “Auf wiedersehen! A bientot! Good night.”
Here is the complete list of winners of the 76th Tony Awards.
Best Play: Leopoldstadt
Best Musical: Kimberly Akimbo
Best Revival of a Play: Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog
Best Revival of a Musical: Parade
Best Book of a Musical: Kimberly Akimbo
David Lindsay-Abaire
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: Kimberly Akimbo
Music: Jeanine Tesori Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Jodie Comer, Prima Facie
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Alex Newell, Shucked
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
Best Scenic Design of a Play: Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York
Best Costume Design of a Play: Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt
Best Costume Design of a Musical: Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Sound Design of a Play: Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi
Best Sound Design of a Musical: Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Best Direction of a Play: Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt
Best Direction of a Musical: Michael Arden, Parade
Best Choreography: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Best Orchestrations: Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot
Photos: Theo Wargo/Getty Images and Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions
There is something endearing about how the Planet of the Apes franchise has continued to… Read More
Most actors count themselves lucky to land a leading role. In the case of Dandelion,… Read More
Films that rely on jump scares are a controversial topic amongst horror fans. Some prefer… Read More
French actress, director, screenwriter and producer Judith Godrèche's new short film Moi aussi, which highlights… Read More
The ERA Coalition Forward announced today both the Hollywood premiere of the award-winning documentary Still… Read More
Regarding ideal Mother’s Day viewings, you'll probably see titles like Lady Bird and Steel Magnolias… Read More
This website uses cookies.