Tony Awards 2023: these non-binary actors made history

Alex Newell and J Harrison Ghee became the first openly non-binary actors to win a Tony Award on Sunday. Newell won Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for their role in the 2022 musical Shucked.

“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer nonbinary fat Black lil baby from Massachusetts,” 30-year-old Newell said in their speech, adding that they were grateful to their mother “for loving me unconditionally”.

“To anyone that thinks they can’t do it, I’m going to look you dead in your face [and say] that you can do anything you put your mind to.” Ghee won Best Lead Actor in a Musical following their performance in Some Like It Hot, the adaptation of the classic cross-dressing comedy film.

“For every trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming human who was ever told you couldn’t be seen, this is for you,” 33-year-old Ghee said amid tears. Both Newell and Ghee chose to compete in the best actor categories rather than best actress. 

This year’s awards, which honor excellence in live Broadway theatre, were handed out at the United Palace in Washington Heights. Ahead of the event, there were fears that the Tonys might not be held following a strike by the Writers Guild of America that almost ruined the show. However, the members of the union concluded that they will not picket the event when its producers agreed to have an unscripted ceremony, Variety reported.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best musical
& Juliet
Kimberly Akimbo – WINNER!
New York, New York
Shucked
Some Like It Hot

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a play
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topdog/Underdog
Corey Hawkins, Topdog/Underdog
Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar – WINNER!
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
Wendell Pierce, Death of a Salesman

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Sara Bareilles, Into the Woods
Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo – WINNER!
Lorna Courtney, & Juliet
Micaela Diamond, Parade

Best play
Ain’t No Mo’ by Jordan E Cooper
Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis
Cost of Living by Martyna Majok
Fat Ham by James Ijames
Leopoldstadt by Tom Stoppard – WINNER!

Best performance by an actress in a leading role in a play
Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House
Jodie Comer, Prima Facie – WINNER!
Jessica Hecht, Summer, 1976
Audra McDonald, Ohio State Murders

Best performance by an actor in a leading role in a musical
Christian Borle, Some Like It Hot
J Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot – WINNER!
Josh Groban, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Brian d’Arcy James, Into the Woods
Ben Platt, Parade
Colton Ryan, New York, New York

Best revival of a musical
Into the Woods
Camelot
Parade – WINNER!
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best book of a musical
& Juliet – David West Read
Kimberly Akimbo – David Lindsay-Abaire – WINNER!
New York, New York – David Thompson and Sharon Washington
Shucked – Robert Horn
Some Like It Hot – Matthew López and Amber Ruffin

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical
Kevin Cahoon, Shucked
Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo
Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like It Hot
Jordan Donica, Camelot
Alex Newell, Shucked – WINNER!

Best revival of a play
The Piano Lesson
A Doll’s House
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Topdog/Underdog – WINNER!

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a play
Nikki Crawford, Fat Ham
Crystal Lucas-Perry, Ain’t No Mo’
Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window – WINNER!
Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living
Kara Young, Cost of Living

Best direction of a musical
Michael Arden, Parade – WINNER!
Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Jack O’Brien, Shucked
Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo

Best direction of a play
Saheem Ali, Fat Ham
Jo Bonney, Cost of Living
Jamie Lloyd, A Doll’s House
Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt – WINNER!
Stevie Walker-Webb, Ain’t No Mo’
Max Webster, Life of Pi

Best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical
Julia Lester, Into the Woods
Ruthie Ann Miles, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo – WINNER!
NaTasha Yvette Williams, Some Like It Hot
Betsy Wolfe, & Juliet

Best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play
Jordan E Cooper, Ain’t No Mo’
Samuel L Jackson, The Piano Lesson
Arian Moayed, A Doll’s House
Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt – WINNER!
David Zayas, Cost of Living

Best scenic design of a play
Miriam Buether, Prima Facie
Tim Hatley and Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi – WINNER!
Rachel Hauck, Good Night, Oscar
Richard Hudson, Leopoldstadt
Dane Laffrey and Lucy Mackinnon, A Christmas Carol

Best scenic design of a musical
Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York – WINNER!
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Michael Yeargan and 59 Productions, Camelot
Scott Pask, Shucked
Scott Pask, Some Like It Hot

Best orchestrations
Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet
John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo
Jason Howland, Shucked
Charlie Rosen and Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot – WINNER!
Daryl Waters and Sam Davis, New York, New York

Best costume design of a musical
Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot – WINNER!
Susan Hilferty, Parade
Jennifer Moeller, Camelot
Clint Ramos and Sophia Choi, KPOP
Paloma Young, & Juliet
Donna Zakowska, New York, New York

Best costume design of a play
Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi
Dominique Fawn Hill, Fat Ham
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt – WINNER!
Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’
Emilio Sosa, Good Night, Oscar

Best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theatre
Almost Famous – music: Tom Kitt, lyrics: Cameron Crowe and Tom Kitt
Kimberly Akimbo – music: Jeanine Tesori, lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire – WINNER!
KPOP – music and lyrics: Helen Park and Max Vernon
Shucked – music and lyrics: Shane McAnally and Brandy Clark
Some Like It Hot – music and lyrics: Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman

Best choreography
Steven Hoggett, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot – WINNER!
Susan Stroman, New York, New York
Jennifer Weber, & Juliet
Jennifer Weber, KPOP

Best lighting design of a play
Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt
Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie
Jon Clark, A Doll’s House
Bradley King, Fat Ham
Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi – WINNER!
Jen Schriever, Death of a Salesman
Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol

Best lighting design of a musical
Ken Billington, New York, New York
Lap Chi Chu, Camelot
Heather Gilbert, Parade
Howard Hudson, & Juliet
Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot
Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – WINNER!

Best sound design of a play
Jonathan Deans and Taylor Williams, Ain’t No Mo’
Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi – WINNER!
Joshua D Reid, A Christmas Carol
Ben and Max Ringham, A Doll’s House
Ben and Max Ringham, Prima Facie

Best sound design of a musical
Kai Harada, New York, New York
John Shivers, Shucked
Scott Lehrer and Alex Neumann, Into the Woods
Gareth Owen, & Juliet
Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – WINNER!