Tony Awards 2023 WINNERS: Brandon Uranowitz wins first prize

Tony Awards 2023 WINNERS: Brandon Uranowitz and Bonnie Milligan open with wins for featured roles in Leopoldstadt and Kimberly Akimbo…. as the show goes on without a script amid WGA strike

  • Uranowitz won Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
  • Milligan scored Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
  • Host Ariana DeBose said that she and presenters are working without scripts 

Brandon Uranowitz and Bonnie Milligan were the first big winners as the theater world gathered together again on Sunday evening for the Tony Awards, an annual celebration of all things Broadway.

Uranowitz joked that his ‘imposter syndrome is on fire’ as he made an emotional speech to accept the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play, while Milligan won for Kimberly Akimbo in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical category.

This year’s ceremony is the latest production to be impacted by the ongoing Writers Guild of America Strike, as film and television writers fight against major studios and streamers for better pay and residuals, along with assurances that they won’t be phased out in favor of AI-created scripts. It marks the first time in 35 years that the Tonys were afflicted by the WGA strike.

Despite the challenges, the show will still go on.

The ceremony airs on CBS in an unscripted format, and the union has agreed not to picket the event after negotiations. Broadway icon Lin-Manuel Miranda has also dropped out as writer of the opening segment in solidarity with the WGA.


Winners! Brandon Uranowitz and Bonnie Milligan were the first big winners as the theater world gathered together again on Sunday evening for the Tony Awards, an annual celebration of all things Broadway

West Side Story actress — and Academy Award winner — Ariana DeBose hosted this year’s event from the United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights. 

She opened the show in a backstage dressing room as a saxophonist played Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington’s Take The ‘A’ Train as dancers flooded the theater.

Nominee Samuel L. Jackson even made an appearance when she invited him to stand up from his seat in the audience, though he lost out on the first award of the evening.

DeBose also referenced opening a script with blank pages in the dance and noted that it was in solidarity with members of the WGA, before explaining how the Tony’s and the Writers Guild found a compromise. 

In his impassioned speech, Uranowitz spoke out about antisemitism and the ‘false promise of assimilation,’ both of which are explored in his play Leopoldstadt. He also addressed his parents in a teary moment.

‘The only thing I’ve wanted in this life is to be able to repay you for the sacrifices you’ve made for me,’ he said, addressing them in the audience.

Milligan said that she had her late father’s voice, and she brought him with her everywhere. 

The acclaimed playwright Suzan-Lori Parks was honored with the award for best revival for her play Topdog/Underdog, which premiered off-Broadway in 2001.

The next award was for Best Direction of a Play. Patrick Marber won for directing Tom Stoppard’s play Leopoldstadt, and he joked about how the non-actors didn’t get the same excitement from the show.

Master of ceremonies: West Side Story actress — and Academy Award winner — Ariana DeBose hosted this year’s event from the United Palace Theatre in Washington Heights. She said the show featured no script in solidarity with the WGA strike

Something’s different: Patrick Marber won for directing Tom Stoppard’s play Leopoldstadt, and he joked about how the non-actors didn’t get the same excitement from the show

Proud: Michael Arden won Best Direction of a Musical for Parade. He spoke out in support of transgender youths and queer performers. ‘Growing up, I was called the F-word more times than I can remember, and now all I can say is that I’m a f***** with a Tony,’ he said to boisterous applause

Supporting part: Miriam Silverman was awarded Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window, written by Lorraine Hansberry

Michael Arden won Best Direction of a Musical for Parade. He spoke out in support of transgender youths and queer performers.

‘Everyone in this room needs you and will fight alongside you, and we’ll win,’ he said defiantly before reclaiming an anti-gay slur.

‘Growing up, I was called the F-word more times than I can remember, and now all I can say is that I’m a f***** with a Tony,’ he said, which brought the crowd to its feet in applause and cheers.

Miriam Silverman was awarded Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window, written by Lorraine Hansberry.

She emphasized her support for the WGA strike and remembered her late father, noting that he was ‘the one who told me that day in the ICU that I should stick with this play, no matter what, even if I wanted to quit, knowing how much it meant to me.’

Viewers will still be entertained with plenty of performances from a variety of Tony-nominated musicals on stage.

Audience members will be serenaded by the casts of Into the Woods; New York, New York; Shucked; Beautiful Noise; Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street; and more.

It will also feature performances from the cast of the Lea Michele–led musical Funny Girl.  

As far as nominations, Some Like It Hot, the musical adaptation of the classic Marilyn Monroe–starring comedy, is up for the most Tonys with a whooping 13 nominations.

It will be battling it out for Best Musical against & Juliet; Kimberly Akimbo; New York, New York; and Shucked.


Stunner: Jessica Chastain was among the A-list nominees for Best Leading Actress of a Play for A Doll’s House. Josh Groban was nominated for Leading Actor in a Musical for the title role in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Nominations for Best Play include Ain’t No Mo’, Between Riverside and Crazy, Cost of Living, Fat Ham and Leopoldstadt.

In a statement, Jack Sussman, executive vice president of specials, music, live events and alternative programming at CBS, said of the show: ‘CBS has been home to the Tony Awards for more than 40 years.

‘We are proud to once again celebrate the best of theater this season, and continue our support for Broadway, the broader theater community and all the incredible artistic talents both on stage and behind the scenes who bring the shows to life.’

‘This year’s Tony Award nominees are a reflection of a tremendous year of Broadway,’ Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League and Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, said in a statement. 

‘The show will feature performances by Broadway’s brightest lights — from breakthrough performers to industry icons — in recognition of the momentous productions wowing audiences worldwide.’ 

The Tony Awards marks the latest product impacted by the ongoing picket lines. 

Drew Barrymore dropped out of hosting the MTV Movie & Television Awards last month in solidarity with the writers, and the event moved forward in a significantly stripped-down, pre-recorded fashion. 

Film and television writers are on strike over complaints that studios have underpaid them for years, particularly when it comes to streaming programs that offer almost no residuals over time. They are also fighting back against studios’ attempts to shrink writers’s rooms, to shorten the number of episodes of television seasons and to leave open the possibility of replacing human writers with so-called ‘AI’ programs.

TONY AWARD NOMINATIONS 2023

Best Musical

& Juliet

Kimberly Akimbo

New York, New York

Shucked

Some Like It Hot

 

Some Like It Hot

Best Play

Ain’t No Mo’

Between Riverside and Crazy

Cost of Living

Fat Ham

Leopoldstadt

 

Best Musical Revival

Bob Fosse’s Dancin’

Camelot

Into The Woods

Parade

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

 

Best Revival of a Play

 A Doll’s House

The Piano Lesson

The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog — WINNER

 

Best Leading Actress of a Musical

Annaleigh Ashford — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Sara Bareilles — Into The Woods

Victoria Clark — Kimberly Akimbo

Lorna Courtney — & Juliet

Micaela Diamond — Parade

 

Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House

Best Leading Actress of a Play

Jessica Chastain — A Doll’s House

Jodie Comer — Prima Facie

Jessica Hecht — Summer, 1976

Audra McDonald — Ohio State Murders

 

Best Leading Actor of a Musical

Christian Borle — Some Like It Hot

J. Harrison Ghee — Some Like It Hot

Josh Groban — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Brian D’Arcy James — Into The Woods

Ben Platt at the Met Gala 2023

Ben Platt — Parade

Colton Ryan — New York, New York

 

Best Leading Actor of a Play

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II — Topdog/Underdog

Corey Hawkins — Topdog/Underdog

Sean Hayes — Good Night, Oscar

Stephen McKinley Henderson — Between Riverside and Crazy

Wendell Pierce — Death of a Salesman

 Best Book of a Musical

 & Juliet — David West Read

Kimberly Akimbo — David Lindsay-Abaire

New York, New York — David Thompson & Sharon Washington

Shucked — Robert Horn

Some Like It Hot — Matthew López & Amber Ruffin 

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Jordan E. Cooper — Ain’t No Mo’

Samuel L. Jackson — August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson

Arian Moayed — A Doll’s House

Brandon Uranowitz — Leopoldstadt — WINNER

David Zayas — Cost Of Living 

 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical 

Kevin Del Aguila — Some Like It Hot

 Kevin Cahoon — Shucked

Justin Cooley — Kimberly Akimbo

Jordan Donica — Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

Alex Newell — Shucked 

 

Best Scenic Design of a Play 

Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding — Life Of Pi — WINNERS

Miriam Buether — Prima Facie

Rachel Hauck — Good Night, Oscar

Richard Hudson — Leopoldstadt

Dane Laffrey & Lucy Mackinnon — A Christmas Carol 

 

Best Costume Design of a Play

Brigitte Reiffenstuel — Leopoldstadt — WINNER

Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell — Life Of Pi

Dominique Fawn Hill — Fat Ham

Emilio Sosa — Ain’t No Mo’

Emilio Sosa — Good Night, Oscar

 

Best Lighting Design of a Play 

Neil Austin — Leopoldstadt

Natasha Chivers — Prima Facie

Jon Clark — Jon Clark

Bradley King — Fat Ham

Tim Lutkin — Life Of Pi — WINNER

Jen Schriever — Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman

Ben Stanton — A Christmas Carol 

 

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 Sound Design of a Play

Carolyn Downing — Life Of Pi — WINNER

Joshua D. Reid — A Christmas Carol

Ben & Max Ringham — A Doll’s House

Ben & Max Ringham — Prima Facie

Jonathan Deans & Taylor Williams — Ain’t No Mo’ 

 

Best Choreography

Casey Nicholaw — Some Like It Hot — WINNER

Steven Hoggett — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Susan Stroman — New York, New York

Jennifer Weber — & Juliet

Jennifer Weber — KPOP 

Best Original Score (music and/or lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Kimberly Akimbo — David Lindsay-Abaire/Jeanine Tesori — WINNER

Almost Famous — Tom Kitt/Cameron Crowe & Tom Kitt

KPOP — Helen Park & Max Vernon

Shucked — Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally

Some Like It Hot — Marc Shaiman/Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

 

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 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 Scenic Design of a Musical 

Beowulf Boritt — New York, New York — WINNER

Mimi Lien — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street

Scott Pask — Shucked

Scott Pask — Some Like It Hot

Michael Yeargan & 59 Productions — Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

 

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes — Some Like It Hot — WINNER

Clint Ramos & Sophia Choi — KPOP

Susan Hilferty — Parade

Jennifer Moeller — Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

Paloma Young — & Juliet 

 

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington — New York, New York

Lap Chi Chu — Lerner & Loewe’s 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 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 Sound Design of a Musical

Kai Harada — New York, New York

Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann — Into The Woods 

Gareth Owen — & Juliet

John Shivers — Shucked

Nevin Steinberg — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street — WINNER

 

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