NEW YORK: Alex Newell, who has electrified audiences with a saucy turn in ‘Shucked’, won the Tony Award for best featured actor in a musical on Sunday, becoming the first openly nonbinary performer to capture the award.
Newell, 30, a mighty vocalist who commands the stage as the liquor-making Lulu in ‘Shucked’, has drawn seemingly endless ovations with their astonishing singing of in the first act.
“I have wanted this my entire life,” a tearful Newell said in their acceptance speech. “And I thank each and everyone of you.”
“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,” Newell said
Tony Awards history was made Sunday when Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee became the first nonbinary people to win Tonys for acting, according to German news agency (dpa).
“Thank you for the humanity. Thank you for my incredible company who raised me up every single day,” said leading actor in a musical winner Ghee, who stars in “Some Like It Hot”, the adaptation of the classic cross-dressing comedy film.
The soulful Ghee stunned audiences with their voice and dance skills, playing a Chicago musician, on the run from gangsters, who tries on a dress and is transformed.
Ghee, also nonbinary, was nominated for the Tony for best leading actor in a musical.
The made their Broadway debut in a 2017 revival of “Once on This Island”.
‘Shucked’, a pun-packed new musical about corn and small-town community, nabbed nine Tony nominations. – BERNAMA-dpa
