It was a night of firsts and long-overdue recognition at the 79th Tony Awards, held Sunday evening at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall.
After four nominations, Joshua Henry finally earned his first Tony Award, winning Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his powerful performance as Coalhouse Walker Jr. in Ragtime. The acclaimed revival was one of the evening’s biggest winners, also taking home Best Revival of a Musical.
After receiving a standing ovation, Henry thanked God, his wife and his two sons, offering them this advice on achieving their dreams: “It’s the practice that you do when no one is looking. And how you fall down and how you get back up again.”
The evening also delivered a historic win for Qween Jean, who received the Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the ballroom-inspired reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. As one of the most celebrated productions of the season, it has brought Black and LGBTQ+ culture to the center of Broadway’s biggest stage.
“We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people. We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm,” Qween Jean shared in her acceptance speech. “The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
Cats: The Jellicle Ball continued its winning streak, with Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons winning Best Choreography. The production added another major victory when co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch earned the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.
During their acceptance speech, they honored the Black and Brown LGBTQ+ pioneers who built ballroom culture and inspired the show. “Ballroom welcomes everyone,” Levingston proclaimed to thunderous applause.
Liberation, playwright Bess Wohl’s exploration of feminism, friendship and self-discovery in the 1970s, was another big winner. The production won Best Play, marking the first time in four decades that a play written by a woman captured Broadway’s top play prize.
During her acceptance speech, Wohl fiercely acknowledged director Whitney White, whose vision helped bring the story to life. White did not take home Best Direction of a Play, but told EBONY before the ceremony that her work was built on the shoulders of Black women past and present, like Lorraine Hansberry and Jocelyn Bioh, who wrote White’s other nominated production for direction, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
While the night’s opening number suffered a few sound glitches, watching Titanique’s Deborah Cox and Megan Thee Stallion, who did a stint in Moulin Rouge, sing Lady Marmalade, as host Pink — who has never appeared on Broadway — sizzled throughout the show, it was clear the 79th Tony Awards reflected a Broadway that is diverse, inclusive and reflective of the communities whose stories have always deserved to be center stage.