Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee deliver heartfelt speeches at the TonyAwards upon making history
. This season, they earned their first-ever Tony Award nomination for their turn as Lulu, a female whiskey distiller living in a small, corn-filled town, whose standout musical number includes “Independently Owned”., which features music and lyrics by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally and a book by Robert Horn, tells the story of a young girl who leaves her secluded town in search of someone who can help them save all their corn from dying.
Newell, who attended the Met Gala the night before the 2023 Tony Award nominees were announced, took to Instagram to share their excitement for the recognition. “I’m unwell!” the performer quipped at the time.“My mother raised me to understand that my gifts that god gave me were not about me. To use them to be effective in the world, to help somebody else’s journey,” Ghee said during the 76th annual awards show.
“So thank you for teaching me how to live, how to love, how to give. For every trans, non-binary, gender nonconforming human who ever was told you couldn’t be, you couldn’t be seen, this is for you.” Ghee’s win is for their acclaimed turn as a bass player named Jerry, who is forced to go on the run and hide in plain sight as a member of an all-female band before discovering their true identity as Daphne in the musical adaptation ofFeaturing a book written by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman, and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw,is based on the 1959 film originally starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Marilyn...
In addition to Ghee, the production stars fellow nominee Christian Borle as Joe while Adrianna Hicks takes over Monroe’s role as Sugar. The rest of the cast includes additional acting nominees, Kevin Del Aguila as Osgood and NaTasha Yvette Williams as Sweet Sue.