2023 Tony Awards: ‘Kimberly Akimbo,’ ‘Leopoldstadt,’ ‘Topdog/Underdog,’ ‘Parade’ Win Top Prizes

“Kimberly Akimbo,” the off-beat story of a teenage girl suffering from a condition that causes her to age rapidly, was named best musical at a freewheeling, totally unscripted and politically charged Tony Awards on Sunday. The show won five prizes in all, the most of any production.

“Leopoldstadt,” a multi-generational saga that follows a tight-knit Jewish community through a bloody period of European history, won four prizes, including the statue for best play.  It is the fifth show by Tom Stoppard to receive the best play award, a record for playwrights.

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Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog,” a drama about two African-American brothers living on the economic margins, took home best play revival, while “Parade,” the story of Jewish American Leo Frank’s imprisonment and lynching, was named best musical revival. This spring, “Parade” made national news after members of a neo-Nazi group protested outside the theater on its opening night.

The victories of “Parade” and “Leopoldstadt,” both of which provide searing dramatizations of the brutal consequences of anti-Jewish bigotry, comes amidst a wave of antisemitic incidents in America. In fact, many of the shows that the Tonys recognized seemed to reflect and comment on the social divisions roiling the world. And many of the winners used their time at the microphone to emphasize the theater’s ability to shine a light on marginalized communities and to create empathy at a moment when it is often lacking. “Theater is the great cure,” Parks said while accepting best play revival.

This year’s awards, which honor the best of Broadway, were handed out at the United Palace in Washington Heights, dozens of blocks and several subway stops away from the “Main Stem.” In the weeks leading up to the event, there were several points in which it looked like the Tonys might not take place at all after a strike by the Writers Guild of America imperiled the broadcast. However, the union’s members decided not to picket the show when its producers agreed to have an unscripted ceremony, a concession that led to a looser, teleprompter-less, often ad-libbed evening. And the labor issues upending the entertainment business seeped into the three-hour show in other ways, with several Tony recipients using their speeches to voice their solidarity with the striking writers. “Writers are the sharp end of the pyramid,” Stoppard said, adding,”Without a script we’re all basically flummoxed.”

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Ariana DeBose, the Oscar-winning star of “West Side Story,” returned as emcee for the second year in a row. She kicked the off the evening by opening a script with blank pages before launching into a series of songs such as “On Broadway”and “New York State of Mind” that were all blended into one energetically choreographed number. “I’m live and unscripted,” DeBose said of the unorthodox show. “You’re welcome. To anyone who may have thought that last year was a bit unhinged, to them I say, ‘darlings, buckle up.’”

And, indeed, there were moments where the lack of writing was clearer, such as when DeBose couldn’t read the notes she scrawled on her arm and urged the audience to “welcome whoever walks out on this stage.”

The show unfolded as Broadway, which was shuttered for more than a year during COVID, is still struggling to return to its pre-pandemic form. Ticket sales for the 2022 to 2023 season were just under $1.6 billion, a jump from the $845 million Broadway generated in the previous season, but substantially down from the $1.8 billion it grossed in its last pre-COVID season. In a signs of the punishing climate, several new shows such as “Some Like It Hot” and “Shucked” struggled to draw crowds until they received awards attention. The hope is that the national broadcast, which was heavy on musical numbers from nominated shows, will goose ticket sales.

It was an evening of historic firsts, with “Some Like It Hot’s” J. Harrison Ghee and “Shucked’s” Alex Newell becoming the first nonbinary performers to win Tonys, with their victories in the best actor in a musical and best supporting actor in a musical categories.

“Thank you for seeing me Broadway,” Newell said. “I should not be up here as a queer, non-binary, fat, Black, little baby from Massachusetts.”

Fighting back tears, Ghee echoed that message in their speech, saying, “For every trans, nonbinary, gender non-conforming human — whoever was told they couldn’t be seen, this is for you.”

Jodie Comer was named lead actress in a play for “Prima Facie,’ a one-woman show about sexual assault and the justice system. She previously won a Laurence Olivier Award when the play was staged in London. Victoria Clarke earned lead actress in a musical playing the title role in “Kimberly Akimbo,” and Sean Hayes received the lead actor in a play prize for his shape-shifting turn as composer and pianist  Oscar Levant in “Good Night, Oscar.”

Patrick Marber received the prize for best direction of a play for orchestrating the sweeping drama of “Leopoldstadt,” while Michael Arden was earned the statue for best direction of a musical for reviving “Parade’s” story of cruelty and prejudice. Arden said the musical’s story remains sadly relevant, urging the audience to stand up against antisemitism, transphobia and racism.

“We must battle this, or else we are doomed to repeat the horrors of our history,” Arden said. He went on to say, “I was called the f-word more times than I can remember. Now I’m a faggot with a Tony.” That last part, however, was bleeped out for TV watchers by censors, making it largely inaudible.

At other points, those political messages were delivered with sharper edges. Presenter Denée Benton, for example, blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis as the “Grand Wizard” of Florida, an allusion to the leadership of the Ku Klux Klan.

Among supporting performers, best featured actor in a play went to Brandon Uranowitz (“Leopoldstadt”), while Bonnie Milligan (“Kimberly Akimbo”) was named best featured actress in a musical, and Miriam Silverman (“The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window”) earned best supporting actress in a play.

The Tony winners are decided by 769 theater industry professionals, a group that includes everyone from producers and actors to designers and directors.

Joel Grey, the star of “Cabaret” and “Wicked,” and John Kander, who with Fred Ebb created “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” each received the 2023 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. Grey closed his speech with the final lines from the musical that made both recipients theater legends. “Auf wiedersehen! A bientot! Good night.” In “Cabaret,” which is set in 1930s Berlin, those words read as a cautionary sign of the horrors to come. This time, they seemed celebratory, even valedictory.

Here’s the complete list of Tony nominees and winners. Plus check out the fashion at the Tony Awards red carpet gallery.

Best Play

Ain’t No Mo’

Between Riverside and Crazy

Cost of Living

Fat Ham

WINNER: Leopoldstadt

Best Musical

& Juliet

WINNER: Kimberly Akimbo

New York, New York

Shucked

Some Like It Hot

Best Revival of a Play

August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson

A Doll’s House

The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window

WINNER: Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

Best Revival of a Musical

Into the Woods

Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

WINNER: Parade

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Book of a Musical

& JulietDavid West Read

WINNER: Kimberly AkimboDavid Lindsay-Abaire

New York, New YorkDavid Thompson & Sharon Washington

ShuckedRobert Horn

Some Like It HotMatthew López & Amber Ruffin

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

Almost FamousMusic: Tom KittLyrics: Cameron Crowe & Tom Kitt

WINNER: Kimberly AkimboMusic: Jeanine Tesori Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire

KPOPMusic & Lyrics: Helen Park & Max Vernon

ShuckedMusic and Lyrics: Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally

Some Like It HotMusic: Marc ShaimanLyrics: Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman

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

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

Corey Hawkins, Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog

WINNER: Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar

Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy

Wendell Pierce, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House

WINNER: Jodie Comer, Prima Facie

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

WINNER: 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, Parade

Colton Ryan, New York, New York

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

WINNER: Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo

Lorna Courtney, & Juliet

Micaela Diamond, Parade

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

WINNER: Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt

David Zayas, Cost of Living

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

Nikki Crawford, Fat Ham

Crystal Lucas-Perry, Ain’t No Mo’

WINNER: Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window

Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living

Kara Young, Cost of Living

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, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

WINNER: Alex Newell, Shucked

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

WINNER: Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo

NaTasha Yvette Williams, Some Like It Hot

Betsy Wolfe, & Juliet

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Miriam Buether, Prima Facie

WINNER: Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi

Rachel Hauck, Good Night, Oscar

Richard Hudson, Leopoldstadt

Dane Laffrey & Lucy Mackinnon, A Christmas Carol

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

WINNER: Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York

Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

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

Scott Pask, Shucked

Scott Pask, Some Like It Hot

Best Costume Design of a Play

Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi

Dominique Fawn Hill, Fat Ham

WINNER: Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt

Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’

Emilio Sosa, Good Night, Oscar

Best Costume Design of a Musical

WINNER: Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot

Susan Hilferty, Parade

Jennifer Moeller, Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot

Clint Ramos & Sophia Choi, KPOP

Paloma Young, & Juliet

Donna Zakowska, New York, New York

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt

Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie

Jon Clark, A Doll’s House 

Bradley King, Fat Ham

WINNER: Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi

Jen Schriever, Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman

Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol

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

WINNER: Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Sound Design of a Play

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

WINNER: Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi

Joshua D. Reid, A Christmas Carol

Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll’s House

Ben & Max Ringham, Prima Facie

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Kai Harada, New York, New York

John Shivers, Shucked

Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann, Into the Woods

Gareth Owen, & Juliet

WINNER: Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Best Direction of a Play

Saheem Ali, Fat Ham

Jo Bonney, Cost of Living

Jamie Lloyd, A Doll’s House

WINNER: Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt

Stevie Walker-Webb, Ain’t No Mo’ Max Webster, Life of Pi

Best Direction of a Musical

WINNER: Michael Arden, Parade

Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods

Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot

Jack O’Brien, Shucked

Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo

Best Choreography

Steven Hoggett, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

WINNER: Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot

Susan Stroman, New York, New York

Jennifer Weber, & Juliet

Jennifer Weber, KPOP

Best Orchestrations

Bill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet

John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo

Jason Howland, Shucked

WINNER: Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot

Daryl Waters & Sam Davis, New York, New York

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