'Leopoldstadt,' 'Kimberly Akimbo' big winners at Tonys

Tom Stoppard's "Leopoldstadt," exploring Jewish identity with an intergenerational story, won the Tony Award for best play and "Kimberly Akimbo," about a teen afflicted with a disorder that speeds up her aging process, took the award for best musical at Sunday's 76th annual ceremony honoring Broadway's best.

It was also a history-making night when Alex Newell of "Shucked" and J. Harrison Ghee of "Some Like It Hot" became the first openly nonbinary performers to win acting Tonys.

“Thank you for seeing me, Broadway. I should not be up here as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone that thinks that they can't do it, I’m going to look you dead in your face and tell you that you can do anything you put your mind to,” Newell said to an ovation upon winning best featured actor in a musical.

They star as Lulu, an independent, don’t-need-no-man whiskey distiller in “Shucked,” blowing audiences away with their signature number, “Independently Owned.”

Ghee likewise offered inspiring words upon accepting their award for best actor in a musical. “For every trans, nonbinary, nonconforming human who was ever told you couldn't be you — you couldn't be seen — this is for you,” Ghee said.

A total of 26 Tony Awards were handed out Sunday for a season that had 40 new productions — 15 musicals, 24 plays and one special engagement during the first post-pandemic full season.

Other winners included Victoria Clark for best actress in a musical for "Kimberly Akimbo" and Sean Hayes for his portrayal of acerbic pianist Oscar Levant in "Good Night, Oscar." "I think this is the first time an Oscar won a Tony," joked Hayes in his acceptance speech.

Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog,” a Pulitzer Prize-winning play about sibling rivalry, inequality and society’s false promises, won the Tony for best play revival. She thanked director Kenny Leon and stars Corey Hawkins and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: "They showed up to be large in a world that often does not much want the likes of us living at all."

Bonnie Milligan took home the best featured actress in a musical award for “Kimberly Akimbo.” Brandon Uranowitz took the featured actor in a play Tony for "Leopoldstadt" and Miriam Silverman was the featured actress in a play victor for "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window."

Many of the technical awards — for things like costumes, sound, lighting and scenic design — were handed out at a breakneck pace on a Pluto TV preshow hosted by Skylar Astin and Julianne Hough, allowing winners plenty of airtime for acceptance speeches but little humor.

The preshow featured some awkwardly composed shots and some presenters slipped up on certain words. The tempo was so rapid, the Pluto telecast ended more than 10 minutes before the CBS broadcast was slated to start.

John Kander, the 96-year-old composer behind such landmark shows as “Chicago,” “Cabaret” and “The Scottsboro Boys,” was honored with a special lifetime award during it.

“This is a very big deal," he said. “When your own community honors you, it’s very humbling and a little bit scary.”

He thanked his parents; his husband, Albert Stephenson; and music, which “has stayed my friend through my entire life and has promised to stick with me until the end.”

Jennifer Grey handed her father, “Cabaret” star Joel Grey, the other lifetime achievement Tony.

“Being recognized by the theater community is such a gift because it’s always been, next to my children, my greatest, most enduring love,” the actor said.