Score one for the underdog last night, as “Kimberly Akimbo,” a small-scale show about a teenage girl coping with a life-shortening genetic condition and a hilariously dysfunctional family, won the Tony for best musical on Sunday night in a ceremony unlike any other.
The award ended an unusual Tony Awards that was in jeopardy due to the ongoing screenwriters’ strike. Only an intervention by a group of playwrights saved the show by saying that making the struggling theater industry suffer as a result.
The acceptance speeches by prize winners and songs performed by the casts of Broadway musicals were intact. But the introductions to the shows and performances were mostly videos, rather than descriptions by celebrities. The comments were very bare, and hosts made reference to the strike early and often.
“I’m live and unscripted,” the ceremony’s returning host, Ariana DeBose said at the start of the show, after her opening number.
The night also served as a reminder of the growing concern about antisemitism, as “Leopoldstadt,” Tom Stoppard’s drama following a family of Viennese Jews through the first half of the 20th century, won the prize for best play. A new production of “Parade,” a 1998 show based on the lynching of a Jewish businessman in Georgia during the early 20th century, won the prize for best musical revival.
The ceremony notably featured two milestone recipients: J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell became the first out nonbinary performers to win Tony Awards in acting categories, Ghee as a musician on the lam in “Some Like It Hot,” and Newell as a whiskey distiller in the musical comedy “Shucked.”
“For every trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming human, whoever was told you couldn’t be, you couldn’t be seen, this is for you,” said Ghee. Newell expressed the same, saying, “Thank you for seeing me, Broadway.”
But the night belonged to “Kimberly Akimbo,” which was the lowest-grossing and smallest of the best musical nominees, but also by far the best-reviewed. The musical was capitalized for up to $7 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission; that’s around a half of what most shows need in 2023. It’s been an incredible journey for a show that began off-Broadway.
Despite the relative success of this year’s awards, the 2022-23 season was difficult for new musicals: Broadway audiences were still down about 17 percent below prepandemic levels, and those who did buy tickets gravitated toward established shows rather than new ones. The industry’s leaders are banking on a nationally-televised spotlight on theater to boost ticket sales.
