History maker! 5 things you should know about Tony Award winner J. Harrison Ghee

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UPDATE: 6/11/23 — J. Harrison Ghee became the second ever non-binary actor to win a Tony Award, winning Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical right after Alex Newell won Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. “

“My mother raised me to understand that my gifts God gave me were not about me, [but] to use them to be effective in the world, to help someone else’s journey. So thank you for teaching me how to live, how to love, how to give,” the artist said during their acceptance speech. “For every trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming human being who has ever been told not to be seen – this is for you.”

Original Story: History in the making! J.Harrison Ghee received their first Tony Award nomination in May 2023, the first time a non-binary actor has earned such an honor.

The American Theater Wing, which hosts the annual Tony Awards ceremony, announced in May 2023 that Ghee was eligible for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical award for their role of Jerry/Daphne in Some love it when it’s hot. The North Carolina native – who uses the pronouns he/she – competes with costar Christian Borell, Jose Groban, Brian D’Arcy James, Ben Platt And Colton Ryan. The ceremony will be broadcast live on June 11, 2023 on CBS.

“It’s such an honor. I just live on in the fourfold way of life. I show up, tell my truth in the present and I’m not attached to the outcome,” Ghee said The Hollywood Reporter after the nominations were announced. “So I’m just honored that the work speaks for itself and I’m so proud of the special show we have at the Shubert [Theater].”

The Raising Dion alum isn’t the only 2023 Tony Award nominee making history. cheerfulness alum Alex Newellwho also identifies as non-binary, earned a nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their role in Peeled. Newell, who is gender nonconforming, portrays whiskey distiller Lulu in the cornfed musical.

Ghees Some love it when it’s hot role also breaks boundaries. The musical – written by Red, white and royal blue director Matthew Lopez and comedian Amber Ruffin and inspired by the 1959 film of the same name – is set during Prohibition Chicago when two musicians (Ghee and Borle) are forced to flee the city after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, the two friends go undercover in drag, which Ghee’s Jerry really enjoys.

“Jerry is a grounded artist who dreams and always holds Joe [Borle] in line. They have such a brother-sister relationship that it’s a strange couple, if you will, ‘the Over my dead body actor said in one Instagram video shared through the production’s account in May. “Their relationship is based on love and truth and experience.”

Ghee added at the time, “It was such a process and collaboration in the way of always having conversations. I would often come in during the workshop and during rehearsals for Broadway and things that I say in my day-to-day life found their way into the script.

Some love it when it’s hot is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholas and costars Adriana Hicks, Kevin Del Aguila, Natasha Yvette Williams And Adam Heller. It is the most nominated production of the 2023 theater season, with a total of 12 Tony nominations, including leading acting accolades for both Borle – who previously won a Tony in 2004 and 2015 respectively – and Ghee.

Scroll below to learn more about the first Tony nominee: