UPDATE: 6/11/23 — Alex Newell is officially the first non-binary artist to win a Tony Award. “I shouldn’t be here being some weird, non-binary, fat, black, little baby from Massachusetts,” the artist said during their acceptance speech. “And to anyone who thinks they can’t, I’m going to look you dead in the face and tell you that you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Original Story: No chaff given! Alex Newell make history with their 2023 Tony Award nomination.
The 30-year-old Broadway star plays Lulu in the new musical comedy Peeled, which opened in New York City in April after its 2022 run in Salt Lake City. When nominations for the 76th Annual Tony Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 2, Newell became the first non-conforming performer to earn a nomination in the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical category.
“It’s a hot topic, isn’t it?” they teased during an interview with Variety published a week before the announcement, reflecting on how they chose which category to be recognized in. “I started from the English language. The standard has always been that a man is an actor and a woman is an actress. And I don’t like that. Because when I say I’m an actor, I mean that’s my profession, the profession I studied, the profession I practice. Everyone who acts is an actor. That is genderless.”
Newell commented that they “value” the separation between actor and actress to give more performers “a real fighting chance” to take home a trophy. “If we can create that, we can create more lanes for other people who don’t want to stick to those two categories,” they added. “I think my choice of actor, I hope, will be a spark to use that word as it was intended for the art of acting.”
While the singer called other non-binary stars “admirable” for withdrawing from the awards show as a form of protest, as Yellow jackets‘ Live Hewson done recently – they also urged the industry to change something. “It should be a wake-up call. Change is inevitable and will happen, but we need to move a little faster,” they said.
Shucked isn’t Newell’s first Broadway venture, but they’ve never had a Tony before. “My whole first time on Broadway was, ‘You got snubbed,'” they shared Poster in March, referring to the 2017 resurgence Once on this island, which was awarded in all major categories except Best Actor. “I went everywhere, and that’s what I was [hearing]. Not “Hello, Alex, how are you.” It was always, ‘Oh, how awful.’ The rationality given to me was, ‘Well, we didn’t know what category to put you in. You’re just so different.’ Was that supposed to make me feel better or worse?”
Following the announcement of Tuesday’s nominations, Newell celebrated their major milestone. “I went to the Met Gala at 8pm and 13 hours later I was Tony nominated!!!! I’m unwell!” they flowed on Instagram. “Wearing @csiriano was iconic!!! With @alexander_armand on hair and @kellybellevue on makeup I couldn’t have wished for a better team!!! @jennyandersonphoto you know how to capture the mothershucking moment!!!!”
If PeeledLulu — a quirky whiskey distiller — Newell brings down the house nightly with their breathtaking performance of “Independently Owned,” often earning a standing ovation midway through the first act.
“Sometimes I don’t notice. … A few nights ago there was someone in dead center, right behind the conductor, showing off and yelling, ‘Yeah, Alex, you better work! You better sing!’” they recalled Variety. “It was louder than me, and I had a microphone. It was difficult because it was a very funny moment.”
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Scroll down for more information on Newell ahead of the Tonys 2023 in June: