Tony Nominations Suggest Broadway Is Becoming More Progressive
variety.comGordon Cox Theater Editor The 2023 Tony nominations aren’t just a portrait of theatrical excellence. They’re also a snapshot of Broadway in progress.
After the events of 2020 prompted a wave of public pledges and new initiatives aiming to expand equity and diversity across all sectors of the business, this year’s nominations give theatermakers a chance to check on the change.
No nominations list can render a complete picture of an industry and no one would argue that Broadway is done with the work, but all of this year’s nominees say they’re conscious of the ways the nominations reflect a larger, industry-wide shift. “I think this year shows we are gradually getting better,” says Bonnie Milligan, a 2023 nominee (and, for many, the frontrunner) for featured actress in a musical.
The plus-sized actor finds herself in the Tony conversation for “Kimberly Akimbo” after what she describes as years of “getting typed out of so many rooms because of my size.” “You look at the nominees across the board and it’s such a beautiful, diverse group of humans in every way possible,” she says. “That’s thrilling to me, that the season that I get to be here is a really important one.” Following last year’s historic first nomination for an out trans performer (L Morgan Lee in “A Strange Loop”), the 2023 nominees include the Tonys’ first nominations for openly nonbinary performers, in addition to a nod for the nonbinary co-songwriter of “KPOP,” Max Vernon. “It’s definitely not something I take lightly,” says J.
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