Theater Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee become first nonbinary performers to win acting Tony Awards Newell won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their performance in Shucked and Ghee won Best Leading Actor in a Musical for Some Like It Hot. By Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite Lester Fabian Brathwaite is a staff writer at Entertainment Weekly, where he covers breaking news, all things Real Housewives, and a rich cornucopia of popular culture. Formerly a senior editor at Out magazine, his work has appeared on NewNowNext, Queerty, Rolling Stone, and The New Yorker. He was also the first author signed to Phoebe Robinson's Tiny Reparations imprint. He met Oprah once. EW's editorial guidelines Published on June 11, 2023 11:11PM EDT The 2023 Tony Awards made history tonight awarding not one, but two non-binary actors for the first time in history. And during Pride month no less! Alex Newell was the first to break that barrier on Sunday when they won Best Performance by Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for their role in Shucked, about the fictional Midwestern rural community of Cobb County amid a corn crisis. Later in the night, J. Harrison Ghee won Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for their role in Some Like It Hot, an adaptation of the classic film. Alex Newell, left, and J. Harrison Ghee. Bruce Glikas/Getty Images;Theo Wargo/Getty Images "I have wanted this my entire life, and I thank each and every one of you in this room right now," Newell said. "I should not be up here; as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts." Newell got their start on the reality show The Glee Project, which led to a recurring role on Glee as Wade "Unique" Adams starting in 2012. Funnily (girl) enough, fellow Glee alum and (depending on whom you ask) villain, Lea Michele was in the audience, though she was not nominated for her acclaimed turn in Funny Girl. Though Newell and Ghee agreed to be nominated in the gendered actor categories, & Juliet performer Justin David Sullivan decided to opt out of consideration. "I hope that award shows across the industry will expand their reach to be able to honor and award people of all gender identities," Sullivan previously said in a statement. Related content: Shucked Broadway review: Cute new musical has a corny sense of humor Some Like It Hot review: Nobody's perfect, but this new production comes pretty close Nonbinary performer Justin David Sullivan opts out of Tony consideration over gendered categories