Other firsts this season included L Morgan Lee of “A Strange Loop” becoming the first out trans performer to be nominated for a Tony. The new crop of nominees also boasts more women and people of color in design categories, such as first-time nominees Palmer Hefferan for sound design of a play (“The Skin of Our Teeth”), Yi Zhao for lighting design of a play (“The Skin of Our Teeth”) and Sarafina Bush for costume design of a play (“for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the rainbow is enuf”). “Let’s hope that the diversity that we saw in the season continues to be the norm for Broadway, that this isn’t just an anomaly or a blip in reaction to what we’ve been through, but just a reset,” said Lynn Nottage, the first writer to be nominated for both a play ('Clyde’s') and musical ('MJ') in a single season. There are 16 Black performance nods out of 33 slots - a very healthy 48%.īy comparison, at the 2016 Tonys - the breakout season that included the diverse “Hamilton,” “Eclipsed” and “The Color Purple” revival - 14 of the 40 acting nominees for plays and musicals or 35% were actors of color. Multiple Black artists were nominated in every single performance category, including three of five featured actors in a musical, four of six featured actresses in a play, two of seven leading actors in a play and three of five leading actresses in a play.
