Motown Leading Lady Valisia LeKae Will Have 'Just One Cupcake' to Celebrate Her Tony Nomination
The morning the Tony nominations are announced, phones start buzzing with texts and calls for the happy few who get nods. As usual, Broadway.com is thrilled to be among the callers offering congratulations and getting responses. Here are the first reactions from 2013 Tony nominees. Congrats to all!
Valisia LeKae
Nominated for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical, Motown: The Musical
"I get up pretty early anyway, but I was up and nervous and hadn’t really been sleeping. I was watching the clock, literally, just to get my mind off it, and then I looked on my phone and there were seven or eight phone calls. Finally my agent got through and was the first to tell me that I was nominated. I kept saying, ‘Are you sure? I need to see it for myself.’ I just started screaming, I really couldn’t believe it. I feel so honored and blessed to be representing Motown and to be playing a fantastic role like Diana Ross. I’m completely speechless. You work all your life for something like this. A number of cast members have called and tweeted and I’m trying to keep up with it all. Brandon [Victor Dixon] has obviously called me; I love him to death, and I know that this award is for both of us because we’ve been through this journey together. Berry Gordy called—he’s so good to me, and he wanted to make sure he was one of the first to call. I really wanted to do right by Diana. Oddly enough she was given a special Tony Award over 30 years ago when she did her one-woman show on Broadway. So it feels like a full circle moment that allows me to celebrate her and all her fabulousness and glory. I want to eat cheese and milk and dairy today, but all of those things make me sick, so maybe I’ll just have one cupcake to celebrate the moment!"
