Oklahoma! Standout Ali Stroker Breaks Ground with First Tony Award Win

We cain't say no! Ali Stroker has won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Ado Annie in Oklahoma! The stage-and-screen fave was honored at the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 9, beating out fellow nominees Amber Gray for Hadestown, Sarah Stiles for Tootsie, Lilli Cooper for Tootsie and Oklahoma! co-star Mary Testa.

"This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena," Stroker said in her acceptance speech. "You are."

In a milestone moment for Broadway and disability representation, Stroker becomes the first performer in a wheelchair to ever win or even be nominated for a Tony Award. Stroker previously appeared in Deaf West's revival of Spring Awakening, when she also made history as the first wheelchair-using actress to grace a Broadway stage. Audiences may also know Stroker for her screen turn in The Glee Project.

Director Daniel Fish's darker, sexier 75th-anniversary staging of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic features a stripped-down plywood set, a seven-piece band, and cornbread and chili served to the audience at intermission. 

Watch Stroker's episode of Show People with Paul Wontorek to learn more about her Broadway journey and her performance in the innovative new take on Oklahoma!