Kimberly Akimbo Wins Tony for Best Musical and Leads with 5 Total Awards

At the 2023 Tony Awards, Kimberly Akimbo came out on top. The new musical won five awards, including Best Musical. Victoria Clark took home the trophy for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Bonnie Milligan won Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical. David Lindsay-Abaire won Best Book and Best Original Score with composer Jeanine Tesori.

Some Like It Hot and Leopoldstadt won four awards each.

J. Harrison Ghee has joined Alex Newell in becoming the first two openly nonbinary performers to win Tony Awards. Ghee won for their leading role in Some Like It Hot while Newell won for their role in Shucked.

The awards presentations began during The Tony Awards: Act One pre-show, hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin.

The official Tony Awards ceremony, hosted by Ariana DeBose, began at 8 p.m. ET at the United Palace in New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood. The broadcast aired live on CBS and Paramount+.

A full list of winners, denoted in bold in each category, is below.

Best Musical
& Juliet
Kimberly Akimbo
New York, New York
Shucked
Some Like It Hot

Best Play
Ain’t No Mo’ 
Between Riverside and Crazy 
Cost of Living 
Fat Ham 
Leopoldstadt 

Best Revival of a Play
A Doll’s House
The Piano Lesson
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Topdog/Underdog

Best Revival of a Musical
Into the Woods
Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot
Parade
Sweeney Todd

Best Book of a Musical
Robert Horn, Shucked
David Thompson & Sharon Washington, New York, New York
David Lindsay-Abaire, Kimberly Akimbo
Matthew López & Amber Ruffin, Some Like It Hot
David West Read, & Juliet

Best Original Score
Brandy Clark & Shane McAnally, Shucked
Tom Kitt & Cameron Crowe, Almost Famous
David Lindsay-Abaire & Jeanine Tesori, Kimberly Akimbo
Helen Park & Max Vernon, KPOP
Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, Some Like It Hot

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Topdog/Underdog
Corey Hawkins, Topdog/Underdog
Sean Hayes, Good Night, Oscar
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Between Riverside and Crazy
Wendell Pierce, Death of a Salesman

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
Jessica Chastain, A Doll’s House
Jodie Comer, Prima Facie
Jessica Hecht, Summer, 1976
Audra McDonald, Ohio State Murders

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
Christian Borle, Some Like It Hot
J. Harrison Ghee, Some Like It Hot
Josh Groban, Sweeney Todd
Brian d’Arcy James, Into the Woods
Ben Platt, Parade
Colton Ryan, New York, New York

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Annaleigh Ashford, Sweeney Todd
Sara Bareilles, Into the Woods
Victoria Clark, Kimberly Akimbo
Lorna Courtney, & Juliet
Micaela Diamond, Parade

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Jordan E. Cooper, Ain’t No Mo’
Samuel L. Jackson, The Piano Lesson
Arian Moayed, A Doll’s House
Brandon Uranowitz, Leopoldstadt
David Zayas, Cost of Living

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
Nikki Crawford, Fat Ham
Crystal Lucas-Perry, Ain’t No Mo’
Miriam Silverman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window
Katy Sullivan, Cost of Living
Kara Young, Cost of Living

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
Kevin Cahoon, Shucked
Justin Cooley, Kimberly Akimbo
Kevin Del Aguila, Some Like It Hot
Jordan Donica, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot
Alex Newell, Shucked

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical
Julia Lester, Into the Woods
Ruthie Ann Miles, Sweeney Todd
Bonnie Milligan, Kimberly Akimbo
NaTasha Yvette Williams, Some Like It Hot
Betsy Wolfe, & Juliet

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Miriam Buether, Prima Facie
Tim Hatley & Andrzej Goulding, Life of Pi
Rachel Hauck, Good Night, Oscar
Richard Hudson, Leopoldstadt
Dane Laffrey & Lucy Mackinnon, A Christmas Carol

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Beowulf Boritt, New York, New York
Mimi Lien, Sweeney Todd
Michael Yeargan & 59 Productions, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot
Scott Pask, Shucked
Scott Pask, Some Like It Hot

Best Costume Design of a Play
Tim Hatley, Nick Barnes & Finn Caldwell, Life of Pi
Dominique Fawn Hill, Fat Ham
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, Leopoldstadt
Emilio Sosa, Ain’t No Mo’
Emilio Sosa, Good Night, Oscar

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Some Like It Hot
Susan Hilferty, Parade
Jennifer Moeller, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot
Clint Ramos & Sophia Choi, KPOP
Paloma Young, & Juliet
Donna Zakowska, New York, New York

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Neil Austin, Leopoldstadt
Natasha Chivers, Prima Facie
Jon Clark, A Doll’s House
Bradley King, Fat Ham
Tim Lutkin, Life of Pi
Jen Schriever, Death of a Salesman
Ben Stanton, A Christmas Carol

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Ken Billington, New York, New York
Lap Chi Chu, Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot
Heather Gilbert, Parade
Howard Hudson, & Juliet
Natasha Katz, Some Like It Hot
Natasha Katz, Sweeney Todd

Best Sound Design of a Play
Jonathan Deans & Taylor J. Williams, Ain’t No Mo’
Carolyn Downing, Life of Pi
Joshua D. Reid, A Christmas Carol
Ben & Max Ringham, A Doll’s House
Ben & Max Ringham, Prima Facie

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Kai Harada, New York, New York
John Shivers, Shucked
Scott Lehrer & Alex Neumann, Into the Woods
Gareth Owen, & Juliet
Nevin Steinberg, Sweeney Todd

Best Direction of a Play
Saheem Ali, Fat Ham
Jo Bonney, Cost of Living
Jamie Lloyd, A Doll’s House
Patrick Marber, Leopoldstadt
Stevie Walker-Webb, Ain’t No Mo’
Max Webster, Life of Pi

Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden, Parade
Lear deBessonet, Into the Woods
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Jack O’Brien, Shucked
Jessica Stone, Kimberly Akimbo

Best Choreography
Steven Hoggett, Sweeney Todd
Casey Nicholaw, Some Like It Hot
Susan Stroman, New York, New York
Jennifer Weber, & Juliet
Jennifer Weber, KPOP

Best Orchestrations
John Clancy, Kimberly Akimbo
Jason Howland, Shucked
Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter, Some Like It Hot
Bill Sherman & Dominic Fallacaro, & Juliet
Daryl Waters & Sam Davis, New York, New York

Special Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award
John Kander
Joel Grey

Excellence in Theatre Education Award
Jason Zembuch Young

Regional Theatre Award
Pasadena Playhouse

Isabelle Stevenson Award
Jerry Mitchell

Tony Winners by Show
Kimberly Akimbo — 5
Some Like It Hot — 4
Leopoldstadt — 4
Life of Pi — 3
Sweeney Todd — 2
Parade — 2
New York, New York — 1
The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window — 1
Topdog/Underdog — 1
Shucked — 1
Prima Facie — 1
Good Night, Oscar — 1