Between the Silly Answers, Cats: The Jellicle Ball’s Zhailon Levingston Delivers a Classy Reminder
Tony nominees imagine what an award names after them might be called
by Beth Stevens • Jun 2, 2026
Zhailon Levingston
What to Know
- Asked what an award named after him would be called, Zhailon Levingston turned the playful question into a thoughtful reflection
- The Cats: The Jellicle Ball co-director reminded us that theater is “a we and not a one"
- Amid the sillier responses from this year’s Tony nominees, Levingston’s sincerity made him the classiest cat in the room
As we continue letting you in on the confidences of the 2026 Tony nominees, we have a little confession of our own: Despite our reputation for hard-hitting journalism, we do not take these questions all that seriously. Which only makes it more delightful when nominees answer them with complete sincerity.
Take Zhailon Levingston, co-director of Cats: The Jellicle Ball. We asked him what an award named after him would be called, and while some nominees happily matched our goofy energy, Levingston used the moment to remind us that we are “a we and not a one.”
How’s that for a classy cat? It’s true what they say: “Jellicles can and Jellicles do.”
