At the 78th Annual Tony Awards held at Radio City Music hall on Sunday, June 8, “Purpose” made history. Actress Kara Young became the first actress to win the performance by an actress in a featured role in a play for two consecutive years for her role as Aziza in “Purpose.” Her Tony win last year was for “Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch.” Anyone who has ever seen Young perform knows that she puts her all into every character she inhabits. Her win and record setting moment should bring a moment of joy and pride to us all! Talking about her win and how she identified so closely with the character Aziza, Young said, “Every character that I’ve ever had the honor of stepping into holds its own weight inside of me. But because Aziza was born and raised in Harlem [As Young is] I know this woman very well. I know this queer woman very well. I feel like Aziza is all the things that I ever imagined to be, an unapologetically free child of the world, who understands what her ancestry is, what her history is. There’s an appreciation for changing the world and her as a social worker and working with young people, in her heart of hearts and in her core, it’s like, if I help one person, I’ve helped change the world one person at a time. There’s something about Aziza that is a deep connection to being an actor. Every time we step into these plays, you really feel like you’re going to shift something inside of someone. Make them think about something because of Branden Jacob-Jenkins’ powerful writing…Playwrights do the impossible, they are anointed to create this experience and we get to inhabit these characters on the page…Aziza is somebody I feel like I’ve known very closely.”
Linda Armstrong photos
Paul Tazewell holds his Tony for best costume design of a musical for “Death Becomes Her.” 
Natalie Venetia Belcon won a Tony for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical for “Buena Vista Social Club.” 
Glenn Davis holds the Tony for best play for “Purpose” as one of the show’s producers and a star. 
Gary Edwin Robinson displays his Tony for excellence in theatre education for his program at Boys & Girls High School in Brooklyn. 
Branden Jacob-Jenkins wins the Tony for best play for “Purpose”
“Purpose” proved that it had a great deal of purpose as it signaled another historic moment as its playwright Branden Jacob-Jenkins also made Tony history as he was the second Black playwright to win a Tony Award for two consecutive years. Last year he won for “Appropriate.” If you were fortunate enough to see “Appropriate” and “Purpose”, both Pulitzer Prize winning plays, then you would fully understand why these honors were so well deserved. August Wilson was the first Black playwright to accomplish this feat. Talking about the significance of “Purpose” winning for best play he said, “I made a decision during COVID to really lean into the idea of doing a play and I really wanted to make sure I’m doing something that I call work that is fulfilling and that is for people I love, that’s inspiring. The play only happened because I had the opportunity to work with one of the best acting ensembles in the world and work with Phylicia Rashad. I’m so overjoyed, this is like the icing on the cake, I get to do this thing that I love. That’s what drives me, I want to be inspired, I want to be around inspired people, I want to push my craft and I want to encounter geniuses like Kara Young and see what happens when we play together, that’s what it’s all about.”
Glenn Davis, became the first Black producer in the history of the Tony Awards to accept a Tony Award for best play for “Purpose.” Davis who stars in the production and first did the production at his home theater Steppenwolf in Chicago had this to share about the show. “We do matinees and it’s clear that some folks have just come from church because they’re talking to us, making sounds. For a Black artist in particular there’s something special about that, because you feel these people are seeing themselves who might not have seen themselves on Broadway in this way. We see our family, we see our friends and we do look like them and that aligns with the genius of Branden’s characters and the performances of the actors in the show and the direction by Ms. Phylicia Rashad, all that coming together has made for this production pretty spectacular.”Davis admitted that he is “living fully in his purpose.”
Paul Tazewell, a costume designer for film and theater, won the best costume design of a musical for “Death Becomes Her.” He shared, “I loved the film with Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis… I was in college at the time. Then to be asked to design the musical of that I was able to tap into that over the top drag sensibility and still be telling the story, which at the end of the day it’s also meaningful. It speaks to how we see ourselves, ageism and beauty standards and all of that, those are real issues. So I loved creating that balance.” Tazewell explained, “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, something about this year made us very visible…I have an interest in detail and the development of the character and making a decision of who that character is. I just want to continue to tell stories and be passionate about doing it.” Considering what he wants his legacy to be, Tazewell said, “I would love for my legacy to speak to me as a designer who always gave my A-Game to the stories that I chose to tell through my clothing and that they touched people’s hearts and changed lives in deep ways. I would like that to be as global as possible, to touch as many lives as possible.”
The Tony Awards were an amazing event for “Buena Vista Social Club” as the original band members received special Tony honors and the musical also came away with best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical–Natalie Venetia Belcon; best choreography–Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck; best orchestration–Marco Paguia; and best sound design of a musical–Jonathan Deans.
Winner of the Excellence In Theatre Education Award given by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University–Gary Edwin Robinson, Theatre teacher and chair of the theatre arts program at Boys and Girls High School in Brooklyn had a lot to say to the press after receiving this marvelous honor. Addressing what he wants students to keep in mind next year he replied, “Keep your dream alive. Stick with it no matter what happens. Keep believing in yourself even when others don’t believe in you.” Addressing the value of arts education for young people, Robinson said, “What it does for a young student who comes in not knowing who they are, the theater allows that student to explore the world, to explore self and to understand self. If you don’t have that in place, students are lost. All students must have an outlet, a voice and they find their voice in that theater class, through the monologues, through the plays that they do. So theater gives them an outlet and a way to understand who they are.” Discussing teaching, Robinson shared, “teaching lifts others up…and I have had several students who are teaching now.” Considering what it means to him to be the foundation for young people doing theater, Robinson said, “The love of theater is the base and that’s where everything starts, passion is there, the drive is there. What gets me up in the morning is theater. I go to teach theater, it drives me to do the educational part everyday.”
Cynthia Erivo did a spectacular job hosting the 78th Annual Tony Awards and audiences were treated to performances from some of the best musicals. Make it your business to support theater. I’m thrilled to share that “Purpose” has been extended until August 30, make sure you go and bring someone you love. Go and see our stories on a Broadway stage!