Costume designer Qween Jean has made history as the first trans person, who has publicly shared that they are transgender, to win a Tony Award.
The Tony Awards, which honour plays and musicals staged on Broadway, are among the highest accolades in theatre. Jean attended the ceremony with two nominations after designing the costumes for the play Liberation and a new take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats, titled Cats: The Jellicle Ball.
Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical for the reworking of Cats, which reimagines the show as being set in a downtown New York drag ball.
Accepting the award, Jean said working on the production had been “monumental”.
“We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people. We are taking up space in waves. We have to take up space, we have to shift the paradigm,” Jean said in her acceptance speech.
At last year’s awards Cole Escola won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, for their performance in Oh, Mary!, becoming the first non-binary performer to win a Tony in that category. In 2023 Alex Newell won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for their role as Lulu in Sucked. Newell also identifies as non-binary and gender non-conforming.
In the play category for costume design, the award went to Jeff Mahshie for his work on the play Fallen Angels. The new production of the 1925 Noel Coward play stars Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara.
Cats: The Jellicle Ball also won Best Direction of a Musical for co-directors Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch. Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons received the Best Choreography award for their work on the production.
During his acceptance speech, Bill Rauch addressed young people who feel they do not fit in.
“To the 12-year-old kid who doesn’t fit in, who may be watching this on the television, in their bedroom, with the volume turned down low, come find your home at The Jellicle Ball!” he said.
