The 2022 Tony Awards were held on June 12, 2022 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York. The ceremony celebrated the cast and creative achievements of Broadway productions that took place during the 2021-2022 season and was divided into two segments. The first part, known as “Act One,” was broadcast on the Paramount+ network and featured some lesser-known awards categories, as well a segment honoring Angela Lansbury with a lifetime achievement prize. The second half of the show, broadcast live on NBC, featured the more anticipated and well-known award categories, including Best Play, Best Musical, and Featured Actress in a Musical.
The 2022 Tony Awards highlighted the contributions of women to Broadway, as several female stage actresses, directors, and set designers were honored for their excellence. Here are five of the women who won big and were deservedly recognized at this year’s ceremony.
Deirdre O’Connell
An American character actress best known for her roles in Sunshine of the Eternal Spotless Mind, Law & Order, and Secondhand Lions, Deirdre O’Connell starred in the dark, traumatic play Dana H, which was written by Lucas Hnath and shown at the Vineyard Theatre. O’Connell played the lead role of Dana Higginbotham, a psychiatrist who was kidnapped by a deranged patient in her care and was subsequently mentally and physically abused for five months by that patient.
In this re-enactment of a true story, O’Connell appears on stage sitting in a chair, looking fearful and disheveled, lip-syncing to the real and harrowing tape recordings of the psychiatrist on which the story is based. For this performance, she won the Tony Award for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play.
O’Connell’s competition in the category included Gabby Beans (The Skin of Our Teeth), LaChanze (Trouble in Mind), Ruth Negga (Macbeth), and Mary-Louise Parker (How I Learned to Drive).
Joaquina Kalukango
Joaquina Kalukango is an American actress who is best known for her roles in One Night in Miami, When They See Us, and Lovecraft Country. Kalukango starred in the Broadway musical Paradise Square, a story about a Black woman named Nelly O’Brien who owns and runs a bar in Manhattan during Civil War time. Her portrayal of O’Brien – and especially her performance of the song “Let it Burn” – won her the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical.
“I was so excited to play this woman who was born free,” Kalukango told Forbes of her decision to audition for the role. “This is a time period that most people don’t really know and usually see African Americans in a certain light. But I love that Nelly owns this bar in the middle of New York City.”
The other nominees were Sharon D. Clarke (Caroline, or Change), Carmen Cusack (Flying Over Sunset), Sutton Foster (The Music Man), and Mare Winningham (Girl from the North Country).
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad is an American actress best known for her role as Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show. She recently played the role of Faye in the play Skeleton Crew, written by Dominique Morisseau. Set in the middle of the 2008 recession, the play focuses on four Black employees going through hard times in what was once a booming automotive industry.
Rashad’s character Faye is a motherly figure and union representative who works hard to fight for her co-workers’ jobs during one of the worst financial recessions in American history. Rashad’s brilliant performance earned her the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play.
Patti LuPone
No stranger to the Tony Awards, Patti LuPone is an American actress and singer best known for her career in musical theater. Her recent Tony Award was for her role in the musical Company, written by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth. LuPone plays a character named Joanne, who is a friend of the main character Bobbie and is a sassy, boozy woman who enjoys dishing out the latest gossip over a martini.
LuPone brought her bubbly personality to the iconic character and won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical.
Marianne Elliott
Marianne Elliott is a British theatre director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Company. The revived musical is about love and marriage, showing a group of women trying to help their single friend navigate dating life. Originally directed by Stephen Sondheim, Elliott made staging updates, including the switching of genders of cast members, ahead of the opening of the musical at the Gielgud Theatre in London.
In addition to the Tony Award, Elliott won the Olivier Award for Best Revival of a Musical.