Cole Escola’s name rang out at Radio City Music Hall on 8 June when the writer-performer behind the anarchic farce Oh, Mary! won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, becoming the first openly non-binary artist to claim a lead acting prize in any play category. They accepted the trophy with a cheeky nod to a cancelled Grindr date and a salute to “every queer kid who thinks Broadway has no room for them”.
Escola both wrote and stars in Oh, Mary!, a bawdy re-imagining of Mary Todd Lincoln that transferred to the Lyceum Theatre last July after a sold-out Off-Broadway run. The production, staged by director Sam Pinkleton, had already earned Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk honors before arriving at the Tonys with five nominations. In the lead actor race Escola prevailed over high-profile contenders including George Clooney, whose stage debut in Good Night, and Good Luck went home empty-handed.
The breakthrough follows earlier milestones for non-binary performers J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell, who won musical acting Tonys in 2023, yet the awards still divide categories by gender. Critics and advocates used Sunday’s outcome to renew calls for restructured ballots; the Tony Administration Committee opted last year to keep current rules while “monitoring industry feedback,” a stance some observers say now looks untenable.
Escola’s victory sat within a ceremony that foregrounded diversity across disciplines. Seoul-set robot musical Maybe Happy Ending topped the night with six wins, while Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Kara Young each recorded category firsts. Backstage, Escola told Entertainment Tonight they hoped the award “opens doors for every kid whose identity never fit the boxes on an audition sheet”, and Playbill noted a surge of social-media traffic from LGBTQ+ theatregoers celebrating the moment.
Industry analysts expect the profile boost to keep Oh, Mary! — already extended twice — strong through summer and to embolden producers weighing gender-neutral casting strategies for upcoming seasons.
