{"id":75096,"date":"2023-06-12T12:07:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T17:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=75096"},"modified":"2023-06-12T12:08:42","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T17:08:42","slug":"antisemitism-themed-leopoldstadt-and-parade-are-big-tony-awards-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/antisemitism-themed-leopoldstadt-and-parade-are-big-tony-awards-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Antisemitism-themed \u2018Leopoldstadt\u2019 and \u2018Parade\u2019 are big Tony Awards winners"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By ANDREW LAPIN<\/p>\n<p>(JTA) \u2013 Broadway made a statement about antisemitism Sunday evening, as two high-profile shows on the subject this season \u2014 the play \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/brilliant-leopoldstadt-weaves-austrias-shameful-past-with-familys-tragic-assimilation\/\"><em>Leopoldstadt<\/em><\/a>\u201d and the musical revival \u201c<em>Parade<\/em>\u201d \u2014 pulled in multiple major Tony awards.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_75097\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75097\" class=\"wp-image-75097 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-300x182.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys.png 1982w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/182;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75097\" class=\"wp-image-75097 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-300x182.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-1024x620.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-768x465.png 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys-1536x931.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/LEOPOLDSTADT_Tonys.png 1982w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-75097\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Stoppard accepts the award for best new play for \u201cLeopoldstadt\u201d onstage during The 76th Annual Tony Awards at United Palace Theater in New York City, June 11, 2023. (Theo Wargo\/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Some of the shows\u2019 honorees, in turn, made statements of their own linking hatred of Jews with other forms of hatred, including homophobia and anti-transgender sentiment at a time when trans inclusion is under attack in many places.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Leopoldstadt<\/em>,\u201d Tom Stoppard\u2019s epic semi-autobiographical play about three generations of a Viennese Jewish family before and after the Holocaust, won four of the six Tonys for which it was nominated, including best play. (It was Stoppard\u2019s fifth Tony, coming 55 years after his first, for \u201c<em>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead<\/em>.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p>The \u201c<em>Leopoldstadt<\/em>\u201d actor Brandon Uranowitz, the only member of the play\u2019s large cast to receive an acting nomination, won for featured actor in a play and thanked Stoppard for writing a show about antisemitism and \u201cthe false promise of assimilation.\u201d He noted that members of his family were murdered by the Nazis in Poland.<\/p>\n<p>Uranowitz, who is gay, ended with a plea to parents: \u201cWhen your child tells you who they are, believe them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Parade,<\/em>\u201d about the 1915 lynching of American Jew Leo Frank, won two prizes, including best revival of a musical. Alfred Uhry, who wrote the book to the original 1998 production of \u201c<em>Parade<\/em>,\u201d wore a Star of David lapel pin when he came up to accept the award for best revival.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_74369\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1.jpeg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74369\" class=\"wp-image-74369 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1-300x167.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1-768x427.jpeg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/569;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-74369\" class=\"wp-image-74369 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1-300x167.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/5-2-23-parade-1-768x427.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-74369\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Micaela Diamond and Ben Platt as Lucille and Leo Frank in &#8220;Parade.&#8221; (Photo by Joan Marcus)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Michael Arden, the show\u2019s director, noted in his speech that Leo Frank had \u201ca life that was cut short at the hands of the belief that one group of people is more or less valuable than another,\u201d which he noted is \u201cat the core of antisemitism, of white supremacy, of homophobia, of transphobia, of intolerance of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Arden warned the crowd to learn the lessons of the show, \u201cor else we are doomed to repeat the horrors of our history.\u201d He concluded his speech with an expletive, bleeped out by the telecast, as he voiced his support of trans and nonbinary youth.<\/p>\n<p>While \u201c<em>Parade<\/em>\u201d took the top prize, as well as best director of a musical, its Jewish stars Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond both lost out in their categories \u2014 Platt to \u201c<em>Some Like It Hot<\/em>\u201d star J. Harrison Ghee, and Diamond to \u201c<em>Kimberly Akimbo<\/em>\u201d star Victoria Clark. But Platt and Diamond did share a moment onstage, performing the \u201c<em>Parade<\/em>\u201d number \u201cThis Is Not Over Yet\u201d in character as an imprisoned Frank and his wife Lucille.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_75098\" style=\"width: 266px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75098\" class=\"wp-image-75098 size-full lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"322\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant.jpg 256w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant-239x300.jpg 239w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 256px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 256\/322;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-75098\" class=\"wp-image-75098 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"256\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant.jpg 256w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/Oscar_Levant-239x300.jpg 239w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-75098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">MGM publicity still of Oscar Levant (via Wikimedia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The non-Jewish actor Sean Hayes won best actor in a play for his role as Oscar Levant, the real-life Jewish concert pianist, actor and entertainer who had lifelong struggles with mental illness, in \u201c<em>Good Night, Oscar<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has got to be the first time an Oscar won a Tony,\u201d Hayes quipped, adding that Levant\u2019s \u201cwit and irascibility and virtuosity is not only inspirational but a true original.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There were several other Jewish moments at the show. Jewish Broadway legends John Kander (96 years old) and Joel Grey (91 years old) received the evening\u2019s lifetime achievement awards, with Grey\u2019s actress daughter Jennifer Grey presenting him with his honor. Among the pair\u2019s many achievements: Kander composed and Grey starred in \u201cCabaret,\u201d a musical set in Weimar-era Germany, and Grey mounted the recent successful Yiddish-language revival of \u201c<em>Fiddler on the Roof<\/em>.\u201d Kander is also the composer behind \u201c<em>New York, New York<\/em>,\u201d a new show whose musician characters include a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Poland.<\/p>\n<p>Miriam Silverman won the featured actress in a play award for her role in \u201c<em>The Sign in Sidney Brustein\u2019s Window<\/em>,\u201d a revival of a long-overlooked Lorraine Hansberry play about a Jewish bohemian couple in 1960s Greenwich Village.<\/p>\n<p>Lea Michele, despite not being eligible for a Tony for taking over for Beanie Feldstein in \u201c<em>Funny Girl<\/em>,\u201d performed her signature tune from the show about the Jewish comedian Fanny Brice. \u201c<em>A Beautiful Noise<\/em>,\u201d a biographical jukebox musical about chart-topping Jewish pop crooner Neil Diamond, also snuck in a performance of \u201cSweet Caroline\u201d despite not being nominated for anything. The crowd gamely sang along.<\/p>\n<p>And an unexpected Jewish shoutout came near the end of the ceremony, when the cast of the musical comedy \u201c<em>Shucked,<\/em>\u201d a show about corn, performed a song instructing viewers about the many places where the vegetable can be enjoyed. Among the options: \u201cBring it to a bris!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8_MRa0VAA4A<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"Antisemitism-themed%20%E2%80%98Leopoldstadt%E2%80%99%20and%20%E2%80%98Parade%E2%80%99%20are%20big%20Tony%20Awards%20winners\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":75097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7122],"tags":[12592,11847,8792,8790,8795,8788,494,2932],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75096"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75096"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75096\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75105,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75096\/revisions\/75105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}