Hawai'i Shines at The 78th Tony Awards

The 78th Tony awards aired on Sunday night, June 9th, and it was a particularly historic night for Hawai’i nei. Though our islands have had their share of representation at theatre’s biggest night in the past—from Honolulu-born Bette Midler’s wins in 1974 and 2017 to Kaimuki grad Ruthie Ann Miles’ win in 2015—no previous Tony night has had quite the concentration of celebrities, shout-outs, and wins as last night’s ceremony. Coming on the heels of the new live-action Lilo&Stitch movie that featured a long list of kānaka and local artists, and with Jason Momoa’s “Chief of War” series and the Moana live-action remake premiering in the near future, it could be that Hawai’i artists and productions are on the brink of an exciting and lucrative new era of visibility and representation.

Hawai’i kicked off the big night with legendary mixed-Hawaiian actor Keanu Reeves and his “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” costar Alex Winter presenting the very first televised Tony of the ceremony. Reeves and Winter--who will be starring in the upcoming revival of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot--awarded the Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play to Sarah Snook for her portrayal of all 26 characters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. Shortly after this presentation, we got another dose of Reeves during the performance for Just In Time, as Tony nominee Jonathan Groff stood on the armrests of Reeves’ chair, straddling him and stroking his chest while crooning Bobby Darin’s hit “That’s All”, prompting a look of shock and delight from Reeves and sending the entirety of Radio City Music Hall into fits of laughter.

Right on the heels of that iconic interaction, Natalie Venetia Belcon shouted out another Hawai’i celebrity while accepting her award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, for her portrayal of Cuban music icon Omara Portuondo in Buena Vista Social Club. In thanking the show’s incredible band—who were awarded their own special Tony award for their performance—she said: “To the band, my obsession– well, my second obsession. The first one is Jason Momoa. Hey, Jason! How you doin’?!”.

The final musical performance of the night was “Jugglin’” from Real Women Have Curves, introduced by Auli’i Cravalho, who stunned in a pink-and-orange ballgown. Cravalho made her name voicing Moana in 2016, and she has since gone on to establish herself as a pillar of the musical theatre community, co-starring in the film adaptation of the Mean Girls musical as Janice ‘Imi’ike (a surname change from the original “Ian” made at Carvalho’s request) and playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club on Broadway alongside Adam Lambert as the Emcee.

But the biggest win for Hawai’i of the night was of course the well-deserved Tony for Best Actress in a Musical, awarded to Nicole Scherzinger for her portrayal of Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. She had previously won the Olivier Award for this role when the show was revived on London’s West End, and she was among the favorites to win the Tony this year. Her acceptance speech was tearful and full of aloha as she thanked her ‘ohana, her Tūtū and Papa, and for “making this little Hawaiian-Ukranian-Filipino girl’s dream come true.” While her talent is undeniable and her performance at the Tonys of “As If We Never Said Goodbye” was powerful and moving, this win is particularly emotional as it comes mere months after Scherzinger endured backlash regarding a comment she left on an Instagram post by actor Russel Brand in November 2024. Brand, who has publicly endorsed Trump and got baptized into Christianity amidst multiple allegations of sexual assault and abuse, posted a picture of himself with a red ball cap embroidered with “Make Jesus First Again”, to which Scherzinger responded "Where do I get this hat!!!?”. Many people interpreted this as Scherzinger’s implicit support of Brand and Trump, and some even called for her to be stripped of consideration for the Tony as a consequence, citing that support for those two men was problematic and would fly in the face of her long-held support of the LGBTQ+ community. Scherzinger posted an apology for failing to understanding that implication, stating: “Many presumptions are being drawn, which do not reflect who I am, what I stand for, or who I voted for. Many of the marginalized communities feeling hurt and concerned by the results of the presidential election are people I care about most. I stand with them, as I always have, throughout my life and career. If you know me, you know that." This controversy, however, clearly did not get in the way of her Tony run, and even garnered a tongue-in-cheek comment from fellow Tony winner Cole Escola when they were informed that Scherzinger had just won, joking that “The speculating is over. Four years. Four more years.”

Following her win, the lāhui has sounded off online overwhelmingly in support of her, expressing their pride at seeing a kanaka in the spotlight and being celebrated for a performance that has been so talked about and widely celebrated for years now. And as she closed out her acceptance speech, she seemed to speak to lāhui at large, many of whom still struggle to be seen in an industry that doesn’t yet fully grasp what Hawai’i is capable of, saying “If there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong, or your time hasn’t come, don’t give up. Just keep on giving and giving, because the world needs your love and your light now more than ever. This [award] is a testament that love always wins."