LOS ANGELES, California – Three Filipino-Americans — Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss, and Marco Paguia — triumphed in the Tony Awards, Broadway’s biggest night, on Sunday, June 8. The trio set a historic milestone — that as many as three Fil-Ams won theater’s most coveted award on a single night.
In the televised ceremonies of the American Theatre Wing’s 78th Annual Antoinette Perry Tony Awards, Nicole delivered an emotional acceptance speech for winning Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Sunset Blvd. The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber about a fading Hollywood actress, Norma Desmond, bagged other prizes, including Best Revival of a Musical.
In front of theater’s most celebrated artists at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York, Nicole said in her tearful remarks, “First of all, I just have to thank God for carrying me every step of the way. I give you all the glory.”
“I’m so honored to be recognized alongside these exceptional warrior women in this category. I want to thank all of you so much. This is going to go really fast for making this little Hawaiian-Ukrainian-Filipino girl’s dream come true. So proud to represent.”
The former Pussycat Dolls frontwoman continued, “I thank my mom who had me at 18 and gave everything up for me. My dad and my sister, Keala. My mom, who instilled in me an unshakable faith. My ohana, my family, all 5,000 of you. You know that I love you.”
“To my fiancé Thom (Thom Evans), who believes in me when I forget to believe in myself. Andrew Lloyd Webber, it has happened. Andrew, it’s been such an honor to be able to create with you the past 15 years (and) Don Black, Christopher Hampton (lyrics and book), Alan (Williams, music direction and supervision), Fabian Aloise (choreography).”
The performer, whose father is Filipino, also thanked her co-star, Tom Francis, and alluded to the musical’s bloody ending: “Tom Francis, thank you so much for letting me sever your head every single night and every performance (and) to our extraordinary cast, crew, producers, creators. I am forever grateful to you.”
She cited her director: “Jamie Lloyd. You saw in me what no one else did. You’ve given us all new ways to dream. And you have changed my life forever.”
Nicole, who won the 2024 Laurence Olivier Award for best actress in a musical for the same role in the West End revival of Sunset Blvd., saved her most moving remarks for last: “Growing up, I always felt like I didn’t belong. But you all have made me feel like I belong. And I have come home at last.”
“So if there’s anyone out there who feels like they don’t belong or their 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 is a testament that love always wins. Thank you so much. God bless you.”
Definitely a happy ending
Darren Criss made history as the first Filipino-American to cinch the Tony Awards’ Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending. The production romped off with other honors, including Best Musical.
In his acceptance remarks, Darren, who plays Oliver, an obsolete robot in the musical, said, “A lot of humans got me here. So, thank you, Mom (Cerina Criss). Thank you to Craig Slate at the Young Conservatory at ACT for shepherding me and so many people here… My teachers, every teacher that ever taught me the value of physical theater because I would use that in my toolkit to create Oliver.”
“Thank you to all of the little robots that made Maybe Happy Ending possible. You know how I feel, and I’ll tell you about that later.”
Addressing his beaming wife Mia in the audience, Darren said, “But the real hero about this for this remarkable journey is my wife, Mia, who took a massive swing on allowing me to do this and to allow this crazy upheaval in our life to make this logistically possible, and for bearing the brunt of raising two tiny friends under three so that I could raise a singing robot at the Belasco Theatre eight times a week.”
The actor, who also made history in 2019 as the first Fil-Am to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, added:
“Mia, you are the very pedestal that upholds the shiny, spinny bit in our lives, and your love and your support for me and our beautiful children, combined with the miracle of working on something as magical as Maybe Happy Ending has been and will always be award enough. This play that we’re doing is about love and memory.”
Paying tribute to his late father and brother, William Criss and Chuck Criss, respectively, Darren shared, “I would like to dedicate this in loving memory to one of the greatest role models I ever had, one of the best friends I ever had had, and that is my father, Bill and my brother Chuck.”
“Congratulations to all of you here tonight on your achievements. Everybody out there, break a leg. And I’m going to go celebrate with my favorite kind of people to party with — theater people!”
Serendipitously, Lea Salonga, the first Filipino to win a Tony Award for Miss Saigon, introduced the production number of Darren and the Maybe Happy Ending company in the show.
Orchestrating achievements
Marco Paguia, meanwhile, won not one but two Tonys for Buena Vista Club, a musical set in Havana, Cuba, following four musicians from the 1950s to the 1990s, in the star-studded awards show televised by CBS. The Fil-Am won Best Orchestrations.
As previously announced, a special Tony Award was presented to the musicians who made up the band of Buena Vista Social Club.
Marco is the show’s music director, conductor, and is also on piano on stage.
The New York Times cited Marco in a recent piece: “What’s especially wonderful about Marco Paguia’s orchestrations for Buena Vista Social Club is how intensely live they sound; the band is on the stage, and you hear every choice he made (plus all the squeaking, rasping and spitting that goes with live music).”
Filipino heritage shines bright
This year’s Tony Awards marked the first time that five talents of Filipino heritage earned nominations – Nicole, Darren, Marco, Conrad Ricamora, and Clint Ramos.
Conrad bagged his Tony nod for playing Abraham Lincoln in the hit dark comedy, Oh, Mary!, which scored several wins. He is the first Filipino nominee in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play.
Clint cinched his seventh Tony citation for Best Costume Design of a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending. In 2016, he made history as the first Filipino and Asian, and the first person of color, to bag the Tony best costume design of a play for Eclipsed.
The strong Filipino showing in the Tonys reflected the significant number of Pinoys on Broadway – Lea (Old Friends), Eva Noblezada (Cabaret), Tatianna Cordoba (Real Women Have Curves: The Musical), and Kay Sibal (Six the Musical), Raechelle Manalo, Nico DeJesus, and Niki Saludez in Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen.
The 2025 Tony nominees were chosen by an independent committee of theater professionals, including Fil-Ams, actor Jose Llana and playwright, director, and producer Ralph Peña. – Rappler.com
