By Deborah Bailey,
AFRO D.C. Editor
HBCU’s in the DMV had their best night on Broadway Sunday as Myles Frost and Phylicia Rashad captured Tony Awards Sunday for their performances on Broadway this year.
Bowie State University Senior Myles Frost received the Tony Award for best leading actor in a musical Sunday, for his role as Michael Jackson in the Broadway musical MJ. The 22-year old actor overcame tough competition from veteran Broadway actors Billy Crystal; nominated for his role in Mr. Saturday Night and Hugh Jackson, nominated for his role in a revival of the Music Man. Frost’s first Tony Award comes as Broadway musicals returned to life after the longest shut down in history due to Covid-19.
“I am so honored and so blessed and so grateful,” Frost said in his acceptance speech before breaking out in one of the songs from the musical “I just can’t, I just can’t, I just can’t control myself,” he continued in full Michael Jackson impersonation.
Phylicia Rashad, Dean of Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, and veteran Broadway and Television actress also brought Tony Award honors to the DMV. Rashad received her second Tony Award Sunday night for her role as Faye in Dominique Morisseau’s Skeleton Crew.
Rashad earned her second Tony Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a featured role in a play. In 2004, Rashad became the first black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her portrayal of Lena Younger in “A Raisin in the Sun.” “It’s wonderful to present humanity in its fullness and to feel it received,” Rashad said in accepting her second Tony Award.
Rashad has been a powerhouse in the theatre in both on and off-Broadway roles. She has acted in the musicals “Jelly’s Last Jam, “Into The Woods, “Dreamgirls” and “The Wiz” and starred in dramatic roles in August Osage County (Violet Weston), in Tennessee Williams‘ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Mama) and August Wilson‘s Gem Of The Ocean, (Aunt Ester–Tony Award nomination).
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