Maleah Joi Moon (‘Hell’s Kitchen’) becomes 101st person to win a Tony for their debut on Broadway

Maleah Joi Moon has become the 101st performer to win a Tony Award for their first outing on a Broadway stage for her performance in the musical “Hell’s Kitchen.”

She won Best Actress in a Musical at the 77th Tony Awards for portraying Ali, a 17-year-old girl searching for her place in the world while living in the titular New York City neighborhood and also being restrained by her overbearing mother. She is the 10th person to win the category for her Broadway debut. She joins:

Elizabeth Seal, “Irma La Douce” (1961)
Anna Maria Alberghetti, “Carnival” (1962)
Liza Minnelli, “Flora the Red Menace” (1965)
Leslie Uggams, “Hallelujah, Baby” (1968)
Alexis Smith, “Follies” (1972)
Natalia Makarova, “On Your Toes” (1983)
Lea Salonga, “Miss Saigon” (1991)
Catherine Zeta-Jones, “A Little Night Music” (2010)
Cynthia Erivo, “The Color Purple” (2016)

Other performers who pulled off this accomplishment in recent years include Jodie Comer (“Prima Facie”), Myles Frost (“MJ”) and Andrew Burnap (“The Inheritance”).

Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that have won Tonys:

BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY: 17 winners

Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons” (1962)
Cliff Gorman, “Lenny” (1972)
John Kani and Winston Ntshona (joint nomination), “Sizwe Banzi is Dead/The Island” (1975)
Tom Conti, “Whose Life is it Anyway?” (1979)
Harvey Fierstein, “Torch Song Trilogy” (1983)
Jeremy Irons, “The Real Thing” (1984)
Ralph Fiennes, “Hamlet” (1995)
Stephen Dillane, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Jefferson Mays, “I Am My Own Wife” (2004)
Richard Griffiths, “The History Boys” (2006)
Mark Rylance, “Boeing Boeing” (2008)
Geoffrey Rush, “Exit the King” (2009)
Tracy Letts, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ” (2013)
Bryan Cranston, “All the Way” (2014)
Alex Sharp, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” (2015)
Andrew Burnap, “The Inheritance” (2021)

BEST ACTRESS IN A PLAY: 11 winners

Martita Hunt, “The Madwoman of Chaillot” (1949)
Beryl Reid, “The Killing of Sister George” (1967)
Phyllis Frelich, “Children of a Lesser God” (1980)
Jane Lapotaire, “Piaf” (1981)
Joan Allen, “Burn This” (1988)
Pauline Collins, “Shirley Valentine” (1989)
Janet McTeer, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Marie Mullen, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Jennifer Ehle, “The Real Thing” (2000)
Deanna Dunagan, “August: Osage County” (2008)
Jodie Comer, “Prima Facie” (2023)

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: 13 winners

Ezio Pinza, “South Pacific” (1950)
Robert Alda, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)
Robert Lindsay, “Me and My Girl” (1987)
Brent Carver, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (1993)
Alan Cumming, “Cabaret” (1998)
Hugh Jackman, “The Boy From Oz” (2004)
John Lloyd Young, “Jersey Boys” (2006)
Paulo Szot, “South Pacific” (2008)
David Álvarez, Trent Kowalik and Kiril Kulish (joint nomination), “Billy Elliot” (2009)
Douglas Hodge, “La Cage aux Folles” (2010)
Myles Frost, “MJ” (2022)

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A PLAY: 19 winners

Patrick Magee, “Marat/Sade” (1966)
Ian Holm, “The Homecoming” (1967)
Al Pacino, “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?” (1969)
John Lithgow, “The Changing Room” (1973)
Jonathan Pryce, “Comedians” (1977)
Brian Backer, “The Floating Light Bulb” (1981)
Matthew Broderick, “Brighton Beach Memoirs” (1983)
Barry Miller, “Biloxi Blues” (1985)
John Mahoney, “The House of Blue Leaves” (1986)
B.D. Wong, “M. Butterfly” (1988)
Boyd Gaines, “The Heidi Chronicles” (1989)
Laurence Fishburne, “Two Trains Running” (1992)
Stephen Spinella, “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” (1993)
Owen Teale, “A Doll’s House” (1997)
Tom Murphy, “The Beauty Queen of Leeane” (1998)
Frank Wood, “Side Man” (1999)
Ian McDiarmid, “Faith Healer” (2006)
Eddie Redmayne, “Red” (2010)
Richard McCabe, “The Audience” (2015)

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A PLAY: 10 winners

Patricia Neal, “Another Part of the Forest” (1947)
Patricia Jessel, “Witness for the Prosecution” (1955)
Anne Bancroft, “Two for the Seesaw” (1958)
Zena Walker, “A Day in the Death of Joe Egg” (1968)
Jane Alexander, “The Great White Hope” (1969)
Dinah Manoff, “I Ought to be in Pictures” (1980)
Brid Brennan, “Dancing at Lughnasa” (1992)
Scarlett Johansson, “A View From the Bridge” (2010)
Ellen Barkin, “The Normal Heart” (2011)
Sophie Okonedo, “A Raisin in the Sun” (2014)

BEST FEATURED ACTOR IN A MUSICAL: 9 winners

Harry Belafonte, “John Murray Anderson’s Almanac” (1954)
Sydney Chaplin, “Bells are Ringing” (1957)
Frankie Michaels, “Mame” (1966)
Wilson Jermaine Heredia, “Rent” (1996)
Dan Fogler, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (2005)
Levi Kreis, “Million Dollar Quartet” (2010)
John Larroquette, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (2011)
Daveed Diggs, “Hamilton” (2016)
Ari’el Stachel, “The Band’s Visit” (2018)

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL: 12 winners

Isabel Bigley, “Guys and Dolls” (1951)
Carol Haney, “The Pajama Game” (1955)
Anna Quayle, “Stop the World – I Want to Get Off” (1963)
Tessie O’Shea, “The Girl Who Came to Supper” (1964)
Dee Dee Bridgewater, “The Wiz” (1975)
Carlin Glynn, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1979)
Lila Kedrova, “Zorba” (1984)
Leilani Jones, “Grind” (1985)
Frances Ruffelle, “Les Misérables” (1987)
Andrea Martin, “My Favorite Year” (1993)
Gretha Boston, “Show Boat” (1995)
Ruthie Ann Miles, “The King and I” (2015)

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