Alex Newell owns the mid-show standing ovation. It’s a rare honor and seldom occurrence, one normally reserved for a night when a performer is really on fire. For Newell, it happens almost every evening. “It’s always very crazy, because you never think that that reaction is going to happen constantly,” Newell says over the phone. “When I did Once on This Island, it happened occasionally, enough that it was noticeable. But to have it happen each and every night almost is quite literally flabbergasting sometimes.”
Newell currently stars as Lulu in Shucked at the Nederlander Theatre. The musical, set in the fictional Cob County, follows Maizy (played by Caroline Innerbichler), a young girl who sets out to save the town’s main crop, corn, when it blights. Newell plays Maizy’s quick-tongued cousin and the whiskey distiller. Their show-stopping number, “Independently Owned,” comes in the middle of act one. Newell’s vocals fly over the set’s high rafters. For their performance in the self-proclaimed corniest show on Broadway, Newell received the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical.
The Tony Award comes after years of hard work. Newell, first known for their appearance on the competition show The Glee Project, from which they won a guest spot in hit-show Glee, also starred in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist on NBC. They also made their Broadway debut in 2017 in Michael Arden’s revival of Once on This Island, for which they received flowers in the theater world.
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Just days after their win, Alex chats with ELLE.com to discuss their historic Tony win, the messages they received from their Glee costars, and the role they’re dying to play.
How are you feeling after your Tony Award win?
It’s all still so surreal. It’s hard, because I still have to do the shows at night. So, we’re still riding the high but still in the drama at the end of the day.
This was a historic Tony win because both J. Harrison Ghee, who won Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Some Like It Hot, and you were the first nonbinary actors to win Tony Awards. Many are saying this feels like a pivotal moment in the theater industry. What does this mean to you and what do you think these wins mean to the Broadway community?
We have to make space to tell stories that are different than what we actually know most days. Everyone’s story deserves to be told, I think, good, bad, ugly, a story can be told, as long as we’re respectful about it.
What’s also important is your character, Lulu, is not nonbinary in the show. What does that mean to you?
If I’m playing a character in a show, and there is no bat of an eye, there is no question about it, that is truly what art should be. I think it should be reflected, it should be respected. That’s my favorite part; no one questions Lulu at all, because that’s not what they’re supposed to do.
You worked with Michael Arden on Once on This Island. He won Best Direction of a Musical at the Tony Awards for his revival of Parade. What was it like to see him win that night?
Michael gave me my Broadway debut. So, he always has a special place in my heart. He’s worked so hard, and his vision is always so honest and so true. So, it was brilliant seeing him win.
Your Glee costar, Lea Michele, posted a picture of you and her together after the Tony Awards. What was it like seeing her there?
Wonderful. I mean, it was wonderful evening. I’m not going to talk too much about it, because I don’t need to, but it truly was. It’s nice. We all come from a very long way. Glee is just like family. We didn’t get to pick each other. We were in this exceptional kind of vacuum and microcosm, but at the end of the day, we will still support each other.
Have any of your other costars reached out to you? What have they said?
I just talked to Jenna [Ushkowitz] and Kevin [McHale] on their podcast. They were extremely excited and proud and happy. Amber [Riley] as well. It’s a family. I can’t stress that enough.
At ELLE, we like to ask performers about their “show must go on” moment, a moment where the community had to come together to make the show happen. What was that moment for you?
I’ve never been the biggest proponent on “the show must go on,” only because of safety and vocal health and all that other stuff that comes with it. Like, sometimes it can’t go on. I think more recently, all of our Maizys were sick in the building, and so we just rallied behind Robert Horn, who wrote our book, and Brandy Clark, who wrote our music with Shane McAnally, and they filled the role of Maizy. It was this magical moment with two of the writers, and it was just something that never happens. That was kind of beautiful. It shouldn’t have happened, but it was still kind of beautiful to watch and experience.
It's different because, you know, Robert Horn is a lovely Jewish man. Brandy Clark is a country star, and so they’re not the normal Maizy. They’re sharing this role. It’s just different to see Robert's mind and how he envisioned most of the lines said and his quirks about it all.
I think anyone that comes to theater is already a fan of it, unless they’re like a tourist just want to see something. The audience was just so welcoming. They thought that they were gonna get something and they didn’t get that. But, they got this. They weren’t biting and they ended up loving it, because it is so special. No one gets to hear the book writer and the music writer sing and read their own material ever.
What drew you to Shucked initially?
I read so many books that I got bored with. But, when I read this I just cackled out loud, because it was different. It was very different than any comedy that I’ve read in a very long time. So, that’s why I did this. The book is hilarious. And it’s only gotten better since I read it months ago.
How does Shucked mirror our society?
It’s holding up a mirror and seeing how things are, and how we need to be more of a community. Sometimes discounting something and throwing it away just means that it’s time for you to grow and realize that it’s always been great for you. You just need to respect it more.
You’ve said many times that your voice is your temple. How do you make sure your voice is taken care of every show? What does your self-care routine look like?
I call out. I do. I had a mentor say, “Would you rather sing today or sing for the rest of your life?” I take that to heart, because I'd rather sing for the rest of my life, not just the one performance.
What’s a role you’re dying to play?
Effie [White, from Dreamgirls]. I've grown up with this role. It was the titular, quote, unquote, plus size Black woman role. I’ve known Jennifer Holliday for longer than I’ve actually “known known” her because I was such a fan. She was my idol. The role itself is that of this woman who was seemed less than just because she didn’t fit the stereotypical mold that this man thought she should have. And she just wanted to sing, all she wanted to do was sing and have all of her dreams come true. Just because she didn’t fit the mold that he thought, she was deemed lesser then. It’s the psychological thing of how darker skinned women, or Black woman in general, are seen as difficult just for speaking up sometimes. So, I think that that’s why I’ve always been drawn to it, because my life mirrors that a lot. I mean, I’ve had teachers look at me and say that my work ethic wasn’t good enough to do anything or be successful. So, having that in the back of my mind, I started to believe it, but I knew that it wasn’t true when all I wanted to be was a performer. My work ethic just didn’t apply to what you wanted it to.
How do you see yourself in Lulu?
The song speaks for itself, “Independently Owned.” I’ve worked my entire career over by myself. I’ve made this lovely, brilliant path for myself. I love that. I always say when dating, I don’t want anyone to come into my life, that’s going to subtract. I only want someone who’s gonna come in to add, because I am independently owned in my own life and career. So, I think we are parallel in that because we’re on this journey of finding something else that can add to us. That doesn’t mean we’re still not independent and that we do also want other things outside of that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Alex Newell stars as Lulu in Shucked at the Nederlander Theatre. Tickets are available for purchase here.
Samuel is the Assistant to the Editor-in-Chief at ELLE Magazine. His interests include music, theater, books, video games, and anything to do with Taylor Swift. He famously broke both his arms at the same time in fourth grade.
