Lea Michele Celebrates Alex Newell’s Tony Award Win With Cute ‘Glee’ Reunion

‘Glee’ costars Lea Michele and Alex Newell appeared backstage at the Tony Awards ceremony in costume for their respective Broadway shows

Lea Michele and Alex Newell had a lot to celebrate at the 2023 Tony Awards.

At Sunday’s celebration of Broadway’s best, Newell became the first nonbinary performer in the show’s history to win a Tony, winning the award for best performance by an actor in a featured role in a musical.

“Thank you for seeing me Broadway,” Newell said.

To commemorate their victory, Newell’s former Glee costar shared a sweet selfie of the two backstage at New York City's United Palace Theater. “Congratulations @thealexnewell !!!!,” wrote Michele.

"Mommy, I love you. Thank you for believing in me, thank you for loving me unconditionally, thank you for teaching me what strength is," Newell said as they accepted the award.

Both Michele and Newell can be seen in costume for their respective Broadway shows. Newell, 30, who identifies both as nonbinary and gender fluid, won the prize for their show-stopping performance in Shucked. They appeared in character as Lulu during the production’s medley of songs performed during the Tonys ceremony.

Michele, 36, was on hand to perform as Fanny Brice from her still-running revival of Funny Girl. The production, originally starring Beanie Feldstein in the role, launched on Broadway in April 2022 and was eligible for last year’s Tonys (earning one nomination).

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Michele, who starred in the original production of Spring Awakening in 2006, played Rachel Berry on the hit Fox musical comedy Glee from 2009 until its finale in 2015. Newell, a runner-up on the audition show The Glee Project, booked a two-episode arc as Unique Adams in the series’ third season before joining the main cast the following year.

Michele also performed a “Don’t Rain on My Parade” number midway through Sunday’s show earned rapturous applause, followed by a hug from ceremony host Ariana DeBose.

Newell’s other credits include the Broadway revival of Once on This Island and NBC’s Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist, which earned them a Critics’ Choice Award nomination in 2021. Their historic Tony Awards victory followed equally historic nominations, both for them and fellow nonbinary star J. Harrison Ghee, who also won Sunday night, as best leading actor in a musical for Some Like It Hot.

“I have wanted this my entire life, and I thank each and every one of you in this room right now," said Newell in a joyful acceptance speech on the Tonys stage.

"I should not be up here," they said. "As a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts… to anyone that thinks that they can’t do it, I am going to look you dead in your face [and say] that you can do anything you put your mind to.”

The day following their groundbreaking win, Newell shared an Instagram reel of them holding their spinning Tony Award with the caption, “PERIODTT!”

The broadcast was unscripted due to the entertainment industry’s ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

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