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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)

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Other performers who pulled off this accomplishment in recent years include...

When the Tony Award nominations dust settled “Hell’s Kitchen” and “Stereophonic” received the most nominations with 13 each, followed by “The Outsiders” with 12, followed by the revivals of “Cabaret” with nine and “Appropriate” earning eight. Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose returns as host of the third consecutive year of the Tony Awards which CBS and Pluto will telecast June 16th from Lincoln Center.

How well to you know your Tony history? Here are some fun facts about the latest crop of nominees.

The revival of Stephen Sondheim’s 1981 musical “Merrily We Roll Along” earned seven nominations including best revival of a musical, best performance by an actor in a musical for Jonathan Groff, featured actor for Daniel Radcliffe, featured actress for Lindsay Mendez and best director for Maria Friedman (her sister Sonia Friedman is nominated for outstanding play for “Stereophonic”). The troubled original production of “Merrily We Roll Along’ only received a Tony nomination for original score.

Jodie Comer has become the 100th performer to win a Tony Award for their Broadway debut for her performance in the play, “Prima Facie.”

She won Best Actress in a Play for portraying Tess, a lawyer who concentrates in providing legal defense for men who are accused of sexual assault but soon has the unthinkable happen to her. She is the 11th person to win the category for her first outing on a Broadway stage. She joins:

SEE2023 Tony Awards: Every winner (and nominee) in all 26 competitive categories

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)

Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other...

The actor, who has starred in everything from sitcoms to Shakespeare, talks about his family rows over Brexit, having his phone hacked – and why he did not want to be like Laurence Olivier

Robert Lindsay was sitting on the set of The Fever Syndrome at London’s Hampstead theatre, having his photo taken. Instantly recognisable everywhere since his stupidly handsome days – playing the eponymous Marxist in the BBC’s sitcom Citizen Smith from 1977 to 1980 – his face nevertheless, at 72, has an unexpected quality. It’s craggier than you remember, and much more relaxed than you’d expect. Content, even.

The Fever Syndrome is a family drama set in New York, where the adult children of an eminent IVF scientist are congregating in his creaky brownstone to have a number of things out. It’s a powerful, moving work – “in the audience, every night, we’ve had people sobbing” – of which he...

For only the third time this decade, none of the acting winners at this year’s Tony Awards did so for their Broadway debut. This is the 21st time that this has happened over the 73-year history of these top theater honors. Most of the winners were actually on the opposite end of the spectrum, winning for the first time after years of Broadway experience and several nominations to their name including André De Shields, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Stephanie J. Block. Check out the complete list of winners here.

The previous instances of Broadway debuts being shut out at the Tonys were in: 1948, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1991, 1994, 2001-2003, 2012 and 2017.

Below, you can see the names of all 96 people who have won Tonys for their debut on the Great White Way.

SEE2019 Tony Awards: Best Musical ‘Hadestown’ sweeps with 8 wins, ‘The Ferryman’ takes Best Play

Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners

Paul Scofield, “A Man for All Seasons” (1962)

Cliff Gorman,...

Ari’el Stachel became the latest person to take home a Tony Award for their Broadway debut. This victory puts him in a freshman club that now has 96 members. Watch him discuss his victory in the Tonys press room in the video above.

Stachel, who won Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing Haled in “The Band’s Visit,” is the ninth person to claim that particular honor for his first Broadway outing. He joins:

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)

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Below are the Broadway debuts in the seven other acting categories that claimed Tony Awards.

Best Actor In A Play: 16 winners

Paul Scofield,...

The wry, witty, and sophisticated Tony nominee Jane Summerhays swings by Shetler Studios to look back on her incredible career in such musicals as A Chorus Line, Me and My Girl for which she was nominated for the Tony, Lend Me A Tenor, The Wild Party, and what it was like to learn from artists like Barbara Cook, Wally Harper, and Mabel Mercer.

Encores is back for round two The second production of this season is Grand Hotel, directed and choreographed byJosh Rhodes, featuring music direction by Encores Music DirectorRob Berman.Grand Hotel, The Musicalwill run for seven performances at New YorkCity Centerfrom March 21 - 25. The Encores at 25 season concludes with Me and My Girl May 9 - 13. Let's see what the critics had to say...

On Broadway and beyond, a curtain can rise as quickly as it can fall; a star can be swapped as easily as Bernie Telsey can say, “That’s enough.” Theater is the beating heart of New York show business and, if you want to make it here, it’s crucial you’re up to date on incoming projects, latest castings, and other industry news. Don’t worry, Broadway baby, Backstage has your back. Every week, we’re rounding up the can’t-miss stories no thespian should live without, so you can focus on important matters like hitting your high F. Curtain up and light those lights! Broadway goes West.Roundabout Theatre Company has announced a James Macdonald-directed revival of Sam Shepard’s “True West,” the previously Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama. Starring Tony and Academy Award nominee Ethan Hawke and Golden Globe nominee Paul Dano, the production will begin previews...

Encores is back for round two The second production of this season is Grand Hotel, directed and choreographed byJosh Rhodes, featuring music direction by Encores Music DirectorRob Berman.Grand Hotel, The Musicalwill run for seven performances at New YorkCity Centerfrom March 21 - 25. The Encores at 25 season concludes with Me and My Girl May 9 - 13. Check out a first look at the cast in action below...