Tonys an Evening of Landmarks
for Black Actresses
African-American actresses knocked down barrier after barrier
at the 2004 Tony Awards.
The most striking achievement of the evening was Phylicia
Rashad's win as Best Leading Actress in a Play for her work as family matriarch Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun.
In winning, she became the first black actress to triumph in that category in the Tony's 58-year history. (Several African-American
performers have won as Best Leading Actress in a Musical, including Virginia Capers in Raisin, Diahann Carroll in No
Strings and Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls.)
Backstage at the ceremony, Rashad reacted with surprise
to the news. "I didn't know that," she said. "I hadn't thought about it that way. It's an honor for any actress to win this."
In addition to Rashad, two other black female performers
took home trophies—Audra McDonald of Raisin in the Sun and Anika Noni Rose of Caroline, or Change. In
all, three of the four female acting categories were won by black woman—the strongest showing ever in Tony history.
Had Tonya Pinkins of Caroline, or Change won in the Leading Actress in a Musical category—as many expected she
would—it would have been a clean sweep. Instead, Idina Menzel of Wicked triumphed.
