Sorority women who have won Tony Awards include:
Agnes DeMille, Kappa Alpha Theta, 1947 Choreographer, Brigadoon, and 1993 special Tony Award for OKLAHOMA!
Patricia Neal, Pi Beta Phi, 1947 Actress, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic), Another Part of the Forrest
Sada Thompson, Kappa Alpha Theta, 1972, Twigs
Betty Buckley, Zeta Tau Alpha, 1983 Actress, Featured Role (Musical), Cats
Kristin Chenoweth, Gamma Phi Beta, 1999 Actress, Featured Role (Musical), You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Eileen Heckart, Pi Beta Phi, 2000 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre
Michele Pawk, Kappa Kappa Gamma, 2003 Best Featured Role (Dramatic), Hollywood Arms.
Phylicia Rashad, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, 2004 Actress (Play), A Raisin in the Sun
Alice Ripley, Delta Gamma, 2009 Actress (Musical), Next to Normal
Jane Bergerman Bergere, Gamma Phi Beta, Producer, 2012 Play Clybourne Park, 2013 Musical Kinky Boots
Cicely Tyson, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, 2013 Actress (Play), The Trip to Bountiful
Kelli O’Hara, Gamma Phi Beta, 2015 Actress (Musical), The King and I
Renée Elise Goldsberry, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, Actress (Musical) 2016, Hamilton
Phylicia Rashad, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, 2023 Actress (Play), Skeleton Crew
Sorority women who have been nominated but haven’t won (yet) include: Kathy Bates, Alpha Delta Pi; Carrie Coon, Alpha Delta Pi; Dana Ivey, Phi Mu; Mary Beth Peil, Gamma Phi Beta; Susan Browning, Kappa Alpha Theta; Jane Connell, Kappa Alpha Theta; and Kim Stanley, Kappa Kappa Gamma.
In the 1920s, Maurine Dallas Watkins, Kappa Alpha Theta, wrote the original play, Chicago, a musical which has won several Tonys.
Kelli O’Hara and Kristin Chenoweth are alumnae of the same chapter of Gamma Phi Beta, the Beta Omicron Chapter at Oklahoma City University. Their time as collegians did not overlap.
The Tony Awards are named for Antoinette Perry, actress, director, producer and leader of the American Theatre Wing. She passed away shortly before the first award ceremony. It was held on April 6, 1947, Easter Sunday, in the Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom.
Additions and corrections to this list are welcomed using the comments section of this post or the comments section of one of the page posts (at the top of the page).
©Fran Becque, www.fraternityhistory.com, 2013. All rights reserved.
Oklahoma City University generates many singers and actors and just produced another Miss Oklahoma from that same Gamma Phi Beta chapter. She was crowned last night and is a Tulsan.
Congratulations to the new Miss Oklahoma!