Celia Keenan-Bolger has won a Tony Award before, and been nominated four other times, though she likes to joke: "The best way to go to the Tonys is when you know you're not gonna win, because then you don't have to be nervous." Well this year, the beloved actor doesn't have to be nervous at all, because she's already won. This year, Keenan-Bolger is the recipient of a special Tony Award, the Isabelle Stevenson Award for her advocacy work.
Watch the video above to see her reaction, which is filled with humility. "I think if you're in high school, if you are at work in an office, whatever community you are a part of鈥攜ou can look around and say, 'that needs help. And maybe I can be someone who is a helper.' That really is all I've done."
A Tony winner for her performance in To Kill a Mockingbird, Keenan-Bolger spends much of her offstage time dedicated to humanitarian and political causes. She served as a field organizer in Pennsylvania during the 2008 Obama campaign, co-founded Broadway for Obama in 2012, served on the advisory board of Broadway Impact during their successful campaign for marriage equality, and co-founded Broadway Feeds Bellevue during the COVID-19 pandemic, to list just a small amount of her work.
Recently, she helped establish The Gavin Creel Fellowship with the American Theatre Wing, in honor of her friend, the late actor Gavin Creel. Keenan-Bolger also created the Activist Artist Endowed Scholarship Fund with Creel, helping to provide scholarships to musical theatre students at the University of Michigan who are devoted to service and social justice. A certified end-of-life doula, Keenan-Bolger is skilled at providing counsel to people at the end of their lives, something the Broadway community saw firsthand with Creel's untimely passing last year.
As an actor, Keenan-Bolger has also received Tony nominations for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Glass Menagerie, and last season's Mother Play.
Nominations for the Tonys' competitive categories were revealed May 1, with Buena Vista Social Club, Death Becomes Her, and Maybe Happy Ending sharing the distinction of being the most nominated shows of the season, each earning 10 nods. See the full list of nominees here.
Winners will be named at The 78th Annual Tony Awards, set to broadcast live from Radio City Music Hall June 8, beginning at 8 PM ET on CBS and streaming live on Paramount+ (for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plans) in the U.S. Wicked film star and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo will host the evening.
Darren Criss, a 2025 Tony nominee for his performance in Maybe Happy Ending, and Hamilton Tony winner Goldsberry will host The Tony Awards: Act One, the live pre-show preceding the 78th Annual Tony Awards. The Tony Awards: Act One will be available to viewers for free on Pluto TV beginning June 8 at 6:40 PM and continuing until 8 PM.
The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers and showrunners for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.
The American Theatre Wing鈥檚 Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing. At the Broadway League, Kristin Caskey is chair, and Jason Laks is president. At the American Theatre Wing, Emilio Sosa is chair, and Heather Hitchens is president and CEO.
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