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Antisemitism-themed ‘Leopoldstadt’ and ‘Parade’ are big Tony Awards winners
(JTA) – Broadway made a statement about antisemitism Sunday evening, as two high-profile shows on the subject this season — the play “Leopoldstadt” and the musical revival “Parade” — pulled in multiple major Tony awards.
Some of the shows’ honorees, in turn, made statements of their own linking hatred of Jews with other forms of hatred, including homophobia and anti-transgender sentiment at a time when trans inclusion is under attack in many places.
“Leopoldstadt,” Tom Stoppard’s epic semi-autobiographical play about three generations of a Viennese Jewish family before and after the Holocaust, won four of the six Tonys for which it was nominated, including best play. (It was Stoppard’s fifth Tony, coming 55 years after his first, for “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead.”)
The “Leopoldstadt” actor Brandon Uranowitz, the only member of the play’s large cast to receive an acting nomination, won for featured actor in a play and thanked Stoppard for writing a show about antisemitism and “the false promise of assimilation.” He noted that members of his family were murdered by the Nazis in Poland.
Uranowitz, who is gay, ended with a plea to parents: “When your child tells you who they are, believe them.”
“Parade,” about the 1915 lynching of American Jew Leo Frank, won two prizes, including best revival of a musical. Alfred Uhry, who wrote the book to the original 1998 production of “Parade,” wore a Star of David lapel pin when he came up to accept the award for best revival.
Michael Arden, the show’s director, noted in his speech that Leo Frank had “a life that was cut short at the hands of the belief that one group of people is more or less valuable than another,” which he noted is “at the core of antisemitism, of white supremacy, of homophobia, of transphobia, of intolerance of any kind.”
Arden warned the crowd to learn the lessons of the show, “or else we are doomed to repeat the horrors of our history.” He concluded his speech with an expletive, bleeped out by the telecast, as he voiced his support of trans and nonbinary youth.
While “Parade” took the top prize, as well as best director of a musical, its Jewish stars Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond both lost out in their categories — Platt to “Some Like It Hot” star J. Harrison Ghee, and Diamond to “Kimberly Akimbo” star Victoria Clark. But Platt and Diamond did share a moment onstage, performing the “Parade” number “This Is Not Over Yet” in character as an imprisoned Frank and his wife Lucille.
The non-Jewish actor Sean Hayes won best actor in a play for his role as Oscar Levant, the real-life Jewish concert pianist, actor and entertainer who had lifelong struggles with mental illness, in “Good Night, Oscar.”
“This has got to be the first time an Oscar won a Tony,” Hayes quipped, adding that Levant’s “wit and irascibility and virtuosity is not only inspirational but a true original.”
There were several other Jewish moments at the show. Jewish Broadway legends John Kander (96 years old) and Joel Grey (91 years old) received the evening’s lifetime achievement awards, with Grey’s actress daughter Jennifer Grey presenting him with his honor. Among the pair’s many achievements: Kander composed and Grey starred in “Cabaret,” a musical set in Weimar-era Germany, and Grey mounted the recent successful Yiddish-language revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Kander is also the composer behind “New York, New York,” a new show whose musician characters include a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Poland.
Miriam Silverman won the featured actress in a play award for her role in “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window,” a revival of a long-overlooked Lorraine Hansberry play about a Jewish bohemian couple in 1960s Greenwich Village.
Lea Michele, despite not being eligible for a Tony for taking over for Beanie Feldstein in “Funny Girl,” performed her signature tune from the show about the Jewish comedian Fanny Brice. “A Beautiful Noise,” a biographical jukebox musical about chart-topping Jewish pop crooner Neil Diamond, also snuck in a performance of “Sweet Caroline” despite not being nominated for anything. The crowd gamely sang along.
And an unexpected Jewish shoutout came near the end of the ceremony, when the cast of the musical comedy “Shucked,” a show about corn, performed a song instructing viewers about the many places where the vegetable can be enjoyed. Among the options: “Bring it to a bris!”
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Exclusive: Israeli Officials Harshly Critical of Steve Witkoff’s Influence on US Policy on Gaza, Iran, i24NEWS Told
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Amid growing disagreements with the Trump administration over the composition of the Board of Peace for Gaza and the question of a strike on Iran, officials in Israel point to a key figure behind decisions seen as running counter to Israeli interests: Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The officials mention sustained dissatisfaction with Witkoff. Sources close to the PM Netanyahu told i24NEWS on Saturday evening: “For several months now, the feeling has been that envoy Steve Witkoff has strong ties, for his own reasons, across the Middle East, and that at times the Israeli interest does not truly prevail in his decision-making.”
This criticism relates both to the proposed inclusion of Turkey and Qatar in Gaza’s governing bodies and to the Iranian threat. A senior Israeli official put it bluntly: “If it turns out that he is among those blocking a strike on Iran, that is far more than a coincidence.”
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EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland
European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on June 17, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Yves Herman
European Union leaders on Saturday warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over US President Donald Trump‘s vow to implement increasing tariffs on European allies until the US is allowed to buy Greenland.
“Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President Antonio Costa said in posts on X.
The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“China and Russia must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.
“Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”
Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.
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Israel Says US Gaza Executive Board Composition Against Its Policy
FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, January 14, 2026. REUTERS/Haseeb Alwazeer/File Photo
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Saturday that this week’s Trump administration announcement on the composition of a Gaza executive board was not coordinated with Israel and ran counter to government policy.
It said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar would raise the issue with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The statement did not specify what part of the board’s composition contradicted Israeli policy. An Israeli government spokesperson declined to comment.
The board, unveiled by the White House on Friday, includes Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. Israel has repeatedly opposed any Turkish role in Gaza.
Other members of the executive board include Sigrid Kaag, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process; an Israeli‑Cypriot billionaire; and a minister from the United Arab Emirates, which established relations with Israel in 2020.
Washington this week also announced the start of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s plan, announced in September, to end the war in Gaza. This includes creating a transitional technocratic Palestinian administration in the enclave.
The first members of the so-called Board of Peace – to be chaired by Trump and tasked with supervising Gaza’s temporary governance – were also named. Members include Rubio, billionaire developer Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
