Overview
- The 79th Tony Awards, held June 7, gave Cats: The Jellicle Ball three wins including Best Direction of a Musical for Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch and Best Choreography for Omari Wiles and Arturo Lyons.
- Costume designer Qween Jean won a Tony for the production, becoming the first transgender person to take home a Tony award for their work.
- The choreography win marks the first Tony nominations and first wins for Wiles and Lyons, who made their Broadway debut on this revival and credited ballroom training and vogueing in their acceptance remarks.
- Cats: The Jellicle Ball opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in April as a reimagining that layers vogueing, runway performance, and dance‑music beats onto Andrew Lloyd Webber’s score and continues its run through the 2026–27 season.
- Winners said the recognition could broaden opportunities for ballroom artists on commercial stages and the choreographers signaled they have discussed, but not confirmed, mounting other Broadway work such as a possible revival of Fame.