Victoria Clark was named the winner of the 2023 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical June 11 at the 76th Annual Tony Awards at United Palace in Washington Heights.
Clark won the prize for her work in the title role in Kimberly Akimbo.
Others in the category included Annaleigh Ashford in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street; Sara Bareilles in Into the Woods; Lorna Courtney in & Juliet; and Micaela Diamond in Parade.
Clark previously won a Tony for her performance in The Light in the Piazza and was also Tony-nominated for her work in Gigi, Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Sister Act. She has also been seen on Broadway in The Snow Geese, Urinetown, Cabaret, Titanic, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Grand Night for Singing, Guys and Dolls, and Sunday in the Park With George.
In her acceptance speech, Clark gave a shout-out to the Writers' Guild of America and their strike, saying, “We are nothing without our writers, support the WGA and their struggle for the contract they deserve." She also thanked the creators of Kimberly Akimbo, composer Jeanine Tesori, book writer/lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire, and director Jessica Stone: "I was so sure I knew who I was and who I wasn’t, and you proved me completely wrong." She then thanked her co-stars, many of whom are teenagers, remarking with her trademark humor, "I can't wait to see your gorgeous careers unfold; of course, by the time you’re my age, I’ll be dead."
She closed her speech thanking her late mother, Lorraine Clark, saying, "She didn’t believe in limits, and neither should we.”
Check Playbill throughout the evening for the latest in Tony Awards coverage, including photos from the red carpet, a continually updated list of winners, analysis from Playbill's theatre experts, and more.
Victoria Clark and company in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Victoria Clark and Bill Buell in Titanic
Joan Marcus
Bill Buell and Victoria Clark record the Titanic cast album
Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza.
Joan Marcus
Victoria Clark in The Light in the Piazza
Joan Marcus
Victoria Clark and Mark Harelik in The Light in the Piazza
Kelli O'Hara, Victoria Clark and Matthew Morrison in The Light in the Piazza
Joan Marcus
Victoria Clark and Donna Murphy in Follies at City Center Encores!
Victoria Clark and Victor Garber in Follies at City Center Encores!
Conrad John Schuck and Victoria Clark in Juno at Encores!
Heather Burns, Zoe Lister-Jones, Adam LeFevre, Victoria Clark, Kate Jennings Grant, Christopher Evan Welch, Julie Hagerty and John Glover in Roundabout's The Marriage of Bette and Boo
Kate Jennings Grant, Heather Burns and Victoria Clark in Roundabout's The Marriage of Bette and Boo
Victoria Clark in Prayer for My Enemy at Playwrights Horizons
Victoria Clark and Chuck Cooper in The Mikado at Carnegie Hall
Victoria Clark in When the Rain Stops Falling at Lincoln Center Theater
Michael Siberry, Victoria Clark and Richard Topol in When the Rain Stops Falling at Lincoln Center Theater
Patina Miller and Victoria Clark in Sister Act
Joan Marcus
Victoria Clark and Patina Miller in Sister Act
Victoria Clark in Sister Act
Victoria Clark in Sister Act
Victoria Clark in Follies in Los Angeles
Ron Raines, Victoria Clark, Lora Lee Gayer and Nick Verina in Follies in Los Angeles
Victoria Clark and Danny Burstein in Los Angeles
Victoria Clark in Follies in Los Angeles
Victoria Clark
Laura Osnes and Victoria Clark in Cinderella
Clark with Mary-Louise Parker in The Snow Geese
Clark and Danny Burstein in The Snow Geese
Clark in Gigi
Photo by Joan Marcus
Howard McGillin and Victoria Clark in Gigi
Photo by Joan Marcus
Clark with Howard McGillin in Gigi
Photo by Joan Marcus
Victoria Clark
Cylla von Tiedemann
Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark and Jordan Barrow
Cylla von Tiedemann
Erin Markey and Victoria Clark
Victoria Clark, John Ellison Conlee, Shuler Hensley, and Steven Pasquale
Danny Burstein, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Morrison, Victoria Clark, and Stephen Bogardus
