The Tony Awards 2022: Why Jennifer Hudson has just made history

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WNYC | Jun 13, 2022
Updated June 13, 2022 at 1:54 AM ET

The 75th annual Tony Awards named the best of Broadway in the 2021-22 season. And it was a big night for Jennifer Hudson: At Sunday's Tonys, Hudson became just the 17th person to reach the rarified status of the entertainment industry's version of the grand slam.

A Tony Award is the final piece of the puzzle for Hudson, who reached EGOT status — winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and now, a Tony.

Hudson was a producer for A Strange Loop, which was nominated for best musical. In the words of the show's creator Michael R. Jackson, the show is "a musical about a young Black gay man named Usher who works as an usher at a Broadway show who is writing a musical about a young Black gay man named Usher who works as an usher at a Broadway show... who is caught in a self-referential loop of his own self hatred."

Hudson has won a Daytime Emmy for her role as executive producer for Baby Yaga, Grammy awards for The Color Purple and her debut self-titled studio album, and an Oscar for best supporting actress in Dreamgirls.

A full list of Tony Award winners can be seen here.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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