Freedom to Marry board member Jordan Roth (and advocate Audra McDonald) win Tony Awards

June 11, 2012

Last night, at the 66th Annual Tony Awards, Freedom to Marry board member Jordan Roth took home one of the top awards for producing Clybourne Park, a groundbreaking play about race relations and housing. Jordan's big win last night is his latest Broadway success. The producer serves as President of Jujamcyn Theaters, which owns and operates a number of Broadway theaters, and he was at the helm of many recent Broadway hits, including the revival of Hair, the revival of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and A Catered Affair. 

Jordan has demonstrated commitment to LGBT causes; he has worked closely with Freedom to Marry for several years on our steering committee, and he has also served on the boards of the Gay Men's Health Crisis and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. His work has been honored by Out Magazine's "Out 100" and Time Out New York's "42 Reasons to Applaud New York Theatre."

In his acceptance speech, Jordan spoke passionately about the power of theatre. He said: 

There are those rare people who can look at the world and see things the rest of us don't see until they show us; these are the writers. There are the special few who can take that vision and turn it back into a world; these are the directors, the designers. There are fearless beings who can live in that world and show us who we are; these are our actors. There are dedicated people who know why that world matters so very much: crew, theater staff, producers, investors, managers, marketers. And then there are the people who step forward and say, "Show me this world. Open me. Change me." These are our audiences. And when all of these people come together and say, "Yes," there is theater.

Fellow marriage supporter Audra McDonald won her fifth Tony for her moving and passionate performance in The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. McDonald performed an incredible excerpt from "Summertime" earlier in the evening, and she dedicated her award to her daughter.

Audra has maintained a longtime commitment to advocating for the LGBT community and making the case for the freedom to marry. Just last month, she appeared in a video produced by Freedom to Marry, where she spoke about why she agrees with President Barack Obama's support of the freedom to marry for all couples. Watch the video below.

We love seeing supporters of marriage for all couples achieve success, but it is even more heartening to see people who have represented Freedom to Marry triumph. We applaud Jordan and Audra for their success on stage and thank them for their continued marriage advocacy offstage. 

Photo Credit: Bennett Raglan/WireImage