For Alex Newell, standing ovations just keep coming

Newell was nominated for best featured actor in a musical for their role as the big-voiced whiskey entrepreneur Lulu in "Shucked."

Caroline Innerbichler, left, and Alex Newell in "Shucked" at the Nederlander Theater. Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.

Alex Newell's Monday night was already pretty great. They attended the Met Gala, landing a spot next to Jimmy Fallon and Glenn Close. "I was like, 'I've made it," they said.

Then boom - on Tuesday morning, their first Tony Award nomination.

"I haven't cried yet," they said in an interview from the Pierre Hotel on Tuesday, "so I'm waiting for that little dime to drop soon."

Newell, 30, who uses they/ them pronouns, was nominated for best featured actor in a musical, for their role as the big-voiced whiskey entrepreneur Lulu in "Shucked," the new, countrified Broadway musical about a small farming town whose corn crop begins mysteriously dying.

In The New York Times review of the production, Jesse Green wrote that Newell, who may be most recognizable for their time on "Glee" as the transgender teenager Unique Adams, turns Lulu "into a full-blown comic creation." They have become the show's breakout star, bringing down the house in the middle of the first act with the showstopping feminist anthem "Independently Owned," a soulful, commanding number in which Lulu emphatically declares that she doesn't need a man to be fulfilled. (Newell's powerful voice is showcased in two Tony-nominated productions this season: Their high-energy bop, "Kill the Lights," plays during the disco-inspired dance party at the end of "Fat Ham.")