Jonathan Groff is halfway to an EGOT.
The Ronks native won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical on Sunday night, June 16, after two previous nominations, for his role as composer-turned-film producer Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along.
Groff shares a Grammy Award with the cast of Hamilton, leaving an Emmy and Oscar in coveted EGOT status.
Jonathan Groff poses in the press room with the award for Best Lead Actor in a Musical for “Merrily We Roll Along” at the 77th Tony Awards, Sunday, June 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
I grew up in a house surrounded by cornfields in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, an emotional Groff said in his acceptance speech. I was raised by my parents, Jim and Julie Groff, and my brother David, all of whom were seated next to Groff at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York on Sunday evening.
Thank you for letting me dress up like Mary Poppins when I was three, thank you for letting me act out scenes from I Love Lucy on my tenth birthday, thank you for always letting my weird flag fly without ever letting me “Make me feel weird about it,” Groff said. Even though they didn't always understand me, my family knew the saving power of fanning the flame of a young person's passions without judgment.
“I go through life with an open heart because you let me know I could,” Groff told his family.
Thanks to all my teachers in Pennsylvania, especially Sue Fisher, who told me I could do this for a living. Fisher was Groff's English teacher at Conestoga Valley Middle School and spotted his talent early.
He thanked “Merrily” director Maria Friedman for allowing him to “accept, respect and express both the lightest and darkest parts of myself.”
Groff will star in Merrily…, the popular Broadway revival of a Stephen Sondheim musical, at the Hudson Theater until the production concludes July 7. In reverse chronological order, the musical tells the story of a deteriorating 20-year friendship between three creators. .
Earlier Sunday evening, Groff's “Merrily…” castmate Daniel Radcliffe won his first Tony for his starring role as Charley Kringas on the series. Their other co-star, Lindsay Mendez, was nominated for featured actress but did not win.
From left, Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez perform “Old Friends” from “Merrily We Roll Along” at the 77th Tony Awards on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in New York.
The three stars performed Merrily's song “Old Friends” during CBS' televised broadcast of the 77th Tony Awards.
In his speech, Groff called Mendez and Radcliffe his “soul mates.”
Groff was previously nominated for Tonys for his breakout role as Melchior Gabor in the musical Spring Awakening and for playing King George III in the original cast of Hamilton.
Groff shared the 2016 Grammy Award with the other lead soloists from the cast of Hamilton, for Best Musical Theater Album. He was also nominated for an Emmy Award for playing King George in the film version of Hamilton, on Disney+. He has won the Obie and other awards for his off-Broadway theater work.
He performed on local stages before moving to New York and Broadway after high school.
“I moved to New York exactly 20 years ago this year and got a job as a waiter and became a volunteer for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and all I wanted was to be a part of this community,” he said.
Jonathan Groff accepts the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for “Merrily We Roll Along” at the 77th Tony Awards, Sunday, June 16, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
He credited those involved in his first Broadway show, “Spring Awakening,” for helping his Broadway dream come true, “but he also inspired me to come out of the closet when I was 23. I I'm now 39 and musical theater is still saving my soul,” he added.
“When I was a kid in Pennsylvania, I recorded the Tony Awards on a VHS tape and watched the performances over and over again,” Groff said at the end of his speech. “And actually participating in the creation of theater in this city and just as much being able to watch the work of this incredible, incredible community has been the greatest gift and the greatest pleasure of my life. And I thank you.”
When her name was announced as the Tony winner Sunday night, Groff first hugged her parents, then found Friedman in the aisle and lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. The final hug went to Daniel Radcliffe before Groff took the stage.
Groff's role in Merrily…, as well as his recent appearance on the popular British sci-fi show Doctor Who, brought the Conestoga Valley High School graduate to a new level of attention. Over the past few months, he has been interviewed by a multitude of major newspapers and magazines as well as on daytime and evening talk shows.
Jonathan Groff, from left, Lindsay Mendez and Daniel Radcliffe accept the award for best revival of a musical for “Merrily We Roll Along” at the 77th Tony Awards, Sunday, June 16, 2024, in New York . (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
He is also known for his television performances in Glee, Looking and Mindhunter, as well as his film roles including Knock at the Cabin, Disney's animated films Frozen and The Matrix Resurrections.
Merrily We Roll Along, a quick failure when it debuted on Broadway in 1981, became last year's must-see theater ticket, which many theater writers and critics attributed to the performances of Groff, Radcliffe and Mendez.
