Ali Louis Bourzgui won his first Tony Award for his role as a charismatic vampire The Lost Boys, and used his speech to honor the queer community, immigrants and the Palestinian people.
“This is dedicated to the beautiful tapestry of immigrant families who make this country really special—may you one day not have to audition for the empathy that should be freely given by this country that benefits from your beauty, for the queer and trans communities who have and always will exist, no matter what people in power try to take away from them,” Bourzgui said.
“For the people of Palestine who deserve to live a fruitful life, a free life, a full life without occupation. For Arab theatermakers and artists, may we continue to tell our stories and show our faces, so our humanity becomes undeniable, and our families can no longer be written off as merely collateral damage. May they know the beauty of our kisses upon each cheek and the romance of a language rooted in passion for love and life itself,” he continued.
Bourzgui, a Moroccan-American actor, first came onto the Broadway scene as the lead in the the 2024 revival of The Who’s Tommy, and then went on to take over the lead role of Orpheus in Hadestown before originating the role of David in The Lost Boys. In the show, he leads the vampire gang as a bleach-blond rock idol/vampire and flies across the stage. As he noted in his speech, he believes that element of fantasy helps the audience and others find their own humanity.
“Sometimes humanity needs a fantastical lens outside of ourselves to look at and explore questions about our own nature. Vampires represent those who have shown their own humanity in order to achieve a non-existent sense of superiority. The billionaires will never find happiness from their money. The colonizers will never find fulfillment from the land and lives they steal. The fascists will never find meaning,” he continued.
“People like to say that theater is a form of escape, but I found more than ever that in this season of time, that theater is one of the last places people can come to worship the power of true collective human presence,” he said.
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