Cole Escola accepts the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play award for "Oh, Mary!" from Sarah Paulson and Jean Smart during The 78th Annual Tony Awards on June 08, 2025. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)

Cole Escola, channeling Bernadette Peters, thanked fellow nominees in their speech for their history-making Tony Awards win for "Oh, Mary!"

Cole Escola won the Tony for best actor in a play for their performance in the outlandish, ahistoric comedy “ Oh, Mary! ” This is Escola’s Broadway debut, and first Tony.