Two Stunning Omissions

The submission was edited and shorted for inclusion on this site.

To the editor:

In today’s climate of raging antisemitism, while several performers in the superb production of “Chess” were nominated for a Tony, the extraordinary performance of Lea Michele was ignored. The only rational reason for this omission is Michele’s intense examination of Jewish roots. Lea’s father, Mark Sarfati, is a Sephardic Jew whose roots are in Turkey and Greece. Although Michele was raised Catholic (her mother, Edith Thomasina, of Italian descent, is Catholic), through her consuming role as Jewish Rachel Barry in the Fox Series “Glee” (2009-2015), this examination was front and center. Later, in 2020, Michele rescued “Funny Girl”, playing the Jewish comedian Fanny Brice, giving the expression of Jewish humor her all.

Interestingly, Kristin Chenoweth, whose work in “The Queen of Versailles” was brilliant, was also stunningly snubbed. A devout Christian, Chenoweth is a supporter of Jewish philanthropies and a supporter of the endurance of the State of Israel.

Lea Michele will always be remembered for her show stopping performance of “Don’t Rain on my Parade” in season one of “Glee.” In Tony leadership’s shocking omissions of the performances of Michele and Chenoweth — for reasons that appear blatantly ugly and purposeful — both devoted artists have been rained upon, heavily, in dangerous cowing to today’s frightening determinations of what is politically correct.

SaraKay Smullens
Philadelphia

Submitted to The New York Times, May 6, 2026