7 Broadway Ensemble Dancers Who Deserve Their Own Tony Awards

May 2, 2018

The Broadway community was #shook on Tuesday morning as “Smash” alums Leslie Odom Jr. and Katharine McPhee announced the 2018 Tony Award nominations. (We were so happy to see our friends from Mean Girls honored with 12 noms!) But—sadly—there’s no Tony Award category for ensemble dancers. Which feels especially unfair right now because this season’s dancers are, in a word, killer.


So we went ahead and chose 7 of ’em who deserve Tony Awards of their own. Ladies and gentlemen, our picks for 2018’s Best Ensemble Dancers:

Ryan Steele of “Carousel”

RYAN! DESERVES! EVERYTHING!

Seriously, though, Ryan Steele is the real deal. Carousel is this star’s fifth Broadway show, having just come off a run in the national tour of An American in Paris. TBH, Steele deserves a Tony Award for every single one of the iconic fouettés he did back in Newsies.

Oneika Phillips of “SpongeBob SquarePants”

The only thing better than Oneika Phillips’ outrageous costume in SpongeBob is her incredible dancing. Seeing her break it down in a bright green wig and rainbow-colored costume is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Ben Cook of “Mean Girls”

In case you couldn’t tell, we LOVE Ben Cook. We really feel like we’ve watched him grow up, following him from Billy Elliot to Newsies to Tuck Everlasting. Now, he’s absolutely slaying it each night in Mean Girls.

Samantha Farrow of “Escape to Margaritaville”

After touring the country in Wicked and Evita, Samantha Farrow—who’s also a super-hardcore fitness instructor—is making her Broadway debut this season. And we’re already obsessed with her next-level dancing.

Ricky Ubeda of “Carousel”

I mean, c’mon! How could we not include Ricky on this list? He went straight from winning over America on “So You Think You Can Dance” to slaying Broadway in On the Town, and his portrayal of Mistoffelees in the revival of Cats was the most twirl-tastic thing we’ve seen in years.

Afra Hines of “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical”

Hamilton,
Shuffle Along, Motown, Soul Doctor, Ghost, In The Heights, Wicked: The fabulous Afra Hines is, to put it mildly, no stranger to the Broadway stage. She’s won both Astaire and ACCA Awards for her past work—let’s add a Tony to that list!

Corey John Snide of “Carousel”

From Broadway to Juilliard and back again! Corey John Snide made his Broadway debut in 13 the Musical as a pre-teen before enrolling at Juilliard. Since graduating, he’s covering multiple tracks in the revival of Cats and now takes on the roles of swing and dance captain in Carousel. He’s well on his way to taking over the Great White Way.