Caissie Levy attributed her 2026 Tony win, in part, to a support network of nannies.
“Thank you to… all the babysitters who made it possible for me to be a Broadway actor and a mother,” the mother of two, 45, said during her Tony Awards acceptance speech at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Sunday, June 7.
Winning in the category of Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her work as Mother in the revival of RagtimeLevy also thanked her children, Izaiah, 10, and Talulah, 5, whom she shares with her husband. David Reiser.
“Thanks to me Ragtime family,” Levy began. “Playing at being a mother has been one of the greatest gifts of my artistic life, and being a mother to my children has been the greatest joy of my life. Izaiah and Talulah, I love you, and although I am not there to tuck you in every night, you should know that part of my heart stays at home with you.”
Levy’s speech, which addressed her childhood dreams of becoming a Broadway star while growing up in Canada, concluded: “I love acting, I love theater, I love this amazing community. I’m so honored, thank you very much.”
Levy also thanked her parents, who accompanied her at the award ceremony, and Reiser, a composer and writer. “My husband, David, where are you? Say hello, hello. I’m so proud of the life we’ve built together,” she said. “I love you, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”
While Ragtime has kept Levy on Broadway since October 2025, the actress stepped away from the show bound for Broadway lost boys musical in November of that year due to the demand of his family. she said she in an interview published on May 29 that her children had a “very difficult start to the school year” and needed more from her. “In a matter of weeks it became very obvious that there was no way I could go back to a [rehearsal] process [for The Lost Boys] and basically disappear for three months straight from my children’s lives,” he told the outlet.
Paying tribute to the child care network she referenced in her Tony Awards speech, Levy added that their support has been crucial in getting her to where she is today. “I’m very fortunate to have this support system that is definitely integral to making the Broadway show work. The nannies and babysitters of the world are the heroes of my life, truly, and always have been,” she said. “I have had past students who have become little sisters who have helped me with my children. These young women have literally allowed me to have a career, have a child and be a mother at the same time.”
Levy continued, “I always make it a point to uplift the babysitters, the babysitters, and the tribes that we lean on to help raise our kids. Raising kids in this environment is amazing, having them backstage at the theater and having all these uncles and aunts in the cast and crew. It takes a village of people to help you do it.”




