(CNN) In her history-making acceptance speech at the Tony Awards Sunday night, Ali Stroker spoke directly to the millions of young people watching with dreams like hers.

"This award is for every kid watching tonight who has a disability, who has a limitation or a challenge, who has been waiting to see themselves represented in this arena," she said. "You are."

Stroker, 31, became the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony Award, earning Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her turn as Ado Annie in the widely celebrated revival of "Oklahoma!"

She won wide praise for her contemporary reinvention of a character often portrayed as a comically dim, boy-crazy foil to the show's romantic female lead. In this production, which also won Best Revival of a Musical, her fearless Annie isn't defined by her chair: she dances and flirts with equal ease.

Stroker waited backstage to accept her award, though most nominees are expected to walk down the theater's aisles and up the stage steps once they've won. She told reporters after her win she hopes theater owners work to make backstage areas more accessible to performers in wheelchairs.

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