RIDGEWOOD — Champagne popped and cheers rang out as friends of Broadway star Ali Stroker celebrated the Ridgewood native's becoming the first actor in a wheelchair to win a Tony.

"She isn't going to win this award because she's in a wheelchair," said Gail McCarthy, the event co-coordinator. "She's going to win this award because she's the most talented, hardest-working and biggest inspiration to our community."

Stroker, 31, who was paralyzed from the chest down at the age of 2 in a car accident, plays Ado Annie in the gutsy revival of the Broadway classic "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!"

The New York Times described her vivacious portrayal as a "country siren-voiced Ado Annie, who rides a wheelchair as if it were a prize bronco."

With 50 of her family members and friends looking on from the Park West Loft in Ridgewood on Sunday, Stroker made musical theater history by winning the Tony for best performance by an actress in a featured role in a musical.

"This award is for every kid who is watching tonight who has a disability, a limitation or a challenge who has been waiting for themselves to be represented in this arena," Stroker said in her acceptance speech.

Throughout her time at Ridgewood High School, Stroker frequently landed leading roles in the theater program, RHS New Players.

"It's not that the wheelchair disappears, but it's an integral part of her performance,"said Meg Schaefer, artistic director of the Ridgewood High School theater program. "I feel like everybody in Ridgewood is watching tonight, because we all watched her grow up."

Her talent shone through even in childhood: At age 9, she starred as Dorothy in "The Wiz" in a production at Somerville Elementary School.

More recently, she appeared on television, in Oxygen's network's "The Glee Project" and an episode of Comedy Central's "Drunk History" that focused on the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Earlier this month, she claimed the Drama Desk Award for best featured actress in a musical. "Oklahoma!" — which also won the Tony for best revival of a musical — was directed by Daniel Fish, who grew up in Tenafly.

"This means everything," Noreen Clarke, the first director to work with Stroker, said as she fought back emotions on Sunday. "Ali is magical — her winning this award just opens the door for everybody else."