The 76th annual Tony Awards are currently being broadcasted live on CBS and Paramount+.
Ariana DeBose did something extraordinary!
On Sunday, the 32-year-old DeBose took the stage at the United Palace Theatre in New York City to host the 2023 Tony Awards, marking her second consecutive hosting role for Broadway’s prestigious awards show.
After showcasing an array of impressive dance moves to a medley of Broadway hits, including a particularly gravity-defying stunt where she flung herself down a flight of stairs and was spectacularly caught, the singer and Oscar-winning actress launched into her opening monologue. She acknowledged National Puerto Rican Day and addressed the ongoing writers’ strike.
Acknowledging the “compromise” it took among “a whole host of people” to ensure the show went on, DeBose said, “We are all here.”
“So to every single person who had a hand in finding that compromise, I say a full-throated, THANK YOU!” she added, singing the last two words before admitting, “We don’t have a script, you guys!”
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The 76th annual Tony Awards are being aired as an unscripted broadcast and production on Sunday night due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike, which began on May 2.
Initially, it was expected that Lin-Manuel Miranda would write a song for the show, but he stopped working on the production in solidarity with the strike, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter in May.
The Writers Guild did not grant the Tony Awards a waiver to allow the ceremony to air as originally planned, casting doubt on whether the ceremony would happen at all. However, the WGA later announced that it would not picket the event after the Tony Awards producers committed to making alterations to the show “to conform with specific requests from the WGA,” according to THR.
Some Like It Hot, the musical adaptation of the 1959 hit comedy, leads the nominations with a staggering 13 nods, including Best Musical. Other Best Musical nominees – & Juliet, New York, New York, and Shucked – followed suit with nine nominations each, while Kimberly Akimbo, the other nominee, earned eight nominations.
Stars such as Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer, Ben Platt, Brian D’Arcy James, Sara Bareilles, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others, are nominated for various acting awards at Sunday’s ceremony.
Related: Nonbinary ‘& Juliet’ Performer Withdraws from Gendered Tony Awards Consideration: ‘The Only Right Thing’
“I was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back,” DeBose stated in a press release when she was announced as the host of the show in April.
“I am really looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen. Here’s to adding some uptown flavor to the magic of the Tony Awards.”
The West Side Story star and Hamilton alum gained viral attention for another awards show appearance in February when she performed a musical number at the 2023 BAFTA Awards, hosted by Richard E. Grant. At the London-based awards show, DeBose opened the ceremony with a rap celebrating the female nominees, including lines such as, “Angela Bassett did the thing / Viola Davis, my Woman King / Blanchett, Cate
