Ariana DeBose Opens With Broadway Hits Mashup – Deadline

She’s back on Broadway! Ariana DeBosewhich got her started performing on the Great White Way, has since become a big movie star — even win an Oscar. Now she’s returning to her theatrical roots as the host of the 75th Annual Tony Awards.

DeBose, 31, donned a dazzling all-white ensemble as the awards show opened on Sunday, June 12 with a mashup of Broadway hits. The So you think you can dance alum even shouted at Lin-Manuel Mirandawho she starred with in the original cast of hamiltonand sang West Side Story‘Somewhere’ as footage from past Tony Awards played on a screen behind her. In the 2021 film adaptation, the ballad is performed by Rita Morenowho played Anita in the original 1961 film.

Last month, the American Theater Wing announced that the West Side Story actress – who won Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and SAG Award trophies for her role as Anita in Steven SpielbergThe musical’s 2021 remake – would host the ceremony honoring Broadway’s brightest stars of the year.

“After the past two difficult years, there is no one better to bring the theater community together on this important evening honoring the best of Broadway and once again sharing the joys of performing live than this extraordinarily talented artist,” said said the CBS director. jack susman said in a statement at the time.

DeBose – who joins the ranks of former hosts, including Neil Patrick Harris, James Cordon, Sara Bareilles, Josh Groban and Leslie Odom Jr. – had eagerly prepared for her debut as a host.

“I ran into these two at rehearsal today. They’re up to something great for the @thetonyawards pre-show,” she said via Instagram earlier this week, sharing a photo with the Tony Awards pre-show hosts. Darren Criss and Julianne Hough.

Sunday’s ceremony marks the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shutdown that the awards show has returned to Radio City Music Hall. (Last year’s show aired from the Winter Garden Theatre.)

“It’s the first time we’ve been back to Radio City. The community is still coming out of what has been an extremely difficult time,” said the Prom the actress said The New York Times in an interview published Thursday, June 9. arrive at this precise moment.

She added: “I’d like to throw up, if I’m being honest. But I like challenges. And I just feel like everything we do is going to be fun.

DeBose is a Tony Award nominee herself, winning Best Actress in a Musical Wink in 2018 for her performance as Donna Summer in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical. While the North Carolina native ultimately lost the category to Lindsay Mendez – who won for his role in Rodgers & Hammerstein Carousel – she was humbled by the recognition.

“From start to finish, the Tonys have been a whirlwind,” the North Carolina native told PopMatters in August 2018. “You’re put on a different level for a moment that lets you talk about things that are important for you. I was able to use my platform to talk about LGBTQ rights, to talk about what it means to be biracial, what it means to be one of the only biracial queer women to be nominated in this particular season. It gave us visibility. »

DeBose – who made his Broadway debut in 2012 Bring It On: The Musical — also appeared on stage in Motown the Musical, Pippin apple, Hamilton: an American musical and A Bronx Tale: The Musical.