How surreal it must have been for Ariana DeBose to be hosting the Tonys! It's actually been several years since she was in Hamilton but it feels quicker and what a clutch of years that has been! They had her do a lot of musical performances last night -- obviously -- and they were mostly lively and fun. I also enjoyed the very wide variety of ways she said the words, "this is CBS."
Ariana DeBose
This is gorgeous, and also I DO think that if you're hosting something that will be mostly filmed from the waist up, you should probably pick something that's got the jazz and snazz at the top.
Ariana DeBose
There were a lot of cut-outs happening last night. I didn't love this one; it felt like it kept sort of...drifting around.
The cast of "SIX" and Ariana DeBose
These shoes! She looks charming in this, and Six looks VERY fun. (The Jane Seymour there is actually the swing performer, because the regular Jane got Covid at the last minute. Can you imagine! She did great.)
DETACHABLE TRAIN.
Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster
I appreciate that the selection from The Music Man was (a) the showstopper with the most amount of cast and (b) let Sutton Foster tap dance, but I do think it's sort of weird that they chose a number where she doesn't sing solo at all.
Paris Jackson and Prince Jackson
Paris Jackson looked, I thought, really beautiful and princess-y last night; her brother looks totally reasonable and has a very chill vibe. It seems like a miracle that both of these kids, as far as I know, are generally fairly well-adjusted.
Darren Criss and Julianne Hough
I believe they hosted the first, non-televised hour of the awards. Julianne here, during the standard part of the telecast, sort of looks like we've caught her during the part of her nighttime schedule when she's got her fancy nightgown on but hasn't taken her stockings or makeup off.
Renee Elise Goldsberry and Phillipa Soo
WHERE IS PEGGY. Her father is in the house!
Michael R. Jackson,
Just needed to reiterate that this cape is DIVINE and really works on stage.
Adrienne Warren, Aaron Tveit
I THINK that's the Loewe Leg Hole dress on Adrienne Warren, but she looks basically superb here. (Tveit looks handsome but unremarkable.)
This is the performance from "A Strange Loop." It was a good performance -- I do sort of get the impression that it's a tough show to just plonk an audience into?
Joaquina Kalukango
As Heather noted earlier today, she NAILED THIS PERFORMANCE OH MY GOD.
The original cast of "Spring Awakening"
We were wondering why the"Spring Awakening" performance was so dude-heavy, and one of you wisely noted on Twitter that the number they chose had a good solo for Skylar Astin (who is great!) who....has a new TV show premiering on CBS very soon.
The cast of "Company"
I regret to note that I have been singing this song since last night. (I also spent a lot of time watching this and remembering how the Broadway subReddit has had COUNTLESS posts about this show's set breaking and how often I thought, "how complicated can the set for COMPANY be?!?!")
Mare Winningham and Jeannette Bayardelle
Jeannette Bayardelle was ALSO amazing in her performance for "The Girl From North Country," and we're all happy Mare is out there living. I (a) have heard this show is very depressing and (b) somehow didn't know there was a Bob Dylan musical??? So last night was also educational.