For a few years there, until they were able to confirm and score a huge win in Conan O’Brien, finding a host for the Oscars was a major challenge. “It’s a thankless job” was a common refrain – the pay is sh-t, it’s a mountain of work, and people inevitably will find things to complain about and blame you. That’s film and television though and it’s partly the audience. People like Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt who you can’t count on to make a bit work.
Theatre kids, though. When it’s an audience full of theatre kids with their jazz hands, always with one arm up in the air volunteering for an opportunity before it’s been made available. You put a microphone in their face and that note will be out of their mouth, on key, guaranteed.
So we don’t talk about securing a Tony Awards host with the same stress as the Oscars. The Broadway community will always be willing to come through for the show that celebrates Broadway. And yet, even by that standard, Cynthia Erivo last night just took it to a whole other level. She is the whole package: vocals, stage presence, timing, and so many serves – the looks were outrageously great. All of that combined for what was one of the best award show hosting performances we have ever seen.
Here's her opening bit:
@cbs #CynthiaErivo will NEVER disappoint 👠#TonyAwards
♬ original sound - CBS
Which was followed by the opening number – she blew the roof off in the first few minutes and kept up her energy throughout.
Energy is important here. Think about how much time she would have spent rehearsing, working with the writers, blocking all the shots, learning the choreo etc etc etc. Hosting the Tony Awards means honouring what it means to work on Broadway: eight shows a week for three hours or more at a time, and it’s as live as it ever gets. Many of the nominees last night were at the matinee before heading to the show – including Nicole Scherzinger who made a point of mentioning it during her acceptance speech. And I’m not mad at it. I’m not mad at Broadway reminding the audience of how gangster it is to perform on Broadway. There is a reason they are so high strung! That schedule is, indeed, no joke!
@cbs @Nicole Scherzinger wins Best Leading Actress In a Musical at @The Tony Awards! #TonyAwards #nicolescherzinger
♬ original sound - CBS
Can we talk about Jonathan Groff though? Like, again, the theatre was full of people who want to be on stage more than they want to be in their seats so it’s a high bar. And he not only meets it every time, he pushes it up even higher. You cannot take your eyes off him, he’s a beast of a performer – and he straddled Keanu and Keanu liked it. So, you know, Hugh Jackman isn’t the only one man show in town.
Back to Cynthia though, and the way she stomped on this thing, the Wicked 2 marketing team should be figuring out a way to work her masterful hosting of the Tony Awards into her campaign because no other candidate in the field could have done what she did.
Here she is closing the show the way she opened it – with authority!
