Ariana DeBose Tells 2024 Tony Awards Nominees “This Party’s for You” With Opening Number

Ariana DeBose kicked off the 2024 Tony Awards with a dance-heavy opening number in which she celebrated this year’s nominees and the struggles and “journey” that led them to the Broadway awards.

“This party’s for you,” DeBose sang, addressing this year’s nominees during the performance, which she choreographed with Julius Anthony Rubio. DeBose also produces this year’s ceremony.

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Wearing a gold, striped sparkly dress with matching gold hairpiece, DeBose asked this year’s first-time nominees to “make some noise.”

The number opened with a close-up on a “Broadway Times” newspaper blaring the headline “SHE’S BACK!!!” above a picture of DeBose, with the paper passed around until it reached DeBose, who kicked things off by singing, “Maybe you saw a show or acted in a play.” She referenced waking up at 5 a.m. and crashing auditions, sleeping on friends’ couches and scribbling great ideas on a napkin while tending bar.

The host ended her performance on a tall, round riser with a backdrop that resembled the Tony award, finishing her routine by falling backward.

DeBose then took the stage for her monologue, highlighting the many shows that played during this “ambitious Broadway season.”

“I’m a busy queen, but y’all exhaust me,” DeBose said.

“On Broadway, and in theaters across the country, truth is told on stage every night, and twice on matinee days. We are in a global moment. Headlines are, frankly, terrifying, most of the time, but the theater is a safe place for us all,” DeBose said. “And in the most trying of times, art is imperative because art reflects society and provides context for the very real situations that we find ourselves in today. The collective experience can cross boundaries and unite people from all walks of life.”

“No matter what you’re looking for, there’s a play or musical that will touch your heart, speak to how you are feeling, help you cope, give you courage,” she said. “You might even feel motivated to go out into the world and create change because Lord knows we need some.”

This year’s Tonys marks the third time DeBose has hosted the Broadway awards, after emceeing the unscripted 2023 ceremony, which took place amid the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, and the 2022 ceremony.

DeBose returned after the show’s first commercial break to joke that she’s writing a three-hour musical, with no intermission, based on her infamous BAFTA rap.

Later she celebrated the many female directing nominees this year and participated in a tribute to the late Chita Rivera, who played the role of Anita in West Side Story on Broadway in 1957. DeBose won an Oscar for playing Anita in the 2021 Steven Spielberg-directed West Side Story movie.

After introducing the tribute, DeBose took the stage for the final part of the segment, dancing to an instrumental version of West Side Story‘s “America,” with DeBose and her fellow dancers ending the performance by turning to face Rivera’s photo on screen and raising their arms toward her.

The 2024 Tony Awards took place at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center and aired live on CBS and Paramount+ With Showtime in the U.S. Stereophonic and Hell’s Kitchen went into Sunday night’s awards with the most nominations.

See a list of winners and red carpet photos from the 2024 Tony Awards.

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