TONY AWARDS
Who is Ariana DeBose, the host of the 2024 Tony Awards? The actress’ TV and Broadway roles
The 33-year-old North Carolina-born actress made her Tonys debut in 2022 and hosts the ceremony for the third year running - producing and choreographing for the first time.
Tonight at the at the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center in New York City, the 77th edition of the annual Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre ceremony - or the Tonys as it is more commonly known, takes place. Hosting the three-hour event for another year will be actress Ariana DeBose.
When did Ariana DeBose host the Tonys for the first time?
DeBose has appeared at the Tonys both as a nominee and as a the official emcee. She hosted the event for the first time in 2022, when she performed This Is Your Round Of Applause as the opening number, and repeated the feat last year, which went ahead shortly after the Writers Guild strike, which meant she was forced to work without a script. Tonight’s event will be her first time both producing and choreographing as well as presenting.
Born in North Carolina in January 1991 and raised by her single parent mother Gina, Ariana started taking dance classes from the age of three and while her childhood dream was to become a professional dancer, she soon caught the acting bug.
All singing, all dancing Ariana DeBose
The 33-year-old actress has since built up a wealth of experience treading the boards in Broadway, where she made her debut in 2012. She has starred in various hit shows at New York’s most prestigious top venues, with a diverse assembly of roles in hit musicales such as Motown: The Musical, Los Miserables, A Bronx Tale and Hamilton.
In 2018, her portrayal of disco diva Donna Summer earned her a Tonys nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. In fact a Tony is one of the few awards she hasn’t won. Ariana picked up an Oscar for her performance as Anita in West Side Story, in the process becoming the first openly queer actress to win an Academy award.
That electrifying performance in Steven Spielberg’s feature film remake also earned her a BAFTA, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award. She starred in Netflix’s Prom, AppleTV+’s Schmigadoon! but is is best known for playing Maya in science fiction television series Westworld. She made her hosting debut presenting Saturday Night Live, in Episode 10 of Season 47.
DeBose’s Puerto Rican roots
DeBose is of Puerto Rican, Black and Italian ethnicity (her father is Afro-Puerto Rican), and says she identifies as queer. “I’m very proud of all the communities that I belong to, but at the end of the day, it’s about your humanity. So however the world wants to describe it, what you got to worry about is your understanding of yourself and how you walk in the world and choose labels you would be proud of.”
While this will be her third time hosting the Tonys, it might also be her last for a while. “I am an entertainer. This is about pleasure and enjoyment and celebration, and that’s what we are doing,” she says.
The Tonys celebrates achievements in live Broadway theater performances during the 2023-24 season. The awards have been an important part of the Broadway community since their inception in 1947. Winning a Tony is considered one of the highest honors in the theater industry
A 90-minute pre-show, The Tony Awards: Act One, hosted by Julianne Hough and Utkarsh Ambudkar, will stream live on freeview Pluto TV starting at 6:30 p.m. EDT. Followed by the Tonys ceremony, which will air live on CBS tonight from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. EDT. and a livestream will be available on demand on Paramount+.