CNN
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Recent off her Oscar win, Ariana DeBose will return to her Broadway roots to host the upcoming Tony Awards, which honor the yr’s finest musicals and performs on the Nice White Manner, the American Theatre Wing introduced Wednesday.
Following within the footsteps of earlier hosts Neil Patrick Harris and James Corden, DeBose is a Tony nominee herself with a number of Broadway roles to her identify. She received an Oscar in March for her highly effective flip as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Aspect Story” remake.
“I’m coming house!” DeBose stated in an announcement asserting her internet hosting gig. “I’m so honored to rejoice 75 years of excellence in theater, however extra importantly each member of this neighborhood who poured themselves into ensuring the lights of Broadway have the chance to shine brightly as soon as once more!”
Final yr’s ceremony, co-hosted by Tony winners Audra McDonald and Leslie Odom Jr., occurred greater than two years after the earlier ceremony because of Covid-19. The pandemic compelled Broadway to go darkish from March 2020 to September 2021, so the ceremony honored productions that premiered through the 2019-2020 season.
The 2022 Tony Award nominees will likely be introduced subsequent week, with new musicals just like the Pulitzer-winning “A Unusual Loop” and pop smash “Six” anticipated to earn nominations.
Earlier than DeBose was Spielberg’s Anita, she was a Broadway veteran identified to stage followers as “The Bullet” in smash-hit “Hamilton,” Jane in “A Bronx Story” and Disco Donna in “Summer season: The Donna Summer season Musical,” for which she earned a Tony nomination. She additionally appeared in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Promenade” alongside Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman.
Together with her Oscar win, DeBose made historical past as the primary out LGBTQ lady of shade to win an Academy Award for performing.