James Corden to Host 2019 Tony Awards (EXCLUSIVE)
By Joe Otterson
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – James Corden has been tapped to once again host the Tony Awards, Variety has learned exclusively.
“The Late Late Show” host previously emceed the annual theater awards show in 2016, and won the Tony for best actor in a play for his performance in “One Man, Two Guvnors” in 2012.
“I’m thrilled to be returning to host the ,” Corden said. “The Broadway community is very dear to my heart, and I’m beyond proud to be part of this incredibly special night.”
Corden opened the 2016 show with a heartfelt tribute to the victims of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, which left 50 people dead the same day the show aired.
“Your tragedy is our tragedy,” he said in the opening. “Theater is a place where every race, creed, sexuality and gender is equal, is embraced, and is loved. Hate will never win. Together, we have to make sure of that. Tonight’s show stands as a symbol and celebration of that principle.”
The awards show will be broadcast live on CBS from Radio City Music Hall in New York City on June 9, from 8-11 PM ET, and nominations for the 2019 Tony Awards will be announced on April 30. The Tony Awards, which honor theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, has been broadcast on since 1978.
“We are excited to have the one and only return to host his second Tony Awards,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President of Specials, Music and Live Events at CBS. “James is the ultimate master of ceremonies to lead a night of live event television, celebrating live theater. He is an incredibly charming host, brilliant performer and fearless on stage – with James, anything can happen, and probably will.”
The 2019 ceremony will mark the 73rd anniversary of the Tony Awards, which were first held on April 6, 1947 at the Waldorf Astoria’s Grand Ballroom. The ceremony is presented by Tony Award Productions, which is a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, which founded the Tonys.
“James is not only an incredible talent, but he is a veteran of the stage and has a true passion for Broadway,” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of the Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing, in a joint statement. “We cannot wait to see what he has in store for us this year at the Tony Awards.”
Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss of White Cherry Entertainment will return as executive producers. Weiss will also serve as director for the 19th consecutive year.
Variety‘s review of the 2016 show deemed Corden, who has also emceed the Grammy Awards on CBS twice in the last three years, to be an “energetic” and “affable” host. That year, “Hamilton” swept the night, taking home 11 awards including best musical, best book of a musical for creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and best performance by an actor in a musical for Leslie Odom Jr.
The musical opener for the 2016 show featured a re-working of the song “Alexander Hamilton,” which served to introduce Corden as the host and poked fun at his relative obscurity to American audiences at the time.
“How does an upstart Briton, best known for sitting and jesting from a desk in the middle of a forgotten slot on late night, far from Manhattan, chatting with Hollywood phonies, end up being the guy to host the Tonys,” Odom Jr. jokingly rapped in the opening verse.
The show also inevitably featured a carpool karaoke number, in which Miranda, Audra McDonald, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Krakowski joined Corden in the car to belt out some classic Broadway tunes from “Hamilton,” “Les Misérables” and “Rent.”
Some of the shows which could potentially be in the running at this year’s Tony Awards include “Network,” which is based on the 1976 film of the same name and stars Bryan Cranston, “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which stars Jeff Daniels as Atticus Finch, and “Pretty Woman: The Musical,” based on the 1990 movie.
