Tony Award nominees Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban will host the 72nd Annual Tony Awards this June
As the 2017-18 Broadway season draws to a close, we have learned who will be hosting the biggest night for theater this year. Tony-nominated singer and actress Sara Bareilles will join Tony-nominated singer and actor Josh Groban on June 10th at the Radio City Music Hall to host the Tony Awards. CBS will broadcast the ceremony live.
Bareilles is coming off of writing the songs for the hit Broadway musical Waitress, where she also played the main character for a run this past year. She also has recently starred as Mary Magdalene in the NBC musical Jesus Christ Superstar LIVE! to phenomenal reviews. Groban, meanwhile, was nominated for a Tony last year as well for his performance in the lead role of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 and is currently making a show for Netflix, set to debut later this year.
Last year’s Tonys saw Best Musical winner Dear Evan Hansen taking home a number of awards, and this year is sure to be a thrill with a number of great contenders. Click here to see the video announcement that Groban and Bareilles recorded, and read the press release below.
New York, NY (April 18, 2018) – The Tony Awards announced today that singer, songwriter and Tony nominee Sara Bareilles and Tony Award-nominated actor, singer and songwriter Josh Groban will host together the 72nd Annual Tony Awards® live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, Sunday, June 10th (8:00-11:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network. This will be both Bareilles and Groban’s first time hosting the show. Both starred in Broadway shows last year – Bareilles in the hit show “Waitress,” which she also composed the music and lyrics for, earning her first Tony Award nomination. Groban starred in “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812,” for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. The Tony Awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.
“The Theater has completely transformed my life in every way possible. I have never felt more embraced and encouraged by a professional community, and I am so grateful for that,” said Sara Bareilles. “I feel incredibly lucky to get to spend an evening celebrating and applauding this outstanding collective of artists, friends, collaborators, and creatives. It is my great honor to join my friend Josh Groban in hosting the Tonys this year, and use the opportunity to simply say a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to this wonderful community…in high heels, with jokes.”
“I am humbled and ecstatic to be co-hosting the Tony Awards this year with such a brilliant artist and wonderful friend, Sara Bareilles. The dedication and inspiration surrounding live theatre gave me my life path as a young kid and the warmth and support of the Broadway community has been the highlight of my career,” said Josh Groban. “So to be at the helm of a night celebrating the best of that theatre with a person I just laugh way too much with, is beyond words. But I will have words on Tony night! The best words! I look forward to flailing about in front of my peers. It will be with all the love and respect in the world for the room we’re lucky enough to be in.”
“Sara and Josh have been taking the music industry by storm for years. Then just last year, they both made their Broadway debuts, bringing audiences to their feet, night-after-night. And now, we can’t wait to see what they will do, together, on Sunday, June 10th, when they take the stage at Radio City Music Hall to host the Tony Awards!” said Charlotte St. Martin, President of The Broadway League, and Heather Hitchens, President of the American Theatre Wing.
“Love that these two good friends, musicians, actors, singers, songwriters, Tony nominees and just all around nice humans agreed to host the Tonys,” said Executive Producers Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner.
“Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban both electrified and inspired audiences last year when they brought their incredible talents to Broadway,” said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President for Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment. “These two have great chemistry together and we can’t wait to see what they have in store as hosts for this year’s Tony Awards.