NC native, Oscar winner Ariana DeBose to host 75th annual Tony Awards ceremony
North Carolina native and Oscar-winning actress Ariana DeBose will host the 75th annual Tony Awards next month, the awards show announced Wednesday.
DeBose, fresh off of winning an Academy Award for her performance in “West Side Story,” will host the June 12 ceremony honoring the best in theater from the past year.
DeBose, 31, won the Oscar in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as Anita in the 2021 Steven Spielberg remake of the classic New York City musical. She made history as the first openly LGBTQ woman of color to win that accolade. DeBose has spoken about her identity as an Afro-Latina — the child of a Puerto Rican father and an American mother. Her mother, Gina DeBose, is a Raleigh teacher at Wakefield Middle School.
DeBose, who grew up in Raleigh and Wake Forest, is no stranger to the Tony Awards, having spent much of her career on Broadway. She was nominated for a Tony Award in 2018 (Best Featured Actress in a Musical) for her role in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”
“I’m coming home!” DeBose said in a news release Wednesday. “I’m so honored to celebrate 75 years of excellence in theater, but more importantly every member of this community who poured themselves into making sure the lights of Broadway have the opportunity to shine brightly once again. This is a dream come true.”
The awards ceremony will air live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City from 5 to 8 p.m. EST on CBS. It also will stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
“We are thrilled to have Ariana DeBose, who has captivated audiences with her inspirational roles on stage and in film and television, host this year’s Tony Awards,” said Jack Sussman, executive vice president of specials and live events at CBS, in a news release.
“After the last challenging two years there is no one better to bring the theater community together on this important night honoring the best of Broadway, and share the joys of live performing once again than this extraordinarily talented artist,” he said.
‘SNL’ to the Tonys
DeBose started the year off with a bang by being the host of the first “Saturday Night Live” of 2022.
Long before reaching stardom in “West Side Story,” DeBose launched her career as a contestant on Fox’s dance reality show, “So You Think You Can Dance.” She later pursued a career in theatre in New York, making her Broadway debut in “Bring it On: The Musical” in 2011.
In 2013, she played Mary Wilson in “Motown: The Musical” and followed the next year with “Pippin.”
She played The Bullet in the original cast of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” from 2015-16. Immediately after “Hamilton,” she played Jane in “A Bronx Tale” in 2016 and 2017.
Then in 2018, DeBose was nominated for a Tony for her performance as Disco Donna in “Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.”
DeBose was The News & Observer’s Tar Heel of the Month in March 2021.
This story was originally published May 4, 2022 at 12:27 PM.
