Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban are hosting the 2018 Tony Awards, the pair announced in a video on Twitter Wednesday.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨CRAZY AMAZING NEWS ALERT!!!! I literally don’t have words so I’ll do this with emojis…🙏🏽😭❤️👩🏻➕🧔🏻🔜🎤🎭🏆!!!!!! #TonyAwards2018 pic.twitter.com/PREncTnSQV
— Sara Bareilles (@SaraBareilles) April 18, 2018
Both actors made their Broadway debuts last year, with Bareilles taking over the lead role in “Waitress,” after writing the music and lyrics to the show, and Groban taking the lead role in “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” The Tony Awards are scheduled for Sun., June 10 at Radio City Music Hall.
“Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban both electrified and inspired audiences last year when they brought their incredible talents to Broadway,” Jack Sussman, executive vice president for Specials, Music and Live Events at CBS Entertainment, said in the press release. “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.”
Bareilles, received a 2016 Tony nomination for the music and lyrics of “Waitress.” Groban was nominated for best leading actor in a musical for his role in “The Great Comet.”
“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,” Bareilles said in the press release.
“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,” Groban said in the press release. “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!”
Groban and Bareilles follow last year’s host Kevin Spacey. Before Spacey, the Tony Awards were hosted by James Cordon, Kristin Chenoweth and Alan Cumming and Hugh Jackman.
The 2016 Tony Awards, which were dominated by “Hamilton,” had the highest ratings in 15 years. Last year, however, ratings dropped more than 30% to 6.1 million viewers, Reuters reported.
The Tony nominations, read by Leslie Odom Jr. and Katharine McPhee, will be announced the morning of May 1. The cut off date for eligibility this season is April 26.
