NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Ariana DeBose's stint as host of last year's Tony Awards went so well that she's been asked to return this year.
The Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee will lead the June 11 celebration from New York City's uptown United Palace theater live on CBS and on Paramount+.
鈥淚 was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back," DeBose said in a statement. 鈥淪o looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen.鈥
Tony nominations will be announced May 2.
DeBose is a theater veteran, with roles in 鈥淪ummer: The Donna Summer Musical,鈥 鈥淗amilton,鈥 鈥淎 Bronx Tale,鈥 鈥淧ippin,鈥 鈥淢otown the Musical,鈥 鈥淏ring It On: The Musical鈥 and 鈥淐ompany.鈥 She won an Oscar for her role in Steven Spielberg鈥檚 remake of 鈥淲est Side Story鈥 and can be seen in the new season of 鈥淪chmigadoon!鈥 on Apple TV+.
鈥淎 Strange Loop鈥 took the best new musical crown at the last Tony Awards. Joaquina Kalukango won for best leading actress in a musical, and Myles Frost moonwalked away with the award for best lead actor in a musical for playing Michael Jackson.
At that Tonys, DeBose broached the subject of diversity and representation on Broadway, saying it was becoming 鈥渕ore reflective of the community that adores it.鈥 She noted the season was full of Black creative voices both on and offstage, and that two Broadway theaters were being renamed for the great Black performers James Earl Jones and Lena Horne. And she quipped that she sees the phrase 鈥淭he Great White Way,鈥 as Broadway has long been called, to be a nickname 鈥 鈥渁s opposed to a how-to guide.鈥
She received some backlash on social media after performing an original rap in honor of the female nominees at show in London. Her performance mixed a high-energy medley of Eurythmics鈥 鈥淪isters Are Doin鈥 It for Themselves鈥 and Sister Sledge鈥檚 鈥淲e Are Family鈥 with a rap number that named-checked famous actors like Angela Bassett, Viola Davis and Jamie Lee Curtis.
"I had a blast,鈥 she said later.
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