Generally speaking, when Grammy-winning pop mogul Pink was announced as host of Sunday’s 79th Tony Awards, there were two immediate reactions: a) Will she fly? and b) Why her?
Pink has been a “theatrical kid” since childhood (more on this later), but as she told Variety at Tuesday’s press event, the second question was actually her first reaction as well.
When the call came, “I was like, ‘Why me? I’ve never been to Broadway,’ and I guess that was the collective stare I felt,” she recalled with a laugh. “But they said, ‘We want more ratings.’ And I thought, ‘Great!’ I have a purpose! I’m your man! So here we are — it’s a beautiful group of people to celebrate. ”
As for the first question, regarding what we’ll see when she hosts at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, she didn’t give specifics, but cautiously told another interviewer: “Everyone expects me to fly all the time, so I literally go into every building and go, ‘Where can I hang myself? What’s strong enough?'” They were like, “Calm down, this is Radio City.” So you see, I’m doing some things!”
She allowed, “There will be as many, many, many costume changes as I can. There will also be stunts — and it’s not just me. I’m hoping to trick other actors into taking a chance on stunts, so we’ll see! And Amber Ruffin, who wrote ‘Bigfoot,’ is helping me write the entire Tony[screenplay].”
She continued that the intro would be “a seven-and-a-half minute opening that my friends Benji and Justin wrote.” Of course, Pasek and Paul are screenwriters for Dear Evan Hansen, La La Land, and The Greatest Showman, respectively. “It’s going to be loud, wild and ridiculous,” she continued. “It’s kind of like a throwback, but it’s not. There’s like 170 people on stage with me, and I can get silly and make fun of it right away. That was my only rule.”
Pink may not have been the obvious choice as host, but she’s no dilettante. “My mom was an ER nurse and she would save all her money and go downtown once a year and get tickets to shows and restaurants and clothes,” she told another interviewer on Tuesday. “It was my favorite night of the year with my mom. We watched The Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis, and La Cage aux Folles. By the time I was nine, I wanted to be Cosette. It definitely shaped my work as Pink.” It’s no problem that it’s used in “Fuckin’ Perfect” by “Juliet.”
Asked if a particular show in particular was her gateway, she told Variety after a pause, “Probably the movie ‘Annie.’ And of course ‘Les Miz,’ and ‘Fiddler on the Roof,’ a lot of them. I was classically trained when I first started taking singing lessons, so I sang ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ and I started out in a completely theater-like place.”
However, before Pink could accept the role of host, she had to clear the issue with one person. It was her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, who dreams of a career on Broadway. “She’s very serious about this and this is her specialty,” Pink said. “So getting her permission was[important]. I was like, ‘If you don’t want me to do this, I’m not going to do it,’ but she was very supportive and very excited. Her first reaction was, ‘Can I have a seat?’
Although she does, Willow will not be on stage with her mother on Sunday. “I’ve been trying to convince Willow to be on the show with me for years,” Pink said. “But she has to do her own thing. She’s really particular about this Nepobaby thing.”
This year’s Tony Awards race is expected to feature some of the biggest stars who have stood out on Broadway over the past year, including Lea Michele (“Chess”), Joshua Henry (“Ragtime”), Lesley Manville (“Oedipus”) and John Lithgow (“Giant”).
Pink told Variety that she has watched many of the nominated films. “I loved “Ragtime.” I also loved “The Lost Boys,” because the direction was amazing. I also loved Jessica Vosk and “Beaches.” I loved “Bigfoot.” That was probably my favorite show. “I loved it so much, and I had two 9-year-olds with me and I thought, ‘This is so inappropriate,’ but they were all so silly and adorable and it was so funny and such a wonderful story,” she laughed. “There are so many other things I want to see. I haven’t seen ‘Schmigadoon’ yet, and I haven’t seen ‘Titanic’ yet.”
Another highlight of the year was her guest host role on “The Kelly Clarkson Show,” which she stressed she has no intention of taking over. But she is so natural that the question arises whether she would prefer her own talk show.
“I’m not saying never!” she said. “I like to connect with people and I like to get the truth out of them,” he says, before becoming a little less serious. “I’ve been wanting to renew ‘The Gong Show’ for a while, but that’s no longer the case.”
The Tony Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on both coasts on the CBS Television Network and streamed on Paramount+ on June 7th at 8pm EST.
