Broadway's Best Walks the Red Carpet at the 2020 Tony Awards!

you know it's a dream come true it's a dream come true to come back feels like we've been waking up

from a very strange sort of fever dream and we're back in like the wonderful reality of being

together in a theater and all the rehearsals have been very, very, very emotional

It just feels like, you know, we're back. I've been watching, obviously, the Tony Awards for a long time

And, you know, I've just been thinking a lot about past hosts, Rosie O'Donnell, Whoopi

Goldberg, even Bernadette Peters. I started, she hosted one year too, you know, like a little Broadway trivia

So I'm thinking about the tradition and the shoulders that I'm standing on tonight

I'm really excited. It's extraordinary, the energy, the excitement, and then being in a Broadway theater with the Tonys, it's just, it's magical

It's amazing to be around theater people again, you know, their hearts are just so huge, bursting out of their chest

And tonight, like, we're all back, and we're able to be together, and that has not happened

So this is really, really a special night. I'm looking forward for when my performance is over

It's not sort of towards the end, so I have, what, four hours of sweating in my seat

It's going to be fun. It's always like the Muppet Show. Like, you get to see David Byrne talking to Elphaba, talking to the Lion King, and it's

really kind of one of the best reminders of this community that has had to be isolated

for a year and a half, and seeing everyone come back together under safe conditions has

been just thrilling and really, really rewarding. It's a moment you dream of getting to be at the Tonys, let alone being nominated

And after such a year of separation where our community hasn't been able to be together

this is pretty momentous that we can all share in the same space and celebrate the Tony Awards

and celebrate Broadway again and live performing. It's amazing. Tonight, I'm just here to celebrate Broadway and celebrate our reopening

and see all these familiar faces and people that I love and work with and have worked with and it a great honor to be here among them I think just seeing people and yeah just being in the same room with everyone

and hearing music and hearing people talk about their shows. And that's just almost, almost normal

I'm just excited to be back in the community, to be face-to-face with everybody

through all the Zooms we've been doing and to just feel the power and magic of live theater

When I left New York, this is the first time I've been back since March 16, 2020

And at that moment, I didn't know. I didn't know if this is the last Broadway show I'll ever do

I didn't know how our industry was going to move forward because theater is so intimate

And here we are. So I'm happy to be here. It's really wonderful to see everybody

And I'm glad that we're off to some sort of start and the shows are starting to reopen

and it's just a relief because a life without theater for me is really not fun enough

It just does my soul good knowing that people are up and about

Yohani says we're overjoyed to be back in theaters, seeing live shows

not just looking at screens all the time. The last time I was here, I was blessed enough to accept Best Actress

so to be back center stage seems wild, right? It seems wild, but the love is still here, the talent's still here, the energy's still here, the fans are here

And that really is encouraging and affirming. It's kind of an emotional night for us because we did this show, Frankie and Johnny

and since we did the show, Mr. McNally passed away, unfortunately. So it's kind of an emotional reunion for us to all get together and remember the show

And also it's just nice to be back in a theater. You know, I miss being in a theater

Sixty-four years ago, on this very day, I did West Side Story

We opened West Side Story at the Winter Garden Theater. And I originated, that was before she was born, before I met her daddy

Because I was born. That was because she was born. We're talking a question

People are like, what's the most exciting thing about theater coming back? I'm like, theater coming back

I don't know how else to articulate that. I just happy that strangers can come together and be part of something bigger than themselves you know You know performers and audiences included I am most excited about live theater being back because I directed my first Broadway play

and it'll be back in February, Plaza Suite. So, yeah, I'm really excited about that because we were about to have our first preview when we got shut down

So, yeah, super happy we're back. The family of theater is so important to me

So I love the audiences. We need them. We want them. But I want that family backstage

I miss them. Well, that's a good, both, both in equal measure, but seeing people that I

haven't seen in a year and a half that I used to see on a daily basis is important to me

right now. There's something very special about a group of people in one room experiencing the same

thing at the same time. And I think as a society we've been doing that for hundreds of years

I think we'll do it for hundreds of more, so I can't wait to be back just to feel that

collection of human energy. The audiences, we miss them so much! Oh my goodness

Without them, there's no us. So, it's just a celebration, it's just great

I'm grateful to people for supporting us. I'm excited to see shows on Broadway

I mean, the thing about it is when you work on Broadway, you often don't get to go, because you're always working

And, but we're all fans of the theater. You know, I think that the last 18 months

have shown us just how important it is to connect with other people

when we've had that taken away from us. and I think the theater is an amazing agent for that

And so I'm just excited to have people gather again in a theater safely

and hear stories again. So I'm really excited about that. It's a part of our lives

It's our lifestyle. It's our identity. It's not just our occupation. It's a matter of a way of life

And to be without that for so long, I'm just so grateful

I can't wait. Live theater, being together after 20 months of isolation

Are you kidding me? just feeling the energy, being inside a Broadway theater with a thousand other people, laughing

and crying and cheering. It's what we need. I miss storytelling. I miss feeling transported. I miss feeling moved and taken to another world

you know? And we need art in that way. We need that for our hearts. We need that for

our culture. We need that for our lives. So I've really missed that even as a fan, you

know to get to go and sit and be transported for sure It great to be back We have an opportunity to do better to tell better stories to include more people And it feels like New Year today It feels both exhilarating and daunting to be standing on this stage right now

Like we're on this red carpet right now, you know. You know, people are wearing masks. People are still, like, getting back to not getting back to figuring things out

So it's daunting, but it's exhilarating. So I'm excited to be here because I can finally celebrate the work that we all did for the last five years

We're most excited for diversity and inclusion and for safety and voices to be included

And also, it's a celebration. It's our home. And so we want to feel lively, but also feel like we know it can be

So we're excited beyond, beyond. It's the fact that we're moving forward

We have no choice but to move forward in a lot of ways. And this is just a step forward towards all the work that we have to do

to make sure this industry is more inclusive and more diverse. And I'm happy to be a part of that

We've just been so starved of communal experience for the last year and a half

and theater is the ultimate communal experience. That, sports, and church. So that's the holy triad

I'm excited for that magic space between the audience and the performers to come alive again

It's like, there's nothing like it, and you can only have it when people come together and it's sticky in a space

so let's get sticky again. You know, theater's bad. We can finally, New York finally feels like New York, New York again

I mean, because theater is so, you know, critical to New York and, you know, it's a celebration

Getting back in the theater, getting that immediate response has been fantastic

And so it's like church. It's like you've got that dopamine rush, you've got that adrenaline rush, so it's great

Come see shows, it's safe. If you're flying, if you're going to restaurants, it's safer to be in the theater

People are wearing their masks, you know, all the protocols are here, even tonight. so that's why we don't have a mask on right now, but that it's safe

I think the more people have confidence that they can sit in the theater, because the shows are going up, and the shows, not only the curtains are going up

the curtains are staying up, which is great. Broadway is back, better than ever, and coming to New York

it's going to be the best entertainment you've ever seen. The doors are open, and the theaters are waiting for you, so come

Broadway's back. Thank you