Darren Criss and Julianne Hough – both currently starring on Broadway, he in American Buffalo, she in POTUS -will co-host the pre-Tony Awards livestream special on Paramount+ next month.
The Tony Awards: Act One will kick off at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on June 12 with an hour of exclusive content, including “bestowing multiple honors and introducing special performances,” according to Paramount+. The 2002 Tony Awards, as previously announced, will be hosted by Ariana DeBose from Radio City Music Hall starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, airing live on CBS and streaming live and on demand on Paramount+.
Criss, the former Glee star who has appeared previously on Broadway in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, currently co-stars opposite Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne in the Tony-nominated revival of David Mamet’s American Buffalo at Circle in the Square Theatre (Rockwell is up for a Tony himself, as are the play’s director Neil Pepe and scenic designer Scott Pask).
Hough (Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings, Dancing with the Stars) recently made her Broadway debut in POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive at the Shubert Theatre. Her co-stars Rachel Dratch and Julie White are Tony-nominated, along with POTUS scenic designer Beowulf Boritt.