The 79th Annual Tony Awards will celebrate the upcoming 30th anniversary of “Chicago” with a special performance, featuring an array of stage and screen stars, during the live broadcast from Radio City Music Hall on June 7. Queen Latifah — who played Matron “Mama” Morton in the Oscar-winning 2002 film adaptation of the long-running musical — and earned her own Oscar nomination for her turn in it, will join Tony Awards host P!NK for the tribute.
The number will also feature four other performers. Julianne Hough, who danced the “Hot Honey Rag” with Tonys host Ariana DeBose during the 2023 Tony Awards, will appear as part of the tribute. Whitney Leavitt, of “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” fame, who recently completed a stint as Roxie Hart in “Chicago,” will also join. Tony winner Alex Newell, who has stepped into the Broadway production as Matron “Mama” Morton, will also be featured. Tony winners Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Adrienne Warren as well as actor Dylan Mulvaney will round out the group.
The inclusion of the long-running revival highlights a lineup of performances appealing to wide audiences. The broadcast will also mark the 15th anniversary of the Tony-winning musical “The Book of Mormon” with a previously announced reunion of its original principal cast. Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Rory O’Malley and Nikki M. James will take the stage for the milestone, with the performance introduced by the musical’s creators, Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez.
Originally opening in 1996 under the direction of Walter Bobbie and choreographed in the style of Bob Fosse by Ann Reinking, the revival of “Chicago” holds the mantle as the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. The production features a book by Fred Ebb and Fosse, music by John Kander and lyrics by Ebb. The revival took home six Tony Awards in 1997, including Best Musical Revival.
In addition to the anniversary celebrations, the American Theatre Wing and the Broadway League have lined up an eclectic mix of current productions, recent arrivals and upcoming properties to be featured during the evening’s slate. The ceremony will feature performances from “The Lost Boys,” “Schmigadoon!,” “Titaníque,” “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” “Ragtime” and “The Rocky Horror Show.”
The ceremony will air live on CBS and stream live on Paramount+ Premium from 8 to 11 p.m. ET and 5 to 8 p.m. PT. Preceding the broadcast will be the 85-minute Tonys pre-show “Act One,” co-hosted by Laura Benanti and Tituss Burgess, which will air for free on Pluto TV’s “Live Music” channel within the platform’s entertainment category, beginning at 6:35 p.m. ET/3:35 p.m. PT.
