Julianne Hough, “Dancing With the Stars” alum and upcoming cohost, and Skylar Astin, star of CBS’ “So Help Me Todd,” have been tapped to host “The Tony Awards: Act One,” a live pre-show that will offer exclusive content to Pluto TV viewers on Sunday.
Hough, who starred in the play “POTUS” in spring 2022, and Astin, who originated the role of Georg Zirschnitz in the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical “Spring Awakening,” will kick off Broadway’s biggest night with the presentation of the first round of Tony Awards from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET.
Viewers can access “The Tony Awards: Act One” on their smart TV, streaming device, mobile app or online by going to Pluto TV and clicking on the “Pluto TV Celebrity” channel. No payment, registration or sign-in is required.
Following the pre-show, the 76th Annual Tony Awards, which will be hosted by Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Ariana DeBose, will air live on CBS from the historic United Palace in New York City’s Washington Heights from 8 p.m. – 11 p.m. ET. The ceremony will also stream live and on demand on Paramount+.
The Writers Guild of America, which launched a strike on May 2 after failing to reach an agreement in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, is allowing the Tony Awards to move forward after the ceremony’s production team agreed to alter this year’s show to conform with specific requests from the guild. The WGA said that it would not picket the event, but recently sent an email to members who are Tony nominees asking them to not attend the ceremony in person and to either pre-tape acceptance speeches or ask a non-member to accept awards on their behalf should they win.
The strike involves a long list of concerns that the writers want Hollywood studios to address, from the low pay involved in writing streaming series to reining in “mini-rooms” used to skirt contractual pay practices to addressing the use of artificial intelligence. The WGA has estimated that its proposals would collectively cost the industry $429 million, with $343 million of that directly attributable to AMPTP’s member studios. Of that $343 million, Paramount would pay an estimated $45 million, less than 0.15% of its $30.2 billion in annual revenue, according to the WGA.
The Tony Awards is produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the
Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and
Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director.
