Ariana DeBose will once again do the thing

The Oscar winner and Tony nominee will return to host the 76th annual Tony Awards.

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Published on April 12, 2023 12:00PM EDT

Ariana DeBose, Academy Award winner, Tony Award nominee, and woman king, will once again grace the awards show stage.

The star has been tapped to host the upcoming 76th annual Tony Awards, set to air live from the historic United Palace in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood on Sunday, June 11. DeBose emceed last year's ceremony at Radio City Hall.

"I was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back!" DeBose said in a statement. "So looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen. Here's to adding some uptown flavor to the magic of the Tony Awards."

Executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss cheekily added, "Ariana will host and dance and sing, we're so thrilled she's back to do the thing."

Nominations for this year's ceremony will be announced on May 2. Last year's Tonys saw wins for A Strange Loop, Take Me Out, and Company.

DeBose is best known for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story, for which she received an Academy Award, BAFTA, and SAG Award. Her role as Disco Donna in Donna in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical earned her a 2018 Tony nomination. DeBose also appeared alongside Lin-Manuel Miranda in the Tony-winning Hamilton.

DeBose went viral earlier this year as host of the 2023 BAFTAs, where she performed a rap celebrating female nominees that took the internet by storm. She opened the ceremony with a performance of "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" and "We Are Family" before diving into the rap portion: "Angela Bassett did the thing / Viola Davis, my Woman King / Blanchett Cate you're a genius / Jamie Lee you are all of us."

The viral lyrics prompted a shout-out from Bassett at the NAACP Image Awards.

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