Sunday marked Broadway’s biggest night as Pink proved her musical theater chops onstage at the Radio City Music Hall as host of The American Theatre Wing’s 2026 Tony Awards.
While the singer used her opening number to poke fun at her qualifications to justify anchoring the awards show, Broadway League president Jason Laks opened up on the blue carpet beforehand about why she was selected.
“We work with CBS, the producers, it’s a team effort. Why would you not, if you have the chance to get Pink? You just do it,” he told TheWrap. “Honestly, someone said it, I don’t remember who [points to himself] and everyone else was like, ‘No, there’s no way we could do it.’ But we could do it, and we did. She’s so amazing, she’s so nice. Her team is nice, everyone who works with her is nice.”
Throughout the evening, a handful of plays and musicals were honored for their contributions to the cannon of great American theater — and Laks noticed a throughline connecting all of the nominated shows from the 2025-26 season.
“People are still willing to take risks: ‘Ragtime,’ which is challenging subject matter; ‘Cats: Jellicle Ball,’ which is radical is so many ways; ‘Two Strangers,’ which is radical in that it’s a small show they’re bringing to Broadway; ‘Titanique!,’ which is unbelievable for a Broadway show,” he gushed. “The fact that people are still willing to take risks and bring shows like ‘Giant’ or a fully reimagined ‘Death of a Salesman’ to Broadway makes me really excited that we’re doing something right that people are still willing to put everything they have on the line to bring productions to Broadway.”
“Be fearless. You can’t produce these shows and not be fearless,” Laks further noted for this next season’s creative teams. But is the New York executive able to stay impartial, considering The Broadway League sets Tony eligibility criteria alongside The American Theatre Wing?
“I don’t have favorites,” Laks confirmed. “I am so lucky, I’ve never gotten over how amazing this job is. If the worst thing about my job is having to sit through two-and-a-half hours of yet another show, I’m doing something right. I couldn’t be happier, I genuinely found something I loved in every show this year.”
The American Theatre Wing’s 79th Tony Awards are now available to stream on Paramount+.
