P!nk was the Tony Awards host we didn't know we needed

Having never performed on Broadway before, the pop star seemed like an odd choice for some — but she nailed her pitch for admission into the theatre community and then some.

When P!nk was announced as the host of Broadway's biggest night — the 2026 Tony Awards — without a Broadway credit to her name, there were as many skeptics as there were supporters. I was the latter: As a fan of her music for over a decade, I was excited she was entering the theatre sphere. I thought her infamous penchant for aerial stunts made her the perfect host in a year where a flight-filled vampire musical was nominated. And I was always annoyingly quick to point out that she does technically have Broadway credits in & Juliet and Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which use her songs. It's not nothing!

And when she kicked off the ceremony at Radio City Music Hall with one of the best Tonys opening numbers in years, I felt not only validated that she was a good host, but exhilarated that she was a great one. She's the host even we believers didn't know we needed.

In the number, titled "Leading Lady Marmalade" as a riff on her Moulin Rouge! song, P!nk stepped out in her namesake color, which also drenched the brightly lit stage, with leading-lady chops to prove. She also not only called out what seemed like every principal actress from this season — nominated and not, from new shows and old — but showcased them in wide-ranging cameos. Megan Thee Stallion, who just made her own Broadway debut in Moulin Rouge!, twerked and delivered a rap verse. Theatre stalwarts Shaina Taub, Deborah Cox, and Ann Harada, all in costume for shows that couldn't be further from Moulin Rouge!, sang the "Hey sister, go sister..." refrain. P!nk permanently etched the somehow-not-cringey lyric "Gitchie-gitchie-Carrie Coon" into every viewer's brain (including, from the looks of it, a delighted Coon herself). Ninety-six-year-old nominee June Squibb delivered a mic-drop line from her seat: "All the parts I played, I slayed 'em." The list of surprises goes on for seven delightful minutes.

Two overarching things stood out about "Leading Lady Marmalade." One, that it was so thrilling even without P!nk flying (she did so briefly before the number began), I didn't find myself wanting for more aerialism even after anticipating it for a month. Second, that everyone on stage showed up as so clearly themselves, even those ostensibly in character. It sent the message that Broadway doesn't look just one way, and anyone can belong here — and that's exactly what P!nk was trying to convince us of on her own behalf. It worked. It felt apropos of a season featuring so many shows with a similar message of boundary-breaking community — the ballroom-infused Cats: The Jellicle Ball, the counterculture cult classic The Rocky Horror Show, even the vampiric Lost Boys. The fact that the song encompassed numerous lesser-recognized shows, too, made it feel like a true celebration of all of Broadway.

To be completely transparent: I spent the evening working out of the Tony Awards media room a few blocks away from Radio City. This meant that once the ceremony got underway and the winners' press conferences began, I saw the broadcast only intermittently, so you can tell me if P!nk's hosting all went downhill from there. I somehow don't think it did. In fact, I know it went up, literally — one of the bits I did catch involved a "frightened" Darren Criss standing high in a balcony, where P!nk threatened to replace him with Daniel Radcliffe if he chickened out of an aerial stunt. (Radcliffe seemed game.)

I also glimpsed P!nk leading the Chicago 30th anniversary tribute, purring "All That Jazz" and executing the slick Fosse moves to a T as Velma Kelly. It was an excellent audition, should the Chicago producers hear the call. And even if not in that show, a Broadway debut is most certainly in P!nk's future after last night. That and, hopefully, two more things: an Emmy ("Leading Lady Marmalade" writers Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Mark Sonnenblick deserve one too), and Tonys hosting gigs for as many more years as she wants them.

Photo credit: P!nk performing at the 79th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall. (Photos by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions)