Tony Awards 2021 Kick Off With ‘Hairspray’ Reunion, Audra McDonald & Masked Stars

The 2021 Tony Awards kicked off Sunday night with an epic comeback.

Actors Kerry Butler, Chester Gregory, Darlene Love, Matthew Morrison and Marissa Jaret Winokur started the truncated and much delayed ceremony with a performance of “You Can’t Stop the Beat” from the musical “Hairspray”.

It was an appropriate song choice. When “Hairspray” opened in 2002, it was performed as a festive rebound for Broadway after the 9/11 attacks, after which performances were suspended for two days.

Nineteen years later, the 41 theaters of the Great White Way are reopening again – this time after an unprecedented 18-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tonys, which took place at the Winter Garden Theater in New York City, were very different from last week’s Emmy Awards and other recent ceremonies.

Not only were all party attendees required to be fully immunized, they were also required to wear face masks during the ceremony, unless they were performing or showing up.

In her opening speech, host Audra McDonald joked that it was wonderful to see “half of everyone’s faces”.

McDonald, a six-time Tony winner, said she hoped to see Broadway artists work to make live theater fairer after being stunned by COVID-19 for 560 nights – a reference to the continued pressure to present more creators and performers of color on The New York stages.