The best and worst moments from the 2026 Tony Awards

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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on June 7, 2026 9:49 p.m. ET

Pink on the 79th Annual Tony Awards. Credit:

Theo Wargo/Getty

It was a mix of the good, the bad, and the fabulous at the 2026 Tony Awards on CBS as trophies were handed out, performances hit the stage, and big anniversaries were celebrated.

Pink hosted the event, which featured performances from all four Best Musical nominees *— **The Lost Boys**, **Schmigadoon!**, **Titanique*, and *Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)*. All three Best Revival of a Musical nominees — *Cats: The Jellicle Ball**, **Ragtime**, *and *The Rocky Horror Show* — also took to the stage.

And then there were celebration performances for *The Book of Mormon* (15th anniversary) and *Chicago* (30th anniversary), with stars from the past slipping back into their old roles.

What moments soared and floored during the ceremony, and what crashed and burned? Here are the best and worst moments of the 2026 Tony Awards.

BEST: That super-sized opening number

Dylan Mulvaney, Megan Thee Stallion, P!NK, Neil Patrick Harris and Shoshana Bean perform onstage during The 79th Annual Tony Awards.

Theo Wargo/Getty

Pink certainly got a lot of support during her opening number, as over 170 Broadway performers joined the Tonys host for an opening number rendition of “Lady Marmalade.” While most of the rejiggered lyrics seemed to just be shouting out names of nominees like Lesley Manville and Carrie Coon, it was still thrilling to see basically every Broadway musical actor of the past year combine forces not unlike the mighty Wonder Twins. And Megan Thee Stallion brought the house down entering courtesy of two shirtless men. “I don’t even know those guys,” she told the crowd. “They were just two strangers carrying some cake.”

BEST: Cole Escola and Maya Rudolph bring the funny

Maya Rudolph and Cole Escola speak onstage during the 79th Annual Tony Awards.

Theo Wargo/Getty

Presenting the night’s first award of the main ceremony for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play, *Oh, Mary!* creator Cole Escola and current *Oh, Mary! *star Maya Rudolph got the evening started right, with Rudolph noting that “Tonight’s nominees know the power of words and the courage it takes to say them, in exchange for money.” Escola then referenced Oedipus by commenting, “A play that asks the question: Can women really have it all?” This duo certainly gave the audience their all. If only we could see them together on the same *Oh, Mary! *stage as well.

BEST: The Cats: Jellicle Ball fans

'The Jellicle Ball' yellow fans at the 79th Annual Tony Awards.

We don’t mean fans as in people, but literal fans. Yellow and black fans were being waved throughout the crowd whenever *Cats: The Jellicle Ball* won an award on either the Pluto *Tonys: Act One* section of the evening or the main CBS broadcast, with Best Direction of a Musical winners Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch driving the color theme home with their yellow and black suits. Watching the show’s most famous prop/merch item infiltrate the Radio City Music Hall — especially during an incredible performance — was a welcome sight indeed.

WORST: Host shtick

Ariana DeBose and P!NK speak onstage during The 79th Annual Tony Awards.

Theo Wargo/Getty

Former Tonys host Neil Patrick Harris starting the show off with an airborne Pink worked, but a later meeting between Pink and Ariana DeBose in which the former three-time host offered tips to the current one (“Say something undeniably true”) didn’t really go anywhere and was just one big set-up for DeBose ripping off Pink’s tear-away pants… which was less fun (and funny) than it sounds.

BEST: Liberation winning best play

'Liberation' winning Best Play at the Tony Awards.

Bess Wohl’s story on the 1970s feminist movement continued its hot streak, adding a Best Play Tony to its recent Pulitzer Prize. That’s a very welcome development for an underdog show that first garnered headlines for having an all-naked female cast. “It has been almost 40 years since an American woman playwright won this award,” Wohl said to the crowd while accepting her award next to approximately 39 million others on stage. That previous winner would be Wendy Wasserstein’s *The Heidi Chronicles* back in 1989. “To all the girls out there, may you speak your truth and may the world be wise enough to listen.” Tony voters were thankfully listening this year.

BEST: Ali Louis Bourzgui’s acceptance speech

Ali Louis Bourzgui at the 2026 Tony Awards.

Theo Wargo/Getty

Ali Louis Bourzgui came out firing in his acceptance speech for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, announcing that “The billionaires will never find happiness from their money, the colonizers will never find fulfillment from the land, the lives they steal, the fascists will never find meaning from their conformity, not in this lifetime or eternity.” But he also used his moment to heap love and praise on marginalized groups under attack. “This is dedicated to the beautiful tapestry of immigrant families that make this country really special. May you one day not have to audition for the empathy that should be freely given buy this country that benefits from your beauty.” Somehow, he even managed to bring it all back to vampires. This was truly a speech that had bite.

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Source: “EW Tony”