8 Ariana DeBose must-see musical theater Performances ahead of the Tony Awards

A once-in-a-generation triple threat, Ariana DeBose is set to host the Tony Awards for the third time this Sunday. By the time she finished her opening number for the 75^th Tony Awards, honoring excellence on Broadway in 2022, the crowd that included Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda was on its feet whooping and hollering. DeBose and an ensemble of singers and dancers had walked the audience through about seven decades of musical theater via mash-ups of songs and choreography from Cabaret to A Chorus Line to Evita.

Earlier that year, DeBose became the first out queer woman of color to win an Academy Award, when she picked up the Best Supporting Actress statue for her visceral and magnetic portrayal of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story.

“Imagine this little girl in the backseat of a white Ford Focus. Look into her eyes. You see an openly queer woman of color and Afro-Latina who found her strength in life through arts. And that’s what I believe we’re here to celebrate,” DeBose said in her speech. “So anybody who’s ever questioned your identity ever, ever, ever or you find yourself living in the gray spaces: I promise you that there is indeed a place for us.”

Since DeBose’s Broadway debut in Bring it On in 2011, she’s made an indelible mark in musical theater starring as Leading Player in Pippin (2014), as “The Bullet” in Hamilton (2015), Jane in A Bronx Tale (2016) and as “Disco Donna” in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, to name a few.On TV, she wowed audiences in the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon (2021), a whimsical ode to musical theater that’s loaded with Easter eggs for show nerds. Elsewhere on film, DeBose starred as Alyssa Greene, the queer teen longing to come out with her girlfriend at prom amid a PTA skirmish over queer couplings in Ryan Murphy’s The Prom (2020).

In honor of DeBose’s third time hosting the Tony Awards, here are a few of her must-see musical theater performances.

“This Is Your Round of Applause” from the 75th Annual Tony Awards 

In an astounding feat of musical theater prowess, DeBose and an ensemble of performers lead the 75th annualTony Awards audience through decades of musical theater history with “This Is Your Round of Applause.”

“With All of Your Heart” from Schmigadoon

In the conservative town of Schmigadoon, DeBose plays school marm Emma Tate with verve and feminist ideals. She sings and tap dances her way into viewers’ hearts with a number that encourages everyone to always try to be their best selves.

“Alyssa Greene” from The Prom

As the smart popular girl, Alyssa Greene, who’s torn between coming out at prom with her girlfriend Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman), and pleasing her mom (Kerry Washington), DeBose delivers a heartrending depiction of what it’s like to be closeted. In “Alyssa Greene” she enumerates the ways she’s expected to please her mother.

“The Bullet” in Hamilton

As one in the original ensemble of Hamilton, DeBose held a pivotal role as “The Bullet,” the embodiment of the bullet that took down Alexander Hamilton. DeBose told Out in her 2021 Out 100 interview, “The Bullet didn’t speak, but she said a lot.”

"Last Dance" from Summer: The Donna Summer Musical

DeBose, LaChanze, and Storm Lever played musical icon Donna Summer in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical beginning in 2018. With a Tony nomination under her belt for her portrayal of Disco Donna, DeBose and her costars got the audience at Tony Awards moving in 2019. Look out for DeBose's dance break!

76th Annual Tony Awards Opening Number Choreographed by Karla Puno Garcia

Without a script due to the Writers Guild of America strike in 2023, DeBose and an ensemble of dancers opened the 76th Annual Tony Awards with an homage to New York City — cue Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” — choreographed by Karla Puno Garcia. DeBose hosted the event with no script peppering her banter with flair, humor, and heart.

“America” from West Side Story

There’s a reason DeBose won just about every major award for her role as Anita in West Side Story (the role for which Rita Moreno won an Oscar for playing 60+ years earlier). Her turn as the protective confidante to Rachel Zegler’s Maria conveyed an easy magnetism as well as showing off her acting, singing, and dancing chops in equal measure.

“Over and Done” from Schmigadoon/Schmicago

Schmigadoon’s second season, “Schmicago,” took viewers through an odyssey of ’60s and ’70s musicals. In the final episode, DeBose channeled Diana Ross in a Dreamgirls number.The song is also a nod to DeBose’s career as she played Ross in 2014’s Motown: The Musical.