Inside the 77th Tony Awards Opening Number 'This Party's For You'

Following 2023's wordless opening number for Broadway's biggest night of the year, the large-scale Tony Awards opening was back for the 77th annual awards show!

Due to the WGA strike, a traditional opening number was unable to be written and performed last year for the 76th Tony Awards. Instead, Macy Schmidt was tapped to come up with orchestrations for the music-only number alongside musical director Benjamin Rauhala. Together, they created an inventive opening, relying heavily on Latin-inspired dancing to help introduce the show.

This year, the original song was written by Tom Kitt and Amanda Green, with choreography by host Ariana DeBose and Julius Anthony Rubio. Though not full of Easter Eggs like the 2022 opening, "This Party's for You" served as an invitation and reminder for the nominees and those in attendance that the big event is for theater kids and adults everywhere.

The number began with a dancer holding a copy of "Broadway Times" a tongue-in-cheek fictional newspaper stylized like The New York Times, with a headline reading "She's Back!!! DeBose Returns as 3rd Time Host." DeBose hosted the 75th and 76th Tony Awards, respectively, and also serves as a producer this year in addition to her hosting duties.

The first dancer initiated the song by passing the newspaper around to their fellow dancers, eventually reaching DeBose herself, who kicked off her performance of the Bob Fosse-inspired number.

The song itself highlighted the lengths that performers often will go to perform on The Great White Way, and how that love for performing on stage is often rooted in a significant, life-altering experience such as seeing a show for the first time or "acting in your high school play."

The titular refrain "This Party's For You" emphasized how everybody is welcome in the Broadway community, while DeBose continued to list the possible scenarios for how people are bitten by the Broadway bug, with lines like "Maybe you saw 'Rent' as a kid and that's how it began" or name-dropping August Wilson as a gateway playwright for new audiences.

She went on to celebrate first-time nominees, which this season includes people like David Adjmi for Stereophonic and Sarah Paulson for Appropriate. She highlighted international performers that are new to Broadway this year in addition to noting young stars who "shine so bright," clearly a reference to talented young performers like Maleah Joi Moon in Hell's Kitchen and the cast of The Outsiders, three of whom who were nominated for a Tony.

DeBose pointed out the adage that "film and TV can make you rich, make you famous, but theater will make you better." Despite the harsh reality of eight shows a week, she emphasized the "joy in the struggle" and that because they have made it here, they are "already winning."

The number ended with a flourish, as DeBose danced to a rising platform, the whole time being circled by her backup singers and dancers. Not missing a beat, she kicked, spun, and, at the last moment, fell backward out of sight, concluding the grand opening to the awards ceremony.

Watch the performance below!

Take a look at the nominees and winners of The 77th Annual Tony Awards, updating live HERE!

Photo credit: Mary Kouw/CBS ©2024 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.