Who Should Host the 2017 TONY AWARDS? BWW Shares Our Top 5 Picks

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Tony Award season is just around the corner, leading theater fans to speculate as to who will serve as host of this year's ceremony, returning to Radio City Music Hall on June 11th.

As BWW previously announced, Broadway faves Christopher Jackson and Jane Krakowski will reveal the nominees for the 71st TONY AWARDS in New York on May 2nd. Below, check out our Top Five dream Tony hosts, and be sure to visit BWW for extensive coverage of the May 2nd announcement!

#1 JAMES CORDEN - Following his highly successful appearance as host of the 70th Annual TONY AWARDS last June, we'd love to see an encore performance from the popular host of the LATE LATE SHOW. Corden brought his humor, vocal chops and undying love for the theater to last year's broadcast. Unfortunately, in a recent interview with Vulture, the 2017 GRAMMY AWARDS host revealed that he would most likely not return for this year's ceremony.

Said Corden of a Tony return, "To host THE GRAMMYS and the Tonys in one year is perhaps a little greedy. Don't get me wrong, though, hosting that show is a dream come true to me. I'd cry my eyes out if I thought that I could never host it again. But if that were the case, I'd be thrilled that I got to host it last year." He goes on to explain, "I've never been so aware of how much I'm enjoying something at the time that I'm doing it than hosting the Tonys. But I also don't know that the audience wants the same person to host all these shows. I'm very conscious of not overstaying my welcome." As far as we're concerned, overstaying his welcome is never something he should fret about!

Check out last year's opening Tony number, featuring Corden below:

#2 STEPHEN COLBERT - The host of CBS's LATE SHOW has been on a roll of late, beating NBC's 'Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' in the ratings race for nine consecutive weeks. While many credit Colbert's relentless mocking of the Donald Trump presidency for his sudden rise in popularity, we know that late night viewers have finally come to appreciate his sophisticated brand of humor, his keen observational skills, and of course, his impressive song and dance abilities.

In 2011, Colbert held his own in the all-star cast of Stephen Sondheim's COMPANY, singing alongside such luminaries as Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone. And if Colbert's production of 'The RNC Is Like Christmas In July' is any indication, we can only imagine the opening number Colbert would dream up as host of the Tonys. Check out the musical extravaganza below!

#3 LAURA BENANTI - She sings, she dances, and she does one dead-on impression of Melania Trump. We think triple threat Laura Benanti would kill it as host of the Tony Awards. Whether stealing the show as Baroness Elsa Schräder in NBC's SOUND OF MUSIC LIVE or drowning her sorrows in vanilla ice cream in the recent Broadway revival of SHE LOVES ME, the new mommy would surely put her own unique spin on the annual awards show.

Below, check out Benanti's take on the First Lady:

#4 JOHN MULANEY AND NICK KROLL - This charming duo are just coming off their hugely successful Broadway run in OH HELLO!, described as "a laugh-a-minute, two-man tour-de-force." The show marked the first new play to recoup its investment on Broadway this season, shattering the box office record previously held at the Lyceum Theatre. Nick Kroll played his alter ego Gil Faizon, while John Mulaney portrayed George St. Geegland, two outrageously opinionated, 70-something, native New Yorkers. Honed for over a decade, the fictional characters garnered a cult following and found their way onto a Comedy Central special, viral videos and late night couches everywhere.

In addition to being legitimate Broadway performers, we're guessing CBS would also appreciate the viewership numbers that the mainstream stars would deliver for the annual broadcast. Below, check out a clip from OH HELLO, featuring special guest Stephen Colbert:

#5 LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA - Okay, we know, it's a long shot. But in our dreams, we imagine that uber-talented Miranda would not throw away his shot to host the Tonys. The multi-talented award winner has been a fixture on the annual broadcast both onstage and off. Last year, Miranda added to his Tony collection by picking up multiple awards for HAMILTON, including Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical. While we acknowledge the musical genius may be a little busy these days, what with filming MARY POPPINS RETURNS in London, planning new productions of HAMILTON both around the country and across the Atlantic, and reportedly writing new music for Disney's upcoming live-action THE LITTLE MERMAID, we're still hoping he couldn't resist the opportunity to be in the room where it happens on June 11th.

Below, check out Miranda's performance on last year's TONY AWARDS, and re-live Audra McDonald and Neil Patrick Harris' recap of the 2013 Tonys. Set to Jay-Z's ''Empire State of Mind," the tune was frantically, (yet brilliantly) penned by Miranda as the broadcast was airing live.