Broadway’s biggest night filled with Jewish pride

When Pink took the stage to host this year’s Tony Awards, Broadway’s biggest night, it felt very much like a love letter to theatre.

The singer, born Alecia Moore, brought her trademark acrobatics, humour and stadium-sized energy to New York’s Radio City Music Hall, but it was her genuine affection for theatre that gave the ceremony much of its warmth.

Pink has spoken over the years about growing up connected to Jewish culture and traditions and has been known to share it all on her social media channels, including standing up for Israel and the Jewish people since October 7.

Ahead of the ceremony, she described Broadway as a creative influence on her own live performances.

“It is the honour of an entire lifetime to host a night celebrating the literal hardest working people in show business,” Pink said in a statement to CBS News. “Broadway has shaped my life and how I put my own shows together — it is a community that is supportive, and inclusive, and full of talent and love.”

She also highlighted the personal side of the experience in interviews ahead of the ceremony, including her family’s involvement. Speaking to Today, Pink said her daughter Willow Hart’s enthusiasm for musical theatre played a role in her decision to accept the hosting role, joking she had to ask her daughter’s permission before accepting.

“My daughter is Broadway obsessed,” Pink told Today. The family have relocated to New York to help Willow pursue her Broadway career.

Pink opened the ceremony with a large-scale musical number featuring more than 170 performers and references to classic Broadway productions, before spending the rest of the evening moving comfortably between comedy, musical tributes and interviews with nominees.

Much of the audience response centred on how naturally she fit into the theatre world despite coming from the pop music industry.

The 79th annual Tony Awards ultimately became a strong night for Jewish representation both on stage and behind the scenes, with Jewish performers, writers and productions taking home several of the industry’s biggest honours.

Among the most talked-about winners was actor John Lithgow, who won best leading actor in a play for Giant, portraying children’s author Roald Dahl during the fallout from Dahl’s antisemitic remarks.

The production examines the public controversy surrounding comments Dahl made about Jews and Israel in the 1980s and has become one of Broadway’s most discussed plays this season.

Lithgow, 80, became the oldest actor to win a competitive acting Tony Award.

“Two Tony bookends with 53 years between them,” he said. “In those years, I have worked with hundreds of just fantastic theatre artists. I’ve had dozens and dozens of ecstatic moments on the stage, but I have to tell you right now, this moment has got to be one of the best.”

In a previous appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Lithgow addressed the show’s relevance today.

“It’s a piece of history,” Lithgow said, “It’s an examination of that day. And as you can imagine, in this day and age, it’s extraordinarily timely.”

Jewish actress Caissie Levy won best leading actress in a musical for Ragtime, marking a major career moment for the Canadian performer known to many audiences for roles in Frozen and Les Misérables.

Levy shared that the strong women in her life were her inspiration.

“I modeled her after my grandma [Ruth] and my bubbe and my mom — I kind of smushed them all together and that’s my version of Mother,” she told New York Magazine on the red carpet. “I feel like Ruth has such a strength to the name and that feels right for Mother.”

Ragtime itself carries strong Jewish themes through its exploration of immigration, identity and the American experience in the early 20th century.

Shoshana Bean also secured a Tony win, taking home best featured actress in a musical for The Lost Boys. Bean has built a long Broadway career through productions including Wicked and Hairspray. She paid tribute to all the single mums in her speech.

“This is for the mamas. This is for the single mamas. This is for my single mama. You are the wild heroes. This is for the incredible army of women that surround and uplift me,” she said.

Playwright Bess Wohl, who describes her heritage as a blend of Jewish, Mormon and Irish Catholic background but who is raising her children Jewish, was recognised for Liberation, winning best play and becoming only the fourth woman to receive the award in the category.

“I want to honour women everywhere who have the courage to use their voice,” said Wohl, who thanked her mum, daughters and female producers. “And to all the girls out there: May you speak your truth, and may the world be wise enough to listen.”

The Tony for best play revival went to Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller’s masterpiece that looks at the unraveling of the American Dream. It won the 1949 Tony for best new play and best revival crowns in 1984, 1999 and 2012.

It earned a leading six Tonys: Roseanne star Laurie Metcalf won her third Tony for playing Willy Loman’s wife opposite Nathan Lane in the revival, which also won for lighting, scenic design and sound design. Joe Mantello won best director for a play.

The last win of the night, for Best Musical, was awarded to Schmigadoon, and Jewish producer Lorne Michaels succinctly put it best when he said: “Sometimes singing, dancing, a lot of jokes and a happy ending is really all you need.”

The evening also reflected the longstanding connection between Jewish artists and American theatre, a relationship stretching back generations through Broadway composers, playwrights, producers and performers.

That history was quietly present throughout the ceremony, even as the Tonys aimed to reach broader audiences through Pink’s involvement as host.

Entertainment coverage following the event largely focused on how unexpectedly well suited Pink appeared for the role. Critics praised her preparation, theatricality and ease with live television, while theatre audiences embraced her clear enthusiasm for Broadway culture rather than treating the ceremony as simply another celebrity appearance.

For Jewish viewers, however, the night carried an additional layer: a globally recognised performer openly connected to her Jewish heritage guiding audiences through a ceremony filled with Jewish creative achievement.

At a time when Jewish identity in entertainment spaces can feel politically charged or cautiously handled, fittingly, it was Pink, part pop superstar, part theatre devotee and proudly connected to her Jewish background, leading the celebration.

With Times of Israel and Kveller