New York Daily News
Why Jane Lynch should host the Tonys
March 18, 2013
Broadway’s annual prizefight is going back to where the Rockettes have a leg up.
Producers of the Tony Awards officially announced Monday that the show will air on CBS on Sunday, June 9, from Radio City Music Hall – as noted a week ago on the Daily News’ Show and Tell blog.
So who’s the host? Still to be announced, and the search is under way, says an awards insider. I suggest Jane Lynch, the Emmy-winning star of “Glee.” “The wish list always includes who’s now on Broadway or associated with Broadway,” says the source.
By those standards, the candidates include Tom Hanks, Bette Midler, Alec Baldwin and Nathan Lane, who all have Broadway shows this season and could do the job.
But for my money, Lynch leads the pack. Here’s why: She makes her Broadway debut as meanie Miss Hannigan in “Annie” on May 16. That’s smack dab in the middle of when the Tony nominations are made on April 30 and when the trophies are handed out.
She’s hilarious and fearless. She can sing and dance. She’s got a following from “Glee” and beyond. And she’s got experience as an emcee of the Emmys.
Granted, TV critic Alessandra Stanley groused that on Emmy night, Lynch “made more than one reference to being gay, which didn’t seem that pertinent.”
Says the inside source, “That won’t be a problem at the Tonys.”
For the past two years, the Tonys were given out at the Beacon Theater on the upper West Side because the now-shuttered Cirque du Soleil’s “Zarkana” was in residence at Radio City. Neil Patrick Harris emceed those shows.
