Tony Awards 2018: Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban on having each other's backs as co-hosts
This Sunday the 72nd annual Tony Awards will be hosted by singer-songwriters Sara Bareilles and Josh Groban. Bareilles starred in "Waitress" on Broadway and was nominated for a Tony for its score in 2016, and Groban earned a Tony nomination last year for his role in "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812."
Details of the award show's opening number, which have been mostly kept under wraps, are rumored to be tailored to the unique talents of Bareilles and Groban, who would only joke when asked by "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King for clues about what they were planning.
"It's just going to be a lot of standing around awkwardly," Groban joked. Added Bareilles, "I can do a clown horn."
Bareilles, who is nominated again this year for a song she wrote for the musical "SpongeBob SquarePants," said yes to hosting in part because of Groban's participation.
"We've known each other for a long time and we have such a nice natural chemistry, and so it felt like this wonderful opportunity to do something that was scary but also to do it with a buddy," Bareilles said.
"It's nice to take risks with a friend. We both were a little nervous. This is new territory for both of us," Groban added. "We knew we'd have each other's backs."
Broadway crowds broke records this season with nearly 14 million total attendees. There are 34 first-time Tony nominees this year.
"Writing a musical is by far and large the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life. It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be, which made it all the more sweet to be acknowledged," Bareilles said of receiving her first nomination.
Groban hopes the awards show will reach some of the younger fans of the stage, much like it did for him as a kid.
"We both remember, you know, watching the Tonys when we were little, sitting on the floor and just saying – letting the Tony Awards be kind of the inspirer for us," Groban said. "I think it's not lost on us how many young people are going to be watching and how many young people are hopefully saying the same thing: I want to be in those shoes one day."
You can watch the Tony Awards on June 10 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 7:00 p.m. CT on CBS.
