Tony Awards biggest moments, including Pink’s dazzling opening number

NEW YORK − Tony Awards voters were happy to get lost in “Schmigadoon!”

The new Broadway comedy made off with major hardware at the ceremony Sunday, June 7, winning four statuettes, including best musical. Based on the Apple TV series, the fizzy throwback spoofs Golden Age musicals and follows an on-the-rocks couple who are trapped in a town where people sing and dance incessantly.

The telecast was chock-full of mesmerizing performances from "Evita" star Rachel Zegler, who took our breath away with her gorgeous tribute to “A Chorus Line,” and the mind-blowing cast of “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” who turned Radio City Music Hall into a euphoric queer dance floor.

Hollywood stars such as John Lithgow (“Giant”), Laurie Metcalf (“Death of a Salesman”) and Alden Ehrenreich (“Becky Shaw”) all scooped up acting prizes, while two of the season’s very best offerings – “Titaníque” and "Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)" ‒ sadly went home empty-handed.

Here are all the night’s most unmissable moments:

Pink dazzles in opening number with Megan Thee Stallion, Neil Patrick Harris

Pink delivered the best Tonys opening of the past decade – and genuinely one of the greatest ever – with a joy bomb performance that was as celebratory as it was hilarious. The self-referential number began with Pink dangling from the ceiling in Peter Pan getup and singing “I'm Flying.” But armed with some sage words of advice from Neil Patrick Harris – and a remarkable “Defying Gravity” battle cry – the Grammy winner pivoted to something more her style with a Broadway-themed spin on her “Moulin Rouge!” hit “Lady Marmalade.”

From there, she invited the casts of all the nominated Broadway musicals to join her in singing the steamy earworm: belting with the likes of Deborah Cox and Lea Michele and giving absurdly silly shout-outs to Lesley Manville and Carrie Coon. The 96-year-old June Squibb and trans actress Dylan Mulvaney took the mic at various points throughout the head-spinning number, as did rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who cracked a joke about the musical “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)” as she was lifted across the stage.

“I don’t even know those guys,” the rapper said with a wink, pointing to her backside and twerking. “They were just two strangers carrying some cake!”

Ali Louis Bourzgui stands up for Palestinians, ‘empathy’ for immigrants

In one of the night’s biggest surprises, Bourzgui beat out presumed front-runners André De Shields (“Cats: The Jellicle Ball”) and Ben Levi Ross (“Ragtime”) to win best featured actor in a musical for “The Lost Boys.” Bourzgui, who plays a beguiling vampire rocker, tied the show’s themes into his speech as he spoke out about against billionaires, colonizers and fascists.

"This is dedicated to the beautiful tapestry of immigrant families who make this country really special,” Bourzgui said onstage. “May you one day not have to audition for the empathy that should be freely given by this country that benefits from your beauty. To the queer and trans communities that always will exist, no matter what people in power try to take away from them. To the people of Palestine who deserve to live a free life – a full life – without occupation.

"For Arab theatermakers and artists, may we continue to tell our stories and show our faces, so our humanity becomes undeniable, and our families can no longer be written off as merely collateral damage," continued the actor, who is the son of a Moroccan immigrant. "If there's one thing we can learn from vampires, it's that life is short but that's its gift. Find beauty in the ephemeral, and gratitude in what is not promised, and always invest in the people that want to see you blossom."

Qween Jean becomes the first openly trans person to win a Tony Award

Qween Jean, whose eye-popping attire helps brings sparkle and glamour to “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” made history as the first openly trans person to win a Tony when she took home best costume design.

“Happy Pride, y’all. Happy Pride!” Jean exclaimed at the top of her speech. “We are here for the legacy of queer people [and] trans people. We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm.”

Jean, an activist who also founded the Black Trans Liberation organization, joined a growing group of trans and gender-nonconforming actors who have been nominated for Tonys. In 2023, J. Harrison Ghee (“Some Like It Hot”) and Alex Newell (“Shucked”) became the first nonbinary Tony winners in the show’s nearly 80-year history.

Pink proves she's Broadway-ready with stunning 'Chicago' performance

If her jaw-dropping opening number didn’t already convince you, then Pink’s sizzling tribute to “Chicago” is irrefutable proof that we need her on Broadway ASAP. The pop star brought impeccable showmanship and sultry vocals to showstopper “All That Jazz,” stepping into the role of Velma Kelly made famous by Chita Rivera and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Queen Latifah, who costarred with Zeta-Jones in 2002 in the Oscar-winning movie “Chicago,” introduced the anniversary medley, which included cheeky cameos from Cedric the Entertainer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Whitney Leavitt in the “Cell Block Tango.”

“From one mother hen to another,” Latifah said, passing the torch to her fellow Matron Mama Morton, Alex Newell, who took the stage for a full-throated rendition of “When You’re Good to Mama.”

Maya Rudolph, Cole Escola spin comedy gold as Tony presenters

Were you seeing double? Cole Escola, who created and starred as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” presented the first award of the night alongside “Saturday Night Live” favorite Maya Rudolph, who plays the first lady in the outrageous Broadway comedy.

“Family. Redemption. Justice,” Escola said solemnly as they walked up to the podium.

“Passion. Tuberculosis. A big shoe,” Rudolph added. “These are all words.”

The droll duo riffed on this year’s Tony nominees, including “Oedipus,” a Greek tragedy about a man who kills his father and marries his mother. “[It’s] a play that asks the question: Can women really have it all?” Escola deadpanned.

“Yes, I have an SUV and a horse,” Rudolph said. “But enough about my love life!”

Shoshana Bean passionately honors single moms, 'army of women'

After two decades on Broadway and three Tony nominations, Bean finally picked up for her first prize for best featured actress in a musical for “The Lost Boys.” In the hit vampire spectacle, which is based on the 1987 cult classic, the powerhouse "Wicked" veteran plays the single mom of two teenage sons (LJ Benet and Benjamin Pajak).

“This is for the mommas,” said Bean, breathless and emotional in her acceptance speech. “This for the single mommas. This is for my single momma. You are the wild heroes. This is for the incredible army of women that surround and uplift me. This is for every woman who ever felt like she was too much or not enough.

“I beg you not to wait for permission to be all of who you are. Take up space, make your own path, make mistakes, make messes, make new things, be free, be loud, be brave."