Tony Awards: Two Major Stars Set as Pluto TV Pre-Show Hosts

Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin will co-host The Tony Awards: Act One, the live Tony Awards pre-show set to stream for free on Pluto TV this Sunday. The pre-show will include exclusive content including the presentation of the first round of Tony Awards and will stream live from Washington Heights' United Palace in New York City beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. The 90-minute pre-show will precede the main Tony Awards ceremony, airing live on CBS and streaming live for Paramount+ premium-level subscribers beginning at 8 p.m.

The Tony Awards: Act One will mark Hough's second consecutive stint as host after she co-hosted last year's pre-show with Darren Criss. Hough, who has received three Primetime Emmy nominations for outstanding choreography for Dancing With The Stars and won in 2015, starred on Broadway in last season's Potus. Astin, meanwhile, originated the role of Georg in the Tony-winning musical Spring Awakening and stars in the CBS sitcom So Help Me Todd.

Viewers can access The Tony Awards: Act One on their smart TV, streaming device, mobile app or online by going to Pluto TV and clicking on the "Pluto TV Celebrity" channel. No payment, registration, or sign-in is required. The pre-show has typically streamed on Paramount+ in recent years, but it was announced in August that it was moving to Pluto TV.

"We are thrilled to collaborate with Pluto TV to kick off this year's Tony Awards celebration," Jack Sussman, executive vp, specials, music, live events and alternative programming at CBS, said at the time. "This cross-company partnership allows us to utilize the breadth of the Paramount Global family to bring the best of Broadway into homes of more viewers than ever before."

Immediately following the pre-show, The 76th Annual Tony Awards, hosted by Ariana DeBose, will air live coast-to-coast from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET. The annual awards ceremony honors theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway and is presented by the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing and has been broadcast on CBS since 1978. DeBose, a Tony nominee for Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and an Oscar winner for the reboot of West Side Story, also hosted last year's Tony broadcast.

The Tony Awards are produced in collaboration with Tony Award Productions, a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing, and White Cherry Entertainment. Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss are executive producers for White Cherry Entertainment. Weiss will serve as director. The striking Writers Guild of America said in May it will not picket the Tony Awards, noting that the Tony Awards Productions "has communicated with us that they are altering this year's show to conform with specific requests from the WGA."