Billy Crystal poked fun at President Donald Trump and the recent Los Angeles mayoral race while hosting the opening night festivities for the 2026 Hollywood Bowl season.
Halle Bailey joined Tony Award winners Darren Criss, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Lea Salonga as the performers of “The Best of Broadway,” which kicked off the storied L.A. venue’s summer lineup on Saturday. Conductor Thomas Wilkins led the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra in accompanying the stars, alongside members from the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and the California State University, Fullerton University Singers.
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“Welcome to the 2026 opening night of the Hollywood Bowl,” Crystal told the crowd at the start of the evening. “I haven’t heard excitement like that since they took Trump’s name off the Kennedy Center. Unbelievable.” The barb led to enthusiastic cheers from the audience.
After lamenting the infamous L.A. traffic, the nine-time Oscar host quipped, “Everything’s slow here. That’s how we count our mail-in ballots — very slow. Right before I came out, they had the final results of the governor race, and Gray Davis is going to be in.” The joke, which referenced the former California governor who was recalled in October 2003 and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, followed a vote-counting process earlier this month that took the city nearly a week to conclude that Spencer Pratt would not be moving on to this fall’s mayoral runoff election.
“Tonight’s theme is the best of Broadway,” Crystal continued. “It was either this or holding a UFC match here, and we decided that we would be classy and respectful.” In reacting to the crowd’s response to Trump’s recent UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, the host lamented, “I know. We’ll get through it.”
Saturday’s music performances included Criss’ renditions of “Something’s Coming” from West Side Story and “The Music of the Night” from The Phantom of the Opera, in addition to a duet alongside Salonga for Little Shop of Horrors’ “Suddenly Seymour.” Bailey’s performances included The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World,” which the actress previously recorded as the star of Disney’s 2023 live-action version of the classic animated film, and “Home” from The Wiz.
Other standout moments included Goldsberry singing “Satisfied,” which she performed in the original Broadway production of Hamilton. Additionally, Salonga belted out “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, while Mitchell took on “Wheels of a Dream,” the tune he first performed during the debut production of Ragtime.
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