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NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2013 Flying vampires.<\/a> A musical spoof of the megahit movie \u201cTitanic.\u201d Another spoof, this time of golden-age Broadway musicals. And a new \u201cDeath of Salesman,\u201d one of America’s most decorated and mournful plays. It’s Tony Awards time.<\/a><\/p>\n Twenty-four Broadway shows<\/a> will hope to nab at least one win Sunday across the 26 Tony categories, which can mean the difference between keeping the doors open and pulling down the curtain. <\/p>\n Grammy Award-winner Pink<\/a> is the host of the show, which will be broadcast live on CBS and streaming for Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. to both coasts on Sunday from 8-11 p.m. Eastern\/5-8 p.m. Pacific.<\/p>\n Three generations of Pink’s family<\/p>\n Pink promises a big, honking opening number \u2014 written by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Mark Sonnenblick that ends with some 170 people on stage \u2014 with lots of costume changes and some wire work, which she is familiar with from her acrobatic concerts. She has tapped Amber Ruffin, a writer and performer for \u201cLate Night with Seth Meyers\u201d for help with jokes.<\/p>\n In the audience will be Pink’s mother \u2014 who took her to shows growing up in Philadelphia, instilling a love of musicals \u2014 and Pink’s two children, a passing of the musical theater baton. Pink’s 15-year-old daughter, Willow, is an aspiring theater actor and urged her to host the Tonys.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest reason she wanted me to say \u2018yes\u2019 was so that she could have a seat at the show because she loves the show so much,\u201d says Pink. \u201cI was like, \u2018I can probably get you a seat anyway.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n Plenty of performances<\/p>\n There will be performances from the seven best new musical and best musical revival nominees: \u201cThe Lost Boys,\u201d \u201cSchmigadoon!,\u201d \u201cTitanique,\u201d \u201cTwo Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),\u201d \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball,\u201d \u201cRagtime\u201d and \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show.\u201d<\/p>\n Other performances include the original lead cast members of \u201cThe Book of Mormon\u201d \u2014 Josh Gad, Andrew Rannells, Rory O\u2019Malley and Nikki M. James \u2014 this year celebrating its 15th anniversary.<\/a> Leslie Odom, Jr. will sing \u201cWithout You\u201d from \u201cRent\u201d during the In Memoriam section, in honor of that show\u2019s 30th anniversary.<\/p>\n Another show celebrating a milestone, \u201cChicago\u201d now at 30, will have a performance slot featuring Pink, as well as Queen Latifah, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, Julianne Hough, Whitney Leavitt and Dylan Mulvaney. Plus, \u201cA Chorus Line,\u201d which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, will get a special tribute by Rachel Zegler.<\/p>\n The musical and play races<\/p>\n The competition for best new musical is between four very different shows: \u201cTwo Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),\u201d an opposites-attract rom-com; \u201cThe Lost Boys,\u201d a stage adaptation of a 1987 teen movie vampire thriller; \u201cSchmigadoon!,\u201d which gently mocks golden-age Broadway shows; and \u201cTitanique,\u201d a camp musical comedy that reimagines the 1997 movie \u201cTitanic.\u201d<\/p>\n The two top best play nominees are \u201cGiant,\u201d exploring accusations of antisemitism against children’s author Roald Dahl, and \u201cLiberation,\u201d about a consciousness-raising women\u2019s group in the 1970s that explores inequality, gender roles and racism.<\/p>\n There are intriguing races in both the revival categories: A \u201cDeath of a Salesman\u201d led by Nathan Lane is competing for best play revival with a modern-set \u201cOedipus\u201d led by Marc Strong and a sweet \u201cEvery Brilliant Thing\u201d starring Daniel Radcliffe.<\/p>\n The best musical revival pits a new \u201cCats\u201d reimagined as a \u201cPose\u201d-like competition show, the sweeping American history show \u201cRagtime\u201d<\/a> and a rollicking, frisky \u201cThe Rocky Horror Show.\u201d <\/p>\n Bill Rauch, who secured his first Tony nomination for co-directing the reimagined \u201cCats: The Jellicle Ball,\u201d was a nominator for three seasons until this one and is impressed by the range now on Broadway.<\/p>\n \u201cI look at everything as an artist within the season, but also as somebody who has seen the wealth of work on Broadway for three years running,\u201d he said. \u201cI just think there\u2019s so much variety on Broadway and so many artistic risks that people take. I left my three years as a nominator really impressed by the landscape, I have to say. And I feel that this year as well.\u201d<\/p>\n