The Tony Awards’ Opening Number Is The Most Chaotic Thing I’ve Ever Seen

New York’s hottest nightclub is the 2026 Tony Awards. It’s got everything: P!nk dressed as Peter Pan, random celebrity cameos, a Celine Dion impersonator, and the casts of every Broadway show in the past year — and that was just the first 10 minutes. Indeed, the Tonys opening number was one of the most chaotic things ever put on stage, setting the standard that every awards show should follow.

P!nk, the show’s first-time emcee, kicked off the ceremony in typical P!nk fashion, flying above Radio City Music Hall before former host Neil Patrick Harris told her to embrace the world of Broadway, even though she’s never starred on the Great White Way. Naturally, that didn’t stop her from putting on such an elaborate spectacle that Andrew Lloyd Webber could only dream about.

With help from writers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, P!nk transformed her iconic 2002 collaboration “Lady Marmalade” from the original Moulin Rouge! film, into “Leading Lady Marmalade,” honoring the female powerhouses on Broadway. The stars of every nominated show, from Ragtime to Best Musical winner Schmigadoon!, appeared at such a rapid pace that even Rachel Berry probably couldn’t keep up. In fact, the number was so stacked that Titanique star Jim Parsons got blocked by the cameras.

If you’ve appeared on Broadway in the past year, then you were probably on that stage, making for one of the most random groups of people in pop culture. Whitney Leavitt nodded to her series The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, then Rachel Berry herself, Lea Michele, made light of her Tonys snub for Chess, before making June Squibb say that she “slayed” (an accurate statement). If that wasn’t enough to process, Megan Thee Stallion was carried onstage by two dancers to perform a rap surrounded by the ballroom cats of Cats: The Jellicle Ball. Yes, really.

And for the few stars that weren’t onstage, P!nk incorporated them into the lyrics, making “gitchie gitchie Lesley Manville, gitchie gitchie Carrie Coon” my new favorite vocal stim. Ariana DeBose is probably kicking herself for not thinking of that first.

The ending was basically a Broadway round of “Where’s Waldo?” with everyone gathered on the Tonys stage for one last round of synchronized jazz hands. You could rewatch it over a dozen times and still notice someone new with every viewing (shoutout to Ariana Grande’s brother, Frankie). It was outlandish, ridiculous, and sometimes confusing, but it was also fun and proved that P!nk can bring everyone together. The Oscars or Emmys would be a lot more entertaining if they embraced this level of camp and extravagance.