Tony Awards 2023: The Best, 'Worst' And Wildest Moments From This Year's Unscripted Ceremony

In a night loaded with musical numbers, the most show-stopping moments from the 2023 Tony Awards didn't involve any singing whatsoever.

From Michael Arden's defiant message to his homophobic high school bullies ("I'm a f–got with a Tony!") to J. Harrison Ghee and Alex Newell's historic wins as nonbinary performers, this year's salute to Broadway was a parade of memorable soundbites — despite the absence of an actual script.

Sunday was also a great night for Gleeks; in addition to watching Newell (aka Unique) take home a well-deserved Tony, we also got to enjoy a performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Lea Michele, just as Glee foretold all those years ago.

CBS' three-hour broadcast was guided by host-of-all-things Ariana DeBose, who almost certainly exerted every last ounce of her charisma to keep the unscripted ceremony rolling along.

Read on to relive some of the biggest moments from Sunday's ceremony (plus a few from Pluto TV's pre-show) that we'll be thinking about all week, then drop a comment with your own additions to our list. What are your main takeaways from the 2023 Tony Awards?

OK, this isn't technically about CBS' broadcast, but...

If we knew that Pluto TV was streaming a classic Liza Minnelli concert (in this case, "Liza in Philadelphia") ahead of The Tony Awards: Act One, we would have tuned in much earlier. Can we make this a regular thing moving forward, not just for the Tonys but for all televised ceremonies? Honestly, just insert some CGI slime and you've got the perfect lead-in to this year's Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

Speaking of Pluto's pre-show, to the lucky few who were actually able to watch it via their TV app without getting an error message ("We're having trouble playing this title"), congratulations.

Also, what did we miss?

In a nod to the ongoing writers strike, Sunday's ceremony kicked off with DeBose closing a blank script, then launching into a high-energy medley of iconic songs — sans their equally iconic lyrics.

The result was both an excellent showcase for DeBose's famous footwork and an inventive nod to the plight of the WGA, the latter of which was directly explained to the audience during the opening monologue.

DeBose also deserves kudos for breezing through what could have been an incredibly awkward opening monologue, especially coming right out of that intense dance number.

"We don't have a script, you guys," she announced. "I am live and unscripted. You're welcome. So to everyone who may have thought last year was a bit unhinged, to them I say, darlings... buckle up."

Parade's Michael Arden had everyone on their feet with his mic-drop of an acceptance speech for Best Direction of a Musical — his first Tony win, believe it or not.

"Growing up, I was called the F-word more times than I can remember," he said. "And all I can say now is that I'm a f–got with a Tony!"

Happy Pride, everybody!

...Dominique Fishback, who took the podium and gleefully assured viewers: "I'm not as scary as it seems!"

You know, for anyone who was worried that Prime Video's Swarm might be a documentary.

If you didn't think this year's ceremony suffered without a script, you were obviously taking a pee break during DeBose's throwback to the great Ellen DeGeneres Oscars Selfie of 2014.

DeBose put it best as she attempted to corral some of Broadway's biggest names into the shot: "I know it's really annoying, but let's be in it. Like, everybody."

You could feel the emotion in the room during Newell's walk to the stage, where they began their first-ever Tonys acceptance speech with a joke ("I'm not gonna hold y'all, cause it's hot in here"), before pivoting to a brief, powerful reminder of the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity.

"Thank you for seeing me, Broadway," the Shucked star said. "I should not be up here as a queer, nonbinary, fat, Black little baby from Massachusetts. And to anyone who thinks that they can't do it, I'm going to look you dead in the face [and say] that you can do anything you put your mind to."

Of course, Newell wasn't the only winner to enter the record books on Sunday, so let's keep the celebrations going.

Following Some Like It Hot star J. Harrison Ghee's win for Lead Actor in a Musical, Newell and Ghee are now the Tony Awards' first-ever nonbinary acting winners.

You probably weren't expecting the Tonys' segment about arts education to include a savage dig at Florida governor Ron DeSantis, but then came Denée Benton to introduce this year's recipient, a teacher from the town of — wait for it — Plantation, Fla.

"I am certain that the current Grand Wizard — I'm sorry, excuse me — governor of my home state of Florida will be changing the name of this town immediately," Benton quipped.

As far as perfect entrance lines go, the queens of RuPaul's Drag Race have nothing on the star of So Help Me Todd. Enjoy:

"Good evening. I'm Marcia — and no matter what state we're in, we can always say — Gay Harden."