Kevin Spacey proves to be affable host of Tony Awards

Kevin Spacey got a chance to poke fun of the roster of hosts the Tony Awards went through before settling on him for the ceremony. But he set all doubts to rest with his opening number.

The Tony Awards were in bad shape a month ago, not knowing who would serve as the host. James Corden did a fabulous job last year but surprisingly turned the producers down for an encore performance. Hugh Jackman and Tina Fey rebuffed overtures and Kevin Spacey was chosen at the last minute. With his opening parody of Broadway-nominated shows, he set aside all fears about his ability to carry the night.

The opening number had charm, was entertaining and self-deprecating. It reminded me of some of Billy Crystal’s opening song medleys at the Oscars that skewered the best nominees.

In fact, Spacey’s opening included Crystal himself via video, who gave advice in the Groundhog Day segment that had the House of Cards star waking up over and over and getting advice from former hosts, such as Whoopie Goldberg, who came out of the closet, prompting the joke “how long have you been in the closet,” from Spacey, to which she answered “it depends on who you ask.”

An easy laugh, to be sure, but the rest of the opening was adorable, fun, with lots of mentions of “mean tweets.” Crystal said he had also been approached for the gig, as the “14^th choice.”

Spacey poked fun at himself being a last-minute host, starting out with a song from Dear Evan Hansen that generated praise from the audience and moving into parodies of Groundhog Day, Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, and Come from Away about the stresses of hosting. He ended with a nod to the gay rumors about him by dressing as Norma Desmond from Sunset Boulevard with Glenn Close smiling in the audience and closed the number on a high note with tap dancing, tails and a top hat.

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Renowned for his great impressions, Spacey used his President Clinton and Johnny Carson ones to liven up the evening. The Emmy-nominated actor avoided political jokes for the most part, but as Clinton, couldn’t help getting in just a few, toward the latter part of the evening.

“This season has been full of drama. We’ve already had some surprising winners, haven’t we? I’m not even talking about the Tony Awards,” joked Spacey as President Clinton.

A Tony-winner himself in 1991, the versatile actor gave the award ceremony his all and the audience reacted well to his enthusiasm and love of theater. He may not have the dance moves or the voice of a Hugh Jackman, but the Oscar winner saved the production from disaster and delivered under pressure.