A Tony Awards like no other, really. Strike leaves Broadway stars to rely on their 'live' muscles

There are a lot of questions surrounding this year's Tony Awards — and not just about who might win.

The Hollywood writers' strike has left much of Sunday's telecast with unknowns. There will be performances from the nominated musicals, prerecorded montages of the plays and acceptance speeches. Everything else seems up in the air.

The striking Writers Guild of America has agreed not to picket but won't allow its union members to work on the Tonys, leaving Broadway's biggest night without an established script. Any banter will have to be impromptu.

But if any group of people is best equipped to handle the stress from a live event, it's the Broadway community. Going on without a net just doesn't scare them.

“I think the theatrical community is the one artistic community that is absolutely capable of pulling off a show like this and not having it feel like, ‘Oh, I’m so scared and nervous!’ " says Wayne Brady, who has been on Broadway in “Kinky Boots” and “Chicago” and will be leading a new “The Wiz.” It’s like, ‘No, this is what we do. This is what we do.' And I can’t wait to see it.”

Ariana DeBose's second stint as host is likely to be far different from last year. The Academy Award winner and Tony Award nominee will be tasked with gluing it all together.

There's plenty of time to eat up: A 2½-hour preshow on Pluto TV from 6:30 to 8 p.m. hosted by Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin, and then the three-hour main event led by DeBose on CBS and Paramount+ starting at 8 p.m. and airing from Washington Heights' United Palace.

Performances are slated from the nominated casts of “Camelot,” “Into the Woods,” “& Juliet,” “Kimberly Akimbo,” “New York, New York,” “Parade,” “Shucked,” “Some Like It Hot” and “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

In addition, Joaquina Kalukango, the winner of last year's Tony for best performance by a leading actress in a musical, will sing, as well as casts from “A Beautiful Noise” and “Funny Girl.” That means there'll be plenty of star power, from Josh Groban to Lea Michele.

A total of 26 Tony Awards will be handed out for a season that had 40 new productions — 15 musicals, 24 plays and one special engagement. It was the first full season since Broadway returned from the COVID-19 shutdown.

“Some Like It Hot,” a musical adaptation of the cross-dressing movie comedy that starred Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, goes into the night with a leading 13 Tony Award nominations.