Broadway takes on the Oscars!

The 92nd Annual Academy Awards aired last Sunday, and it saw an impressive number of theatre stars up for nomination.

Elton John (who wrote scores for The Lion King, Billy Elliot, and won a Tony for Aida) snagged the Oscar for Best Original Song with “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again.” The song was written for the biopic Rocketman, based off of John’s life.

Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple) performed “Stand Up,” a song she co-wrote for Harriet. The song was nominated for Best Original Song, and Erivo herself was nominated for Best Actress.

Idina Menzel (Rent, Wicked) performed “Into The Unknown” from Frozen II, another nominee for Best Original Song, penned by double EGOT-winning Robert Lopez (Avenue Q, The Book of Mormon) and his Oscar winning wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez. Menzel was joined by fellow Broadway and theatre performer Willemijn Verkaik (Elphaba in Wicked) as well as 8 other actresses who lent their voices to the international language translations of Frozen II.

Renee Zellweger won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of celebrated musical actress Judy Garland. Zellweger was nominated for the same award in 2002 for her performance as Roxie Hart in Chicago, a film adaptation of the musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse.

Other Broadway alum who took the stage included Lin-Manuel Miranda and Anthony Ramos, James Corden (dressed as Bustopher Jones, his role from the Cats film), and Billy Porter.

Gabi Bergman

Gabi Bergman is a Melbourne-based performer and educator, and is the current Deputy Editor-in-Chief of AussieTheatre.com. She holds a Double Arts degree in Theatre Studies and Film/Screen Studies and a Master of Teaching (Secondary Education). Gabi has always been an avid lover of theatre, specifically musicals, and spends way too much money than she’d like to admit on tickets. Her most prized possession is her crate of theatre programs.