James Corden has spent the last week prepping to host the Tony Awards — and rehearsals keep threatening to make him cry.

Listen to this week’s podcast below:

“We had maybe 100 people arrive in the lobby of Radio City Musical Hall, where we’re working out the end of [a] song, and I would say there were two or three times I could have burst into tears,” Corden said on “Stagecraft,” Variety‘s theater podcast. “Maybe because I’m tired, but mostly because I’m just bowled over by the enthusiasm and willingness to participate from the companies of these shows, who are already doing eight shows a week. I find it inspiring, their attitude toward the entire thing.”

Corden, a Tony winner himself for “One Man, Two Guvnors” in 2012, is back emceeing the ceremony after he first hosted in 2016, the year of “Hamilton” — and the year of the Pulse shootings in Orlando, Fla., which occurred the night before the awards. He shared his memories of that time on the new episode of “Stagecraft,” and gave a glimpse of what’s to come in this year’s ceremony.

He also thought aloud about what’s next for him after his eventual exit from his current gig as the host of “The Late Late Show” on CBS (he’s four years into a five-year contract, and looks poised to stay longer in the gig). Whatever lies ahead, he explained, he’s certain he wants theater to be a part of it.

“I always will be drawn to: What’s the punk move?” he explained. “Is it going to do a play at the West Yorkshire Playhouse? Is it doing something Off Broadway? Is it trying to direct something? Is it trying to write something? Who knows? But I do know that I will seek that in the theater.”

He also revealed why he’s a performer who loves nerves, what musical theater song he’s always singing in the car, and in which musical he’s imagined himself co-starring with Jim Parsons.

New episodes of “Stagecraft” are available every Tuesday. Download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or anywhere finer podcasts are dispensed. Find past episodes here and on Apple Podcasts.

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