Tidbits! (06/07/07)

Ok, so this is going to be relatively quick today. I've got a Tony Breakdown to prepare!

I'm totally getting excited for the film version of "Hairspray!" to release this summer! Broadway World has a sneak peak of a scene from the film. It's Zac Efron singing "Ladies Choice", a new song written for the film. It's the scene where Tracy first jumps on the scene and auditions for the Corny Collins Show! You can watch it here...

Tuesday night, the American Foundation for AIDS Research held their "Honoring with Pride" gala at Rockefeller Plaza. The special guest performer this year was Cheyenne Jackson, who I'll be seeing soon as Clark Kent in "It's a bird… It's a plane…" Liza Minelli was on hand to make a few presentations, and got reacquainted with her good friend Kenneth Cole who is the chairman of amfAR.
Broadway Week continues on "Live with Regis & Kelly". Yesterday they featured Company. Raul Esparza performed "Being Alive" which you can see here!

You know, there have been a few times that the show has been featured and other people have performed. Like yesterday, at Stars In The Alley they let Heather Laws do "Not Getting Married". Now, I get that this is an ensemble piece, but give me a break. The only reason it's doing incredibly well right now is because director John Doyle really centered everything around Raul. So I think the producers were really smart to let their star perform; everyone else from the show really pales in comparison…

And since I'm on the topic... here's a video that I found this morning of Raul's interview with TheaterTalk TV! It's not too long, and he talks about the way he lives his character. It's really interesting to hear how a soon-to-be Tony Winner pulls a character together!

Le Sigh. I heart him…

Yesterday was the Stars In The Alley concert, which I attended about an hour of. Apparently right after I left Laura Bell Bundy and the cast of Legally Blonde took the stage. D-A-M.

Legally Blonde does not contain core-shaking material or an unidentifiable yet moving sound like some other productions (Spring Awakening, much?) but it is one of the most fun shows I've seen in a long time. And Laura Bell is seriously fantastic in it. So of all the things that got stage time after I left, that's the one I'm most bummed about!

Bobby Cannavale is going to be making his Broadway debut in Manhattan Theatre Club's first play of the 2007-2008 Season, Mauritius. It's set to begin in September at the Biltmore.

I'm not familiar with the show, but apparently it's centered around an stamp collection that two sisters inherit from their mother. I'm not sure where Cannavale comes into that plot line. The production is also starring Alison Pill, who is currently starring in MTC's Blackbird, and who we all remember as the bitchy (and slightly crazy) little sister of Katie Holmes in "Pieces of April".

Darius DeHaas and Joanna Gleason are teaming up for a concert version of "Take The A Train" which features the music of Billy Strayhorn. It's being produced by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus. Joanna is staging and directing the production, with DeHaas as the featured vocalist being backed by the choir.

Should be really entertaining! Darius is an incredible singer. He played Cain in the original cast of Children of Eden. As someone who has played that role, let me tell you that he set the bar incredibly high for anyone else to attempt it vocally!

David Boreanaz is currently guesting down at Spalding Gray. So I have yet to go down and actually see the show, but it's getting higher and higher up on my list of things to do. Every week they rotate a guest star into the five person ensemble.

This week: David (who totally hit on my sister once).

Next week: Christopher Gorham. Who? He's "Henry" on Ugly Betty! I can hear my best friend going "oohhhhh!" right now. He loves him just a little bit…lol

So last night I joined Katie at an event her company was co-sponsoring. It was a pre-party for the Daytime Emmy Awards, which are apparently coming up soon… Anyway, it was a lot of fun! The venue (Nikki Beach) was really awesome, and the people were pretty cool too. For the most part, Soap Stars think much more of themselves than they should. There were more than a few people there who desperately needed to be taken down a few notches. But there were some very cool people that balanced it all out!

There was one guy in particular who I had a crush on as soon as he walked into the bar.

SO F*ING H-O-T.

Do I remember his name? Nope. Sure don't. All I can remember is that he's going to be at the Tony's after party at Rockefeller on Sunday (which I'm totally going to try to get into…) and that he's going to be doing a play soon called "Love For Sale", which is the opposite of "Pretty Woman". So he'll be playing the hooker turned leading lady. I'll be keeping my eyes out for him…

So anyway, an open bar and a slice of pizza later, I dragged my arse back up to my little abode on CPW. I'm seriously exhausted today, but I'm hangin' in!

Tonight I'm going to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Traveler" with friends. And for those of you who have yet to watch "Traveler", start tonight! You will not be disappointed...