It’s time to say bon voyage to another week on the Great White Way! But before we head out to see three shows before sundown on Sunday, let’s revisit the most important lessons we learned over the last seven days. From the enduring popularity of a certain Wicked witch to Orlando Bloom’s secret Broadway fantasies, it’s been one crazy week. Read below to find out what we’ve learned!
Kristin Chenoweth Is Still Very, Very Popular ("Lahr")
On this week’s Broadway.com Show, we posed an impossible and, frankly, completely unfair question: If you could pick only one witch to make a Wicked cameo, would you rather see Kristin Chenoweth or Idina Menzel take the stage at the musical’s 10th anniversary? Who knows if the pair (who recently reunited for the most adorable picture this side of Oz) will actually be able to return to the Gershwin Theatre, but since we forced you to pick, you begrudgingly named Kristin Chenoweth as the more popular witch. Sorry, Idina. La-la-la-la…
Hit List Lives! So Wait, What’s It About?
Hey, Smash fan (no, that’s not a typo—there’s only one of you left), get excited! The show’s angsty fictional musical Hit List will be performed live at 54 Below, starring Jeremy Jordan, Krysta Rodriguez, Andy Mientus and as far as we know, not Katharine McPhee. This means we’ll finally figure out what the heck Hit List is actually about. Something to do with an intense relationship between a hot songwriter and…oh, whatever. We get so lost in Jeremy Jordan’s eyes we zone out whenever he sings anyway. See you there (if you can actually get tickets)!
Company Is Finally Coming Out of the Closet
OK, admit it, you always suspected relationship-hopper Bobby from Company was a little more interested in his male friends than his female ones. The only people who didn’t seem to notice were composer Stephen Sondheim and book writer George Furth…until now! Sondheim and director John Tiffany are hard at work on a reimagined revival of Company in which Bobby is out and proud, and Alan Cumming (instead of Elaine Stritch) wonders if anyone still wears a hat. OMG, Company, we knew it! We’ve totally known since third grade!
You Know What Broadway Needs? More Romeo & Juliet
Uptown, we’ve got American Idol’s Justin Guarini spouting Shakespeare, and downtown, the Niles the Butler from The Nanny is giving it a go. But apparently, that’s just not enough R&J for one city, and The Last Goodbye, a new musical version of the iconic tragedy set to the music of the late Jeff Buckley, is eyeing Broadway. Yawn, we’re bored of this whole star-crossed lovers thing. Can’t Juliet choose Paris this time, stay alive, and live a decadent life of leisure?
We Forgot How Great NPH Looks In Glitter
It’s been 10 excruciatingly long years since Neil Patrick Harris glittered up his nipples to play the Emcee in Cabaret—that’s an entire decade of boring Barney suits and starched Tony tuxes. But as the gritty new promo shot for the forthcoming revival of John Cameron Mitchell's rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch proves, sparkly NPH is heading back to Broadway! Here on the Great White Way, Neil, you’re always welcome (no, encouraged!) to glitter and be gay.
Robert Pattinson Runs the Matilda HR Department
Ever wonder what happens when Broadway stars leave a production? Well, at Matilda, cast members must undergo an exit interview…with a vampire! As documented in Lesli Margherita’s hilarious video blog “Looks Not Books,” departing maggots Ryan Steele and Samantha Sturm are forced to endure an awkward and incredibly creepy interview with Lesli’s beloved cardboard cut-out of Robert Pattinson. Uh, he is just a cut-out, right?
Betty Buckley Has a Pal For Lea Michele the Goat
Remember Lea Michele? No, not the Spring Awakening-gal-turned-Glee-star. The goat at Jonathan Groff’s family farm! We’re sure Lea the Goat is having a great time hanging out with her twins (Broadway.com broke that news, by the way), but after hearing stories about Betty Buckley’s beloved pet Rosie O’Donkey on Side By Side, we think it would be awesome to get these two barnyard pets a playdate. Side by Side by Goat by Donkey, anyone?
Don’t Even Try to Keep Up with These Joneses
Move over, Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig—the forthcoming Broadway drama The Realistic Joneses is giving your star-packed revival of Betrayal a run for its money. Featuring Emmy winner Toni Collette, Golden Globe winner Michael C. Hall, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei and Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, the new cast is so insanely accomplished, we don’t know why we even bother getting out of bed. Oh wait, to watch Dexter.
Ryan Murphy Likes His Broadway Ladies Batsh*t Crazy
If we’ve learned anything from Ryan Murphy’s deliciously spooky second episode of American Horror Story: Coven, it’s that Broadway leading ladies have a knack for acting completely and utterly insane on the small screen. In this week’s episode, Lily Rabe morphs into Stevie Nicks, Sarah Paulson has a super psycho witch moment and Jessica Lange has an all-out slap-fest with Angela Bassett. Let it all out, ladies! (Patti LuPone, you’re next.)
Orlando Bloom Dreams of Jazz Hands
Romeo and Juliet (uh, the one with Justin Guarini) star Orlando Bloom stopped by Show People this week, and you know Editor-in-Chief Paul Wontorek would never let the star out of the hot seat without getting him to dish about past roles in college musicals. ‘Lando (yep, we’re pretty tight with him now) even sang a few bars of “Real Live Girl” from Little Me, gave a thumbs up to a Pirates of the Caribbean tuner and said he “wouldn’t mind doing a revival” of a musical sometime soon. Yep, we know a few other people who wouldn’t mind, either.