Chenoweth, Menzel & Salonga Fuel Fantasies, Sandy Blows & More Lessons of the Week

Sutton, Kristin, Idina, Lea, Beyonce, Cheyenne… could this week’s lessons be any more star-studded? Hurricane Sandy may have wreaked havoc over the last several days, but it didn’t wash away all the nifty Broadway lessons we learned!

The American Songbook Teases a Diva Trifecta
Imagine our delight and subsequent devastation when we learned that Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel and Lea Salonga would be participating in Lincoln Center’s American Songbook concert series (hooray!) on three separate dates (aww!). If only these three would share the stage, our prayers for the ultimate diva trifecta would be answered. Just picture it for a second. Glinda, Elphaba and Kim in perfect harmony. Sigh. Oh, well. I guess the only place we'll get to see that combination is through the bizarre grace of YouTube lipsynchers.

Dan Stevens Can’t Get Noticed in a T-Shirt
Downton Abbey dreamboat Dan Stevens may the best set of baby blues this side of the Atlantic, but the British actor revealed that few fans recognize him when he’s not clad in period garb (the Heiress star is best known for roles that require top hats and such). “I’m sitting outside wearing jeans right now, and nobody’s stopped me yet,” Stevens told us over the phone. Just sit tight, Danny. The way fashion works, we'll be seeing a resurgence of waistcoats by Hanukkah. 

There Is No Song Glee Won’t Cover
In four seasons, Glee has covered every song there is, from the obscure (“Run Joey Run”) to the obnoxious (everything else). Add one more to the latter category, because on the November 8 episode, the kids at McKinley High are going “Gangnam Style.” The K-pop cover has absurd lyrics and a headache-inducing beat, all of which seems to exist purely for vapid entertainment with no real message. Hmm… so it does belong on Glee after all.

Sutton Foster’s Friendship Is to Die For
Broadway besties Megan McGinnis and Sutton Foster may be separated by a few thousand miles these days (one’s in London, the other in Hollywood) but this is one friendship borne from the most solid of foundations: onstage death! “It’s really easy to bond with someone when you die in front of the other person,” recalls McGinnis of her time in Little Women opposite her now-BFF Foster. If we knew a great (fake) death scene is all it takes to befriend a Broadway superstar, we’d have Romeo-ed ourselves in front of Liza a long time ago.

Sandy Is Definitely Not the One That We Want
We can deal with rain and snow, and even a little hail here and there, but when a hurricane threatens the sacredness of the theatah, that’s when we get angry. Hurricane Sandy brought Broadway to a screeching halt, with weather conditions getting so bad that every show (on Broadway and off) had to cancel performances on October 29 and 30. Though we're all still recovering, there's at least one thing to learn from the ordeal: we may never be able to listen to that song from Grease the same way again.

Aasif Mandvi Is Obsessed with All the Obvious Stuff
When we asked Disgraced and The Daily Show star Aasif Mandvi to share his obsessions with us, we weren’t expecting that he would pick the most obvious answers ever. I mean, seriously. His favorite “random obsession” is Slavoj Zizek (obviously!). His favorite book is Ayad Akhtar’s American Dervish (duh!). And his favorite singer is the succinctly named Rodriguez (um, we love Rodriguez). Why don’t you just pick every tween sensation in the book, Aasif!?

Cheerleaders Are In, Early 20th Century Vagrants Are Out
What do Jack Kelly and Bonnie Parker have in common? They both got bested by a cheerleader! Our Halloween poll asked readers to choose which of this year’s Broadway characters would make for the ultimate costume, and Bring It On’s peppy Campbell beat out Bonnie & Clyde and Newsies faves for the top spot. It just further proves the universal truth: quasi-historical figures will never win a popularity contest when there are miniskirts involved.

Beyonce Should Do Broadway, Not the Other Way Around
We love all of the hip Broadway stars who run around singing Top 40 tunes and belting their twentysomething heads off, but there comes a time when the tables should turn. We’re talking, of course, about Broadway Sings Beyonce, an upcoming concert from the same group of performers who have previously taken on the songs of Adele and Michael Jackson. We think it’s about time these music legends come to Broadway for a change. Beyonce, Broadway loves you, and you love Broadway (right?!), so put a damn ring on it already!

The Keenan-Bolgers Have Always Been Whores
When beloved Broadway siblings Celia and Andrew Keenan-Bolger stopped by the Broadway.com studio for their double Ask A Star, the question arose: "Who (as a child) was the biggest attention hog?" As it turns out, both sibs accused the other of being starved for the spotlight. “I was the boy, but you were the old diva sister,” said Andrew, to which Celia replied, “It was a different type of attention whore.” We know the type. Six-year-old pint-sized theater nerds clamoring for the starring role in a local production of Alice in Wonderland? Typical!

Cheyenne Jackson Keeps Getting Naked-er
There is empirical scientific data that proves that Cheyenne Jackson—actor, singer, former Broadway.com vlogger and TV star—wears significantly smaller costumes with each Broadway role. In All Shook Up, he rocked tight leather pants; in Xanadu, he skated around in short-shorts. Now in the pornolicious The Performers, Jackson has eschewed all fabric for what looks to be a slice of industrial-size beef jerky that doubles as a loin cloth. By this logic, Jackson’s next role should theoretically be in Equus. Neigh!