Patti LuPone Is Queen of the Ice, the Neon Lights Are Bright on Aaron Tveit Way & More Lessons of the Week

Sit back, relax and get ready for the absolute best part of the week. No, not a new episode of Dance Moms. It's time for the Lessons of the Week! We’re bringing you all of the silliest, strangest and craziest Broadway news from the last seven days. We learned that Lea Michele might be getting freaky, Zachary Quinto might be getting naked, and we can actually live on Aaron Tveit Way. (Yep. This is real.) Check it out!

Wicked Was All Ben Platt’s Idea
We always knew The Book of Mormon star Ben Platt was well-connected—his dad is Wicked producer Marc Platt, after all. But we had no idea Platt’s obsession with The Wizard of Oz is what inspired his dad to take on the project...and that working with Kristin Chenoweth on The Music Man got her cast as Glinda. The Great and Powerful Ben Platt has spoken!

Lea Michele Could Be a Freak
Glee gal Lea Michele is apparently eyeing another Ryan Murphy project—American Horror Story: Freak Show! We immediately started dreaming up ridiculous freaks (with love) we’d like to see her play, including a half-goat, half-Lea hybrid and a Bollywood monkey. Best of all, these ideas are totally, completely plausible.

Nathan Lane Makes a Great Glinda
You can see the real Nathan Lane in It’s Only a Play, but to catch a great impression of the Tony-winning star, check out Wicked. Jenni Barber is serving up l'essence du Nathan Lane eight times a week as oh-so-popular witch Glinda. Wait—a creature with the head of Nathan Lane and the body of Glinda? Lea Michele could totally play that.

Patti LuPone Is the Ice Bucket Queen
We’ve seen Broadway stars go shirtless, go shirtless again, and even get help from an elephant to raise money for ALS, but the winner of the best ice bucket challenge of all time unquestionably goes to Broadway legend and beach bum Patti LuPone. Can we get this gal a special Tony for her showstopping performance?

James Snyder Might Have Hypothermia
Speaking of ice and buckets, If/Then star James Snyder documented his ice bucket challenge on his Broadway.com video blog. Not content to follow the crowd, Snyder had fans at the stage door pour individual cups of ice on him, one at a time. Slowly. After cup five, he clearly began to regret this decision. The moral of this story? Be more like Patti LuPone.

Ethel Merman Lived on Sesame Street
OK, this isn’t exactly news, but this week we revisited an awesome old clip of Ethel Merman cheering up the citizens of Sesame Street with a rousing rendition of “Tomorrow” from Annie on a special holiday episode. She also tells Imogene Coca (another apparent Sesame Street resident) she “looks like an idiot.” Way to get into the Christmas spirit, Ethel.

No One Is Alone with the Sondheim App
What goes together like peanut butter and jelly? Yes, Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana, but what else? Stephen Sondheim and technology, of course! Starting September 1, there’s a new phone app that features a series of short movies with a Sondheim soundtrack. Well, there are worse things than staring at your iPhone on a Sunday.

Girls Loves Naked Broadway Boys
First, Hedwig star Andrew Rannells showed his butt on TV’s Girls. Now, The Glass Menagerie alum Zachary Quinto might be getting in on the naked dude action. This is an awesome trend, HBO. Next we’d like to nominate Aaron Tveit, Jeremy Jordan and Ramin Karimloo for the Girls naked dude challenge.

Theater People are the Sexiest People
When we asked the cast of It's Only a Play what makes someone a "theater person," we got a lot of wacky responses. Apparently, theater people can't do anything else for a living, are usually gay and don't make a lot of money (unless they're Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, of course). But as F. Murray Abraham points out, they're also the sexiest people. Damn straight. Oops, we mean damn "usually gay."

You Can Now Live on Aaron Tveit Way
Tveitortots, the day has finally, finally arrived: Aaron Tveit has a street named after him. HOORAY! We’re so glad Middletown, NY was eventually convinced by the flyers, flowers and trucks full of peanut butter cups we’ve been sending to the Middletown mayor’s office every day for the last five years. Bye, we're going house hunting. See you next week!