Dee Snider on ‘Rocking It Out’ With Patti LuPone and Bebe Neuwirth for New Album Dee Does Broadway

Heavy metal icon and Twister Sister frontman Dee Snider never imagined he’d be a part of the Broadway scene, but here he is with the May 8 release of his new show tune-filled album, Dee Does Broadway. “If you’d told me that 25 years ago, I probably would have punched you,” Snider told Broadway.com at the opening night of Ghost. “But between doing Rock of Ages on Broadway and dueting with Patti LuPone and Bebe Neuwirth on my new record, it’s pretty crazy.”

Even after going into the recording studio with LuPone, Snider could barely bring himself to believe he shared the studio with the two-time Tony winner. “I just kept looking around and going, ‘Does she know who I am? Why is she here?’” Snider said with a laugh. “But we had so much fun because we’re not deconstructing on this album, we’re embracing and rocking it out."

Not only did Snider get a badass Broadway album out of the experience, he stumbled upon a previously undiscovered talent: being a casting director. “I got a hold of Bebe Neuwirth and asked her to do [Damn Yankees’] Lola,” Snider revealed. “She came in and I said, ‘Wow, you are awesome. You should do that on Broadway,’ and she said, ‘I did, isn’t that why you asked me?’ And I responded, ‘No, I just thought it was good casting!’”

Snider's album also features duets with other Broadway veterans like Clay Aiken, Cyndi Lauper and Priscilla Queen of the Desert stars Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon and Nick Adams. The singer appeared in Rock of Ages, which features the Twisted Sister song "We're Not Gonna Take It," in the fall of 2010. Click below to hear Snider's take on the classic title song from Cabaret.