Jeremy Jordan Was a Pageant Baby, Sutton Foster Has a Big Mouth & More Lessons of the Week

It's curtains for another week on Broadway. With the Tony Awards right around the corner, we’ve learned lots of juicy secrets from the nominees, from Jeremy Jordan’s pageant baby days to Audra McDonald’s early Broadway experience. Here's a look back at the lessons we learned from this week's news.

Jeremy Jordan Was Born Beautiful
Jeremy Jordan’s face is very popular with Broadway fans these days, but apparently it’s always been a winner. When Broadway.com asked the Newsies Tony nominee about the best thing he’d ever won, he surprised us with an early success. “I won ‘Best in Beauty’ when I was one year old at a beauty pageant,” Jordan confessed. Just a pretty face? Come on Jeremy, even at one you must have killed in the talent competition.

Sutton Foster Can't Keep a Secret
Sutton Foster is living in Paradise (seriously, that’s the name of the coastal TV town) as the star of Bunheads, but the Tony winner is the first to spill secrets of the onscreen Eden. “That ain’t real,” Foster said as she tapped a woodland backdrop and sent it rippling on a recent behind-the-scenes tour. “And see right there? That’s not a tree. It’s a branch on a stick.” OK, Sutton, but if you tell us the ballet is fake, we're bailing. Consider yourself warned!

Feel Free to Cuddle David Mamet
Playwright David Mamet, master of the “f**k you” speech, is actually a big softie. So says Porgy and Bess Tony nominee David Alan Grier, who starred in Mamet’s Race on Broadway. “He is a big teddy bear!” Grier told Broadway.com about his writer/director. “We loved loved loved him.” Fair enough, David, but if that teddy bear talks like his characters, we're not letting him anywhere near our kids (or nieces, or nephews or acquaintances under the age of 15).

Spencer Kayden Puts ‘Poop’ on Her Lips
Don’t Dress for Dinner Tony nominee Spencer Kayden has a really gross-sounding beauty obsession: Chicken Poop Lip Balm. “I know it sounds disgusting, but it’s actually quite fantastic,” she told Broadway.com. “It’s all-natural and the tube says, ‘Contains no poop.’ I believe it.” We believe it too, Spencer, but you better also believe we're going to be looking at your Tony night lipstick in a whole new way.

Cristin Milioti Needs a Leash at Tony Time
The Tony Awards can be equal parts fun and stressful for the nominees, but Once nominee Cristin Milioti has a secret weapon to battle the tension. When Broadway.com asked what would get her through awards season, Milioti answered, “Rescue Remedy and a Pit Bull. Dogs are very calming.” Whatever works for you, Cristin! Just don’t dye it to match your Tony dress.

James Corden Knows Richard Fleeshman's Naughty Bits
Opening night congratulatory notes from one Broadway show to another are a New York theater tradition, but when Ghost's good luck messages arrived, star Richard Fleeshman was congratulated on more than just his performance. “My friend James Corden from One Man Two Guvnors wrote me a lovely message,” Fleeshman said as he showed off Ghost's first-night faxes. “It says, 'Richard Fleeshman has a lovely, beautiful penis. Fact.’” We'll take your word for it, James, and we're not going to ask how you know. Enough said.

Don’t Cross Elizabeth A. Davis
Sure, a Tony nomination is all well and good, but Once's Elizabeth A. Davis has another impressive distinction. “I think I’m the only cheerleader in my high school’s history to receive a technical foul,” she admitted to Broadway.com. “I received a technical foul as a cheerleader for screaming at the ref. I’m pretty competitive.” Don’t worry, Tony nominees, we’re sure she’ll be on her best behavior on awards night. Right, Elizabeth?

Christian Borle’s Characters Worship Mister Rogers
Christian Borle was playing two very different characters this season: a Broadway composer on TV's Smash and a villainous pirate in Peter and the Starcatcher. What they have in common, according to the Tony nominee's recent Ask a Star feature, is fashion. “Tom’s really nice, Black Stache is really mean and kind of a narcissist,” he explained. “But I think they’d weirdly appreciate each other’s fashion sense. Stache is crazy for cardigans!” Of course he is! Cardigans go great with "face foliage."

Steve Kazee Was a Shady Student
Once Tony nominee Steve Kazee is pretty proud of winning a high school physics award, even though he didn’t exactly earn it fair and square. “It was only because I cheated off the guy next to me,” Kazee admitted with a laugh. “But it was still pretty awesome!” Luckily, he can't cheat his way to a Tony Award—but let us know if his Irish crooner character starts acting suspiciously like a Newsie.

Audra McDonald Regrets an Andrew Lloyd Webber Experience
Porgy and Bess Tony nominee Audra McDonald needed a re-do recently when Broadway.com asked her about the first show she ever saw on the Great White Way. “Into the Woods,” she said, before quickly amending. “That’s a lie.” A pause and a sigh, then, “Starlight f**king Express. That’s the truth.” What's the matter, Audra, got something against Dinah the Dining Car?