Queen Latifah Is a Comfy Wizard, Wayne Brady Is Our Personal Uber & More Lessons of the Week

Happy Friday, and welcome to a post-The Wiz Live! society. It’s been a wild week, from live telecasts to Jedi founding fathers and punk rock longshoremen. As always, we’re here to wind down with a roundup of the craziest stories from the past seven days. Put Mary J. on pause for one minute; it’s time for Lessons of the Week!

Wiz Casual Is the New Biz Casual
So we wanted to meet the Wizard, and on December 3, we finally did. And this time, the Wiz was a Queen (no, not Lesli Margherita). While Queen Latifah served us drag king realness in her first scene of The Wiz Live!, she shocked us even further with her next look: a bathrobe. Pair that with David Alan Grier’s Lion slippers and you’ve got the perfect watch-from-home ensemble!

Lin-Manuel Uses the Force
Does he have a time turner? Has he cloned himself? We don’t have answers; all we know is Mr. Miranda deserves a break that he probably wouldn’t take anyway. There's Hamilton. He’s writing for Disney. He and Vanessa Nadal are raising a toddler. Now, he’s composing a new cantina song with J.J. Abrams for Star Wars. So yes, Lin-Manuel's playing everywhere, including a galaxy far, far away.

Fantine Needs Her Hand Cream
There was a time when men were kind, and Fantine’s hands were soft. While preparing for her show, Les Miserables star Montego Glover revealed that even though she’s playing a defeated, down on her luck factory worker-turned-prostitute, hand cream is an absolute must at all times. She goes through all that and still keeps her beauty products?! They must be worth a centime, my dear.

Les Miz Will Run for 1x276 Days More
Les Miz (and, in turn, Fantine’s super soft hands) have set a date to bid us adieu. The revival will wave the flag of freedom high for the last time on September 4, 2016. So if you’re mourning the loss, just think of how much you can do in nine months! If you get a super short haircut, you can grow it out! You can build a 24,601-foot barricade! You can walk from Montreuil-sur-Mer to Paris and back 80 times!

Mark Strong Could've Been a Punk Lawyer
Before Olivier winner Mark Strong was starring on Broadway and hanging out with Arthur Miler at the von Trapp mansion (that really did happen), he was a total punk. The View From the Bridge star revealed that acting wasn’t always his goal; he started in a punk rock band and went on to law school. If he ever wanted to return to his roots, “Eddie and the Longshoremen” wouldn’t be the worst band name.

Waitress' Pie Is Filled With Inclusiveness
What’s sweeter than pie? An all-female, all kick-ass creative team for the Broadway-bound Waitress musical. Director Diane Paulus and writers Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson have ordered up some choreography from Broadway alum Lorin Latarro, marking the first all-female creative team in Broadway history. Throw in Tony-winning star Jessie Mueller and you have a recipe for a pie that packs a punch.

Fiyero's Been Blending Through Life
Fiyero is one fine, scandalacious Winkie prince, and you can even drink him in smoothie form! According to Jonah Platt, a Fiyero smoothie would consist of, among other things, passion fruit and protein powder. Wait, why aren’t there Wicked smoothies available at the Gershwin Theatre? We would totally drink a kale-infused smoothie if it had “Elphaba” in the title. OK, maybe.

Wayne Brady Will Give You a Piggyback
Wayne Brady’s rocking some serious footwear on stage in Kinky Boots, and he’s learning that in order to fully understand being a diva, you have to walk, strut and dance a mile in her shoes. Now that he’s entered the Land of Lola, Brady's much more sympathetic to those who wear high heels. He’ll even give you a piggyback ride if you need it! But if you’re wearing kinky flats, you can walk.

Anthony Ramos Is a Sucker for Boy Bands
Anthony Ramos may rap and croon R&B on stage in Hamilton, but when he’s not in the spotlight, it’s entirely possible to catch him listening to the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC. The Broadway newcomer revealed that his pop culture guilty pleasure is any and all boy bands. That’s not a bad thing, Anthony. We can totally see you strung up like marionettes with Lin, Leslie and Daveed.

Ali Stroker Is Ready for Her Closeup
Spring Awakening's Ali Stroker is making history as the first Broadway actor in a wheelchair, so she might be offended after seeing Kylie Jenner fetishizing her disability in a controversial photo shoot. Instead, she's excited to highlight the bridge between sexuality and disability. She even wants to recreate the shoot herself. If you need a photographer, Ali, Melchior and Wendla have our info.