Aaron Tveit Is Smart AF, Jenny from the Block Wasn't Specific Enough & More Lessons of the Week

Happy Friday, and happy anniversary of that crazy Alice in Wonderland with Carol Channing! While you celebrate with jam tomorrow, jam yesterday, but never jam today, let's take a look back at some of the wackiest and wildest stories from the past seven days on the Great White Way. It's time for the Lessons of the Week!


Ben Platt Does Once Multiple Times
How does Ben Platt prepare for a physically, vocally and emotionally challenging performance of Dear Evan Hansen? Did you guess somber ballads from a Tony-winning introspective musical? You should have. Laura Dreyfuss spilled the beans on Platt, revealing her co-star routinely warms up to Once. It's just the thing to do before you're falling slowly through a window. (That's how it goes, right?)


Andy & Orfeh Are Our New Direction
It's unclear if One Direction will come back from their hiatus, but for now, at least we have this. Broadway power couple Andy Karl and Orfeh gave us a taste of their new Feinstein's/54 Below show with "History." If 1D ever needs any new members, here are two who would definitely fit right in. Karl's even got boy band experience.


Audrey II's Coming Back For You
Shing-a-ling, a remake of Little Shop is happening (look out)! The cult fave is getting the big screen treatment once more with Supergirl producer Greg Berlanti at the helm. We're still a ways off from knowing anything about casting, but we have a dream pair in mind for Seymour and Audrey....provided they can take a break from their new gig as part of One Direction. Ahem.


Joell Ortiz Wants to Be a Jellicle
Now that Joell Ortiz has entered the theater world thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda, we might just see him sing and dance (and purr) on the Great White Way. At the Hamilton Mixtape launch concert, the rapper said that he'd love to give Cats a hip-hop twist. What would his Jellicle name be? We're leaning toward Joell the Brooklyn Bullshit Cat (Parental Advisory).


A Block Is a Block, Says Richard H. Blake
Don't be fooled by the rocks that she got; she's still Jenny from the block. Which block? Don't ask Richard H. Blake. At the opening of A Bronx Tale, we learned he didn't know Jennifer Lopez was from the borough his show is named after. Apparently, "the block" wasn't specific enough for him. Come on, Richard. No matter where she goes, she still knows where she came from. Why don't you?


Sheryl Lee Ralph Is Our Fave Film Critic
It's awards season, and as a batch of highly anticipated flicks arrive, everyone has opinions. However, the only person we want to decide a critics' darling is this critic, darling. On Call Me Madame, Wicked diva Sheryl Lee Ralph reviewed Hidden Figures, giving it a rave. After her stint in Wicked, we hope she starts her own web series: Morrible Movie Meter. We'd subscribe. Obviously.


Judy Kuhn Got Checked By Her Set
What's harder than living down a flop? Try being in a flop with set pieces that have minds of their own. When Fiddler's Judy Kuhn was telling us about her days in Chess, she recalled the giant towers manned by the crew that occasionally went wayward when the communication system failed. Suddenly, all that falling and disappearing furniture in Fun Home seems like a cake walk.


John Mulaney & Nick Kroll Love a Holiday
Move over, Audra. Broadway's got a new Billie Holiday. Two Billies, in fact. While visiting Broadway.com HQ, Oh, Hello headliners John Mulaney and Nick Kroll somehow found themselves impersonating the blues legend. If we're being honest, it was closer to Miss Piggy than Billie. Uh, take a seat, boys. Mama Broadway's got this covered.


The Color Purple Will Never Leave You
Even when she's big, blonde and beautiful, the color purple stays with her. Broadway.com readers voted Jennifer Hudson's "I Know Where I've Been" as the best performance of Hairspray Live!, but before the show-stopper, she donned a purple getup that reminded us of blades of corn, honeybees, waterfalls, etc. A The Color Purple Live! could work, right? Are you reading this, NBC? Oh, you are? Yay! Smash.


The DEH Crew Is Hip AF
Even if you're in (or at) a hot new show like Dear Evan Hansen, that doesn't mean your millennial lexicon is on fleek. At the opening, we quizzed the stars on Internet acronyms. The one nearly everyone—Aaron Tveit included—seemed to know? AF or "as f*ck." You haven't lived until you've heard your Broadway BAE shout AF IRL, TBH.