Gay Broadway Day Episode #2!

Check out my two favorite men talking about their favorite belters...I'm honored to be included!

Some broadway gems!

Hello, my gorgeous fans who love high belting. Last night/morning I could NOT sleep! I probably didn't shut my eyes until 6:30 a.m. OY! Anyway, I find that the best thing to do when you can't sleep is watch amazing clips on youtube. I started the evening watching clips of Wicked for some research...no need to go into why (wink, wink), but I started watching Kendra Kassebaum, who has a weird, weird, sometimes thrilling voice, and she's completely hilarious as Glinda (check out her last "Popular," pretty hilarious and I HATE this song), but what I REALLY liked, was her full-throated, belted C at the end of the number (6:50) followed by a lovely high C in head voice. 

 

Somehow this clip got me to watch Jennifer Hudson singing "I'm Here," from The Color Purple (also immortalized by Zach Altman at our Duplex show), but THEN I found this amazing clip of Fantasia on Broadway at her final show. First of all, her singing is just over the top amazing, secondly, the audience and the girl taping it just make it even more enjoyable.

Then I thought, "Hmmm...I wonder if there's footage from Dreamgirls with Audra, Norm, Heather, etc..."...well, there is. Audra's sassy dancing, pushed chest, full-voiced head voice and sweat pants are just terrific. I wish SO badly that there was a video of Heather Headley's DISASTROUS "Ain't No Party," but this will have to do for now.

And finally this wonderment....how did she do this night after night and can STILL sing, let alone speak! Amazing.

Audra McDonald might play Aretha Franklin in biopic?

Hello, gorgeous fans! We just read that Audra McDonald might play Aretha Franklin in a biopic about her life! That would be incredible! Supposedly, Aretha wanted Halle Berry for the role, but Halle really didn't feel confident doing it because she said she couldn't carry a tune...smart Halle. Does this mean Audra is going to crossover into movie acting and....maybe win an OSCAR?!?! She is just a star. Audra is the best, she should win everything.

Tony Nominations!

Hello, gorgeous fans! Today the nominees for the Tony Awards were announced! Unfortunately I have been out of the country so I have only seen a few of the shows nominated (hopefully I will see more when I return to NYC this summer). There are a few nominations I'm extremely excited about though. The first is Ron Raines, who was absolutely spectacular in the revival of Follies. It was honestly the best singing I've heard on Broadway in years. There is literally nothing negative you could say about it. While I love Norm Lewis and Danny Berstein, I am rooting for Ron all the way. Seeing a REAL leading man on Broadway who is strong, handsome, tall, masculine and can SING is so refreshing and I wish we had more of that on the stage. I'm also excited for Audra McDonald being nominated for Porgy and Bess, but that was a given. Jan Maxwell was also fabulous in Follies and was definitely the standout female performance of that evening, although I was disappointed to see that Elaine Paige wasn't nominated for her fabulous performance in the same show. Check out the full list of nominees here.