Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon, Nick Adams, and the cast of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Photo by Joan Marcus.

Priscilla Queen of the Desert is taking it to the streets to celebrate this year’s New York Pride.

The stars of the musical (about three fabulously attired drag queens driving and dancing across the Australian outback) kicked things off by headlining last Saturday’s Pride Rally. What’s next for the troupe? The parade, of course! The stars of the show, including Will Swenson, Tony Sheldon, and Nick Adams, will hop aboard the famed bus of the title and drive right down 5th avenue in full, show-stopping, Tony-winning-costume style. And with all those sequins and wigs, something tells me you won’t be able to miss it.

All silliness aside, Priscilla‘s story of acceptance and friendship is a perfect fit for this weekend’s festivities. Check out the cast’s “It Gets Better” ad and be inspired, after the jump…

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Every fourth Wednesday of the month, the “VIP Access” column will serve up advice on how to make your theater-going experiences cheaper, easier and more fulfilling with inside scoop from the experts. This month, we’re acting like the birdies on Jaybird Street…

Tom Cruise in "Rock of Ages". Image via @adammshankman.

Tweet. Tweet. Tweet. With its 140 character limit, rabid followers and echoing retweets, Twitter is either a revolutionary communication force or the end of civilized interaction as we know it. Or maybe it’s just a great way to feel like you’re chatting with the theater’s brightest stars. Given The Broadway Blog’s mission to welcome everyone into a theatrical cocktail conversation, I’ll vote C for now and let history be the judge.

As a newbie–@BroadwayBlogTom–I spent the last week diving in headfirst and trying to learn the rules of the road (and, clearly, mixing metaphors haphazardly). Other than the possibility of getting lost in a T-Hole for hours, Twitter turns out to be a pretty amazing way to learn about ticket deals, hang out with your theater idols and meet some new ones as well. Here are my top ten recommendations for twitter feeds to “follow”:

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Photo by Joan Marcus.

It’s Fleet Week in New York City, that special time when the Naval flotilla steams into town, officers in dress whites wander the streets of Manhattan and many a young man’s heart beats faster with a deep, throbbing patriotism. And what better way to celebrate our men in uniform than with music theater.

Yeah, you read that right. Believe me, I took a double take when I saw the news as well. One of the marquee events during this salute to the military is a concert aboard the USS Intrepid featuring performances by the casts of current Broadway hits. It’s billed as being for the visiting sailors (and the general public) and what red blooded American hero doesn’t want to see a little Anything Goes and Priscilla Queen of the Desert? It would seem that “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” is truly dead in the water.

Actually, my Dad, a Navy man through and through, still talks about pulling into New York and seeing the original Camelot with some of his friends from the ship, so it’s not as odd as it sounds. And one of the great musical comedy scores of all time, On the Town, follows the adventures of three guys on shore leave. So get your tickets to tour the Intrepid and, tomorrow at noon, join the men of the fleet for a little song and dance from Broadway’s best. Just don’t forget to salute your superiors.

After the jump, let’s get in the mood with some Navy-themed musical numbers:

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Photo by Joan Marcus.

The nominations for the 2011 Tony Awards were announced this morning and, to no one’s surprise, The Book of Mormon led the field with a whopping 14 nominations. However, to everyone’s surprise, Kander & Ebb’s final musical collaboration, Scottsboro Boys, was close behind with 12 nods–a staggering total for a show that has already closed. On the play side, nominations were more evenly spread, though the revival of The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino edged ahead with a total of 7 nominations. A few other snubs and surprises worth noting:

• My dream list from yesterday proved prophetic, with all three actors getting nominations (O’Malley, Hickey and, praise the theater gods, Tammy Blanchard). Although Brief Encounter did not figure as prominently as I would have hoped, a nomination for lead actress Hannah Yelland is certainly a lovely acknowledgment.

• Scottsboro seemed to swallow up any long-term memory cells in voters; another critically lauded show that is no longer open Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson failed to make as much of a mark as I thought it might. Lead actor Benjamin Walker’s omission for his sexy, magnetic performance is a shocker. However, having a roster of upcoming movie roles and Meryl Streep as his future mother-in-law might make up for the snub.

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Once a month, a member of the theater community will pull up a chair to our cyber table and join us for a little conversation. I’ll edit the transcripts (removing the truly libelous parts) and post the results here every second Wednesday. Without further ado, let me introduce…

Jim Caruso's Cast Party

Jim Caruso knows how to handle a mic. Part bon vivant and crooner, cheerleader and coach, Caruso champions the Great American Songbook and the best singers in town as host of the weekly star-studded, open-mic spectacular Jim Caruso’s Cast Party at Birdland. I caught up with the six-time MAC Award winner at a midtown diner and over a laugh-filled, dish-clattering lunch we chatted about his weekly gig, his dreams (hint: purple socks) and the life-changing influence of Liza with a Z.

What was the genesis of Cast Party?

I was doing press for a nightclub, which was as interesting as it sounds. It was a nightclub where nothing was happening so I was doing press releases for drink specials.

Your favorite being…

I couldn’t have cared less. It was painfully dull. The nightclub happened to have a piano in the corner so I decided to throw a Christmas party so at least something would be happening. Everybody came and everybody stayed until 4 in the morning and sang around the piano. The next day, the club called and asked, “Would you do that every Monday?”  And I said, “No.” And here we are.

Do you remember who was there that first night?

Billy Stritch took to the piano.

Hack.

Hack. No talent. Amanda Green. Natalie Douglas, the jazz singer. Dave Koz on sax.

These were just people you called up and said “Hey.”

Well, they are all people that I hang with… It was just like 30 people and it was so much fun. And frankly, I learned from watching Liza [Minnelli] doing these parties every Saturday night. She’d throw a party and people like Madonna and Streisand and Cy Coleman and Comden & Green…

Oh my gosh…

Me and Billy, Ann Hampton Calloway and our set. Plus Tony Bennett and Barbara Cook. And everybody ended up around the piano and it was so magical. It was never about showing off or singing a medley of their hits, it was just like Liza would say, “Tony, sing ‘It Had to Be You.’” “Well, I don’t know that song.” “Well, sing it anyway.” So Billy would be at the piano and these magical things would happen. So I’d watch that and that’s kind of how this night went.

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Every first Wednesday of the month, get caught up on what’s new on stage with a review round-up. And that vaguely hollow, clinking sound you hear at the end of each segment? That’s me tossing in my two cents.

First, one quick note: there are so many shows that have opened in the last month that I’m splitting my round-up into two parts to save us all from one eye-straining, mammoth post. Even I don’t want to hear myself talk that much. We’ll discuss the subtly linked (oh, such a tease)  How to Succeed and Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo tomorrow.

Photo by Carol Rosegg.

ARCADIA

Tom Stoppard’s masterpiece about the dramatic goings on at an English country estate (and the researchers attempting to make sense of those events almost two centuries later) returns to Broadway in a production directed by David Leveaux.

“…a half-terrific revival of Mr. Stoppard’s entirely terrific Arcadia.” New York Times

“It’s easy to admire, but hard to love.” New York Post

“Arcadia offers as thrilling and fulfilling a theatergoing experience as you’ll likely have this season.” USA Today

“Despite the mashup of Brit/Yank acting styles, helmer David Leveaux delivers a ravishing revival…” Variety

Photo by Carol Rosegg.

Mizer’s Two Cents:  I saw the original Lincoln Center production (when I was five…cough, cough) and it was one of the highlights of my theatergoing life. This production can’t compete against those glowing, though perhaps suspect, memories but it is a lovely and transporting mounting of a true work of genius. The stage crackles with wit and heart, keeping the focus clean and the momentum rushing forward. Though I agree with reviewers that some performances are not quite fully realized, Billy Crudup’s wickedly exuberant Nightingale and Lia Williams’ fierce and compassionate Hannah are revelations.

Now let’s confront the elephant (or better yet, the second law of thermodynamics) in the room. People say that they are intimidated by the erudition of Stoppard’s plays but Arcadia is not a physics/history/math lesson. It’s not a test and you will not need to bring your number 2 pencils. Yes, the characters talk about theories that are beyond the average theatergoer (and perhaps beyond the average Nobel Laureate) but that’s because they are highly specific and specialized characters. The point is not the minutiae of what they are saying but how and why they are saying it. Relax, roll with the characters’ enthusiasm and trust that Stoppard is smart enough to highlight what you really need to understand (and, the thing is, you will understand enough by the end to impress your friends at math parties.) All that truly matters in this achingly human play is that we are all searching, always needing to know what we can never know.

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Arcadia. Photo by Carol Rosegg.

They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb but clearly “they” weren’t talking about Broadway theater. It’s like a twenty car pile-up of show openings out there, everyone trying to crash the party before the Tony eligibility deadline on April 28. Right now, there are overworked publicists surviving on nothing more than leftover pigs-in-a-blanket and fumes from their overheating blackberries. Pray for them. Here are a few bits and bobs to keep our energy up:

• The new play Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo opens tonight for a limited 16 week run on Broadway. The critical reaction to Robin Williams’ performance should be interesting to watch (and I’ll chime in next week in April’s  “To See or Not To See” round-up.)
• The box office results are in and it looks like people are responding to the fizzy (and slightly filthy) fellas of Priscilla Queen of the Desert as well as the revival of Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia. In a perfect world, Arcadia would be raking in Wicked-dough for years to come.

• If you want to be ahead of the curve, take a look at the list of musicals which received development grants from The National Alliance for Musical Theatre.  The odd-couple combo of Michael John LaChiusa (Hello Again) and Ellen Fitzhugh (Paper Moon) is certainly an eye-catcher.

We’ve made it through our first month and I want to thank everybody for reading and commenting; this should be a conversation between friends so jump on in and let me know what you’d like to see more (or less) of.  Keep up with posts by joining us on Facebook. And, finally, take a look back at some popular stories from March you may have missed:

• Tom Berklund was our first Theater Buff. You never forget your first.
• Celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s birthday led to some truly heartfelt and lovely remembrances from readers.
• Tony-Nominee Kate Baldwin kissed and told about Sheldon and Cheyenne.
• Cheap Broadway tickets.  ‘Nuff Said.
• And finally, we mounted a full-scale revolt against tyranny and bloating with the Les Miz Workout.

Photo by Joan Marcus

Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical, the eye-popping, disco-thumping show based on the popular Australian film, opened on Broadway last night. Filled with camp humor, classic club anthems and variations on the Oscar-winning costume designs by Tim Chappel and Lizzy Gardiner, the newest jukebox tuner tells the story of three drag queens traveling across the Australian outback in the titular (and silicone-enhanced) bus, hoping to find redemption, family and new love. Judging by the buff and well-buffed cast led by Tony Sheldon, Will Swenson and (the buffest-of-them-all) Nick Adams, there isn’t a bottle of Nair left in the Big Apple.

Check out a number from the show after the jump.

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