Adam Lambert On Doing "Hedwig," Joe Jonas Does "Avenue Q," Megan Hilty Does "Annie Get Your Gun": Theater
Ticket sales were not the only thing that saw a boost after the Tony Awards: This week, the weekly grosses picked up by nearly $700,000 and Billboard announced that sales of cast albums increased by an impressive 78%.
Recent cast recording chart-toppers include Something Rotten!, An American in Paris and Fun Home.
She Loves Him!
Tony winner Laura Benanti revealed her engagement to boyfriend Patrick Brown on Instagram last week: The actress, who appears on Nashville and Supergirl and returns to Broadway this spring in She Loves Me, looks positively aglow.
"I cried like a baby, and he spent five minutes trying to get the ring on my finger because we were both shaking so hard. I am so thrilled to be marrying such a wonderful man," she told E! News. Apparently Brown asked Benanti's parents and sister for her hand in marriage. (How old-fashioned!)
Best known for Broadway's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Gypsy and Into the Woods, Benanti was previously married to musician Chris Barron and Bridges of Madison County star Steven Pasquale.
Sierra Goes To "School"
The role created on screen by Joan Cusack in School of Rock will played on stage by Sierra Boggess, producers have announced. The singer's no stranger to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals, having appeared in productions of The Phantom and Love Never Dies. She'll create the role of Principal Rosalie Mullins on Broadway, joining the previously announced Alex Brightman as Dewey.
Boggess is best known for creating the role of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and can currently be seen in the struggling It Shoulda Been You alongside Tyne Daly and David Burtka. Boggess tweeted that she won't be leaving the show "anytime soon."
Previews for School of Rock begin November 9 at the Winter Garden .
What Do You Want From Him?
Adam Lambert won't be singing "Origins of Love," anytime soon: The Grammy-nominated singer revealed that he was approached to be the next Hedwig. "They offered," he told Queerty. "I'm flattered they asked me, but it's not what I want to do right now. It's an amazing role."
But the American Idol runner-up didn't poopoo the idea: "Maybe one day. The thing about it is I don't want to get in drag for eight shows a week." Lambert has other priorities at the moment. Not that dating is one of them: He told Huffington Post that he's an "exclusive relationship" with his third Studio Album, The Original High.
Jonas Brothers: The Musical?
Perennial gay-tease Nick Jonas also said no to Hedwig, telling HuffPo Live! he loves the part but wouldn't want to be a replacement in a show. Instead, he wants to write a play or musical.
Earlier this week, brother Joe Jonas appeared on NBC's I Can Do That alongside Nicole Scherzinger, to perform a revamped version of Avenue Q's "It Sucks to Be Me."
Is a JoBro musical in the works? Watch Joe and Nicole below!
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This, That And "Significant Other"
It's opening night for Roundabout Theatre Company's Significant Other, a new play focusing on a gay man, Jordan, who think find Mr. Right is easier said than done. In the mean time, he busies himself with his best girlfriends' lives.
Eventually, though, Jordan realizes that supporting the ones you love can be just as impossible as finding love itself.
Written by Bad Jews playwright Joshua Harmon, Significant Other stars out Spring Awakening alum Gideon Glick and Dogfight's Lindsay Mendez. Tickets are now on sale through August 16.
Off-Broadway "Woof!"
Speaking of gay dramas: Heading to Lincoln Center this fall, Dada Woof Papa Hot follows Alan and Rob, an older married couple with a 3-year-old daughter and a life they fought decades to have.
But their life is hardly ideal: Alan has begun to feel an attraction to a younger gay dad, his closest straight friend’s marriage is disintegrating, and his daughter seems to prefer Rob, who’s taken to parenting without any of Alan’s insecurities.
With this new play, playwright Peter Parnell asks the thorny question, "Is there something fundamentally different about being a gay father?"
Normal Heart actors John Benjamin Hickey and Patrick Breen star with Tammy Blanchard (Gypsy). Performances begin October 15 at the Newhouse Theater.
Megan Gets Her Gun
You can't get a men with a gun, but you can get Megan Hilty as Annie Oakley. The blonde bombshell (pun intended) will headline a concert production of Annie Get Your Gun at New York City Center on October 27.
Tickets start at just $35, which is practically a STEAL.
Patti LuPone, Donna Murphy Go Into The Woods With "Camp" Sequel
A crowd-funded sequel to the meta-movie musical Camp is in the works. The cult 2003 teen drama followed a group of misfit kids at a summer camp for musical theater types, and featured early performances from Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick (Into the Woods), Tony nominee Robin de Jesús (In the Heights) and The Voice finalist Sasha Allen (Hair).
Writer-director Todd Graff hinted original cast members may return for Camp 2: Freaks In Nature, but he's also teasing cameos from some serious Broadway titans.
“There’s a fantasy musical number [version of] ‘Steppin’ to the Bad Side,'” he explains. “So far I’ve gotten ‘yeses’ from Donna Murphy and Patti LuPone. Jerry Mitchell is going to choreograph it.”
We can't wait.
Watch Anna Kendrick in a hilarious clip from Camp below.
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