Patti LuPone is the toast of Broadway right now, and with good reason.

Her turn as “Mama Rose” in the current revival of Gypsy is drawing comparison's to Ethel Merman's original characterization of the stage mother of all stage mothers. I've always been envious that my mother saw the original run of Gypsy, but not anymore. (Well, at least not as much as before.) I think Ben Brantley of The New York Times summed up Lupone's performance beautifully.

“When Ms. LuPone delivers “Rose's Turn,” she's building a bridge for an audience to walk right into one woman's nervous breakdown. There is no separation at all between song and character, which is what happens in those uncommon moments when musicals reach upward to achieve their ideal reasons to be.”

And that's what I love so much about musical theater – those moments when the actor, the character and the song all merge together into one utterly captivating entity. It's a combination of the strength of the performance and of the material. (For the record, I did not experience any moment like that when I saw David Hasselhoff in Jeckyl and Hyde.) These moments are why I rail against stunt-casting. I don't want to see performers who are a curiousity; I want to see performers who make me get lost in the show.

I had been wanting to see Patti LuPone in a Broadway show for ages. I saw 12 zillion Evita commercials when I was a kid, and she was always this Broadway great that I had never seen.

So, I'm thrilled to have finally seen her in all her greatness. Of course, over the years I've seen my fair share of great performances. And I'm going to indulge myself by reminiscing about a few of them. … continue reading

Tonight on ABC, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad and Sanaa Lathan star in an adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun.

The film also screened at Sundance this year (out of competition). Most of the reviews are quite positive, which is a relief — I'm always a little worried when a masterpiece gets adapted for TV. But I'm encouraged by comments like this: "[T]hose who can relax into the leisurely pace and lush language will be rewarded with an earnest, moving night at the movies."

Here's the trailer: … continue reading

Tonight at 8:00, tune in to Fox for the 39th NAACP Image Awards telecast. This year, the theme is "Stand Up and Be Counted." According to the press release,

During this crucial election year, the NAACP encourages everyone to be socially conscious and take a stand on critical human and civil rights issues.

Wouldn't it be nice if every awards show encouraged such things? Susan Sarandon always gets played off when she tries to be political on the Oscars, and Kanye West was barely allowed to remember his mom on the Grammys this year.

Here are some of the nominees:

Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series
CCH Pounder (The Shield)
Jennifer Beals (The L Word)
Nicki Micheaux (Lincoln Heights)
Regina Taylor (The Unit)
Wendy Davis (Army Wives)

Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera (Ugly Betty)
Golden Brooks (Girlfriends)
Tia Mowry (The Game)
Tichina Arnold (Everybody Hates Chris)
Tracee Ellis Ross (Girlfriends)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Audra McDonald (Private Practice)
Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Without a Trace)
Pam Grier (The L Word)
S. Epatha Merkerson (Law & Order)

  … continue reading

I really hope you weren't planning to do anything but watch TV tonight. I'm cursing my Xanadu tickets. Nah, not really, but there's a lot to take in on the tube tonight!

Let's get the obvious one out of the way: Kate Walsh has her own Private Practice starting tonight at 9/8c on ABC. I'm giving it one episode to impress me, and if it doesn't, I'm done, despite my abiding love for Audra McDonald.

Next, it's finally here: Bionic Woman premieres tonight at 9/8c on NBC. … continue reading

Don't you hate it when your little-known special favorite undiscovered talent hits the big time? I mean, there you are, nurturing your fandom even when nobody else cares, remaining true to the cause even when all hope is lost — and then, BAM, your personal project gets a huge break and everybody starts shouting her name and you look like just another member of the unwashed masses.

I think that's about to happen to me with Audra McDonald. The Broadway star, heretofore reserved for me and Rosie O'Donnell and my girlfriend (no, we're not all the same person) and theater aficionados, has landed a role that will make her a household name. McDonald will play the BFF of Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh) in the Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice.

In the spin-off pilot — technically a May episode of Grey's — the character of Dr. Naomi Bennett was played by Merrin Dungey, aka Francie on Alias. According to the L.A. Times, "No reason was given for the change in direction" from Dungey to McDonald. It seems to have something to do with "fine tuning," which is obviously fine for McDonald and less than fine for Dungey. Francie doesn't like coffee ice cream or fine tuning! … continue reading

It doesn't take a lot to make me reminisce about The Cosby Show, but this week I have a couple of good reasons. First, Tempestt Bledsoe, who played Vanessa Huxtable — as well as Clay's mom in South of Nowhere — has been cast in a new Oxygen movie. (Sadly, the movie is called Husband for Hire, so I'm already over it.) Second, today is the gorgeous Phylicia Rashad's 59th birthday.

After gazing fondly at a few Rashad photos — I had such a crush on her in the '80s — I decided to see what all the ladies of Cosby are up to and how they've changed over the years. My sleuthing was very cursory, so if you have any better info, please let me know in the comments. Here's what I learned: … continue reading

The Tony Awards are always really gay. And I don't just mean that gay men are out in force — though, of course, they are (the 2007 Best Direction of a Musical category was the gayest thing ever). Nor do I just mean there are some out (and awesome) stars like Cynthia Nixon, Cherry Jones and Sarah Paulson (the former was in attendance last night, but the latter two were not). The theater also seems to attract intoxicating lesbian-ish types like Tyne Daly, Swoosie Kurtz and Vanessa Redgrave. Strong, ridiculously talented women creating magic on the stage? Yes, please!

Here are some of my favorite moments of last night's awards:

1. Julie White wins for playing gay.
White (also known as Nadine on Grace Under Fire) took home the award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for the The Little Dog Laughed. I'm still kicking myself for missing that show, in which White played a lesbian Hollywood agent (AfterElton reviewed it early on). But her acceptance speech was proof enough that she deserved the award. She's got that thing, whatever it is — that inherently funny thing that makes you giggle when she does something dorky like mock-scold the playwright who almost didn't give her the part. Also? She's gorgeous.

Here are some choice quotes from White's acceptance speech: … continue reading