Groff Returns to Glee!

Yesterday I wrote about a bit of casting news that annoyed the hell out of me, but the news I read tonight had very much the opposite effect.

I'm talking, of course, about the report that Jonathan Groff will be returning to his role as Jesse St James on Glee for the final three episodes of the season!

I became a huge fan of Jonathan's during his run on the show last year. He's not only beautiful, a talented actor, and a fantastic signer, he's also openly gay, which makes him even more awesome as far as I'm concerned.

Jonathan spent some of the time since leaving the show starring on stage in Deathtrap in London's West End and while I'm sure he was fantastic in that, I couldn't exactly afford to fly over to the UK to see it, so I'm very happy that I'll be able to see him on my TV screen again.

I wonder if the show will have Rachel break out Carly Simon's 'Jesse' when Mr. St James returns to town? ("Oh mother, say a prayer for me, Jesse's back in town, it won't be easy...") The lyrics seem to work perfectly for the situation.

More to the point, will Jonathan share any screen time with Darren Criss? That much hotness onscreen at one time could be too much to handle, but I'll gladly take the risk!

The Men Who Made 2010

For the past two years, I've made year end lists of what I considered to be some of the hottest guys of the year. These weren't necessarily guys who were 'new' to the scene in the entertainment world, but rather guys that had caught my attention for the first time in the past twelve months.

Being the stickler for tradition that I am, I see no reason not to continue this particular one, even if I haven't had any time at all to blog during the holiday season (I've been at the book store for more Christmas seasons that I care to remember, but this was the first year in my new position and it was way more intense and exhausting than I expected it to be).

Anyway, without further ado, here are the men who made 2010 for me:

So far, I've always opened this list with a guy from One Life to Live. In 2008, it was Mark Lawson and last year it was Scott Evans. Now, I haven't followed the stories on One Life to Live since the shameful writing out of Kish back in March, so you'd think that this year would be different.

The truth is, though, that I still record the show on my Tivo every day, simply to ogle the hot guys, and there is one in particular who has caught my fancy this year. His name is Nicolas Robuck and he plays James, one of the very delicious trio known as the Ford brothers.
While all three of the Ford brothers (the other two are played by David Gregory and Lenny Platt) are incredibly sexy, as evidenced above, there is just something about the vulnerability that Nicolas brings to the role of James that makes my heart skip a beat.
Next up is a soap hottie from across the pond. I'm talking, of course, about Danny Miller, the actor who plays gay character Aaron Livesy on the British soap Emmerdale. I was aware of Danny somewhat at this time last year, since his gay storyline was just kicking off, but 2010 was the year in which he not only impressed the hell out of me with his acting talent (seriously, this man can break my heart; I dare you to watch a scene in which the tough, tightly wound Aaron breaks down and not sob right along with him!) but also had me completely falling for him.
The last three guys from my list all came to my attention this year while starring on the same show. You probably won't be at all surprised to hear that the show in question was Glee.

First up, Chord Overstreet. Once upon a time, when I was much younger, I had a major thing for blonds. Almost all of the guys that I had crushes on, both in real life and in the entertainment world, were blond. Nowadays, though, I tend to gravitate towards men with dark hair.

Still, once in awhile a hot blond like Chord comes along and I just can't help lusting after him like it was 1999 all over again! I mean, those lips, that body, that smile! I'll let the evidence speak for itself.
Next up is Mr. Teenage Dream himself, Darren Criss. At this point, I think even people who have never watched Glee know that Darren became an overnight sensation after he debuted on the show with an incredible performance of Katy Perry's song Teenage Dream. He certainly won my heart that night and his talent, his sexy grin, and his awesome attitude definitely made him one of my favorite guys this year. I just wish some shirtless pics existed! Maybe in 2011?

Finally, I think my biggest discovery this past year was Jonathan Groff. I can't even begin to tell you how much I crushed on him during his run as Jesse St. James on Glee last spring or how much I hope to see this talented, sexy, and out gay actor in something again soon! Shirtless pics of him aren't quite as scarce as those of Darren, but they're still pretty rare.

Well, there we are. The men who made 2010 for me. I can't wait to see what hotties 2011 will call to my attention!

Thanksgiving Past

Broadway.com is honoring the upcoming Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade by highlighting one classic performance from years past each day this week.

I mention this because they started the week off by featuring a performance from the 2007 parade starring two talented people who were then little known outside of the world of the stage: the leads of Spring Awakening, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, both now world famous thanks to a little TV show called Glee.

It's a very nice performance of 'Give My Regards to Broadway'. It goes without saying, of course, that they sound fantastic singing together. I love that they clearly have a great deal of affection for each other.

I wonder if it's at all possible that we'll have a Jesse St. James return appearance sometime this season on Glee? I know that Jonathan is performing in London right now, but I miss my weekly fix, especially after seeing how completely adorkable he is in his winter jacket in the parade clip!

How do I get Santa to leave Jonathan under my tree this year?!

Speaking of Glee, I'm going to have a write up on my thoughts on the season so far at some point in the near future. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

Thoughts on the Tony Awards

I just finished watching my favorite of all award shows, the Tony Awards, and I thought I'd share some thoughts about the show.

I like Sean Hayes and he had a couple of amusing moments tonight while he was hosting the show, but I honestly wasn't very impressed overall by the job he did, especially during his opening monologue. In fairness to Sean, though, I have to say that Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the Tonys brilliantly last year, is a very tough act to follow.

I had to wonder why they hadn't asked his Promises, Promises co-star, Kristin Chenoweth, to host the show, or at the very least to co-host with Sean. Her bit tonight about not having been nominated was great, as was her appearance at the beginning to make out with Sean and demonstrate that they had plenty of on stage chemistry.

The show opened with a medley of performances from this year's new musicals, which I liked, but there were sound problems which really disappointed me, especially since the same thing happened last year, too, and you'd think that they would have learned from that!

The highlight of the medley for me was Kristen Chenoweth's song from Promises, Promises and the song from American Idiot, followed by a performance from Green Day.

I wasn't really rooting for anyone in particular tonight, so I don't have a lot to say about who won or didn't win, except in one instance: after watching all the performances from the nominated shows, I found myself hoping that American Idiot would win for Best Musical. Then again, I was probably already a bit biased since I've always loved the source material for that show.

Still, of everything I sampled tonight that is probably the show I'd be most likely to see if I had to pick just one.

In addition to loving the performance from American Idiot (and what a trio of hotties the leads are, by the way!) I liked what I saw from the casts of Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage Aux Folles, and Memphis (though there were some sound problems in that last one) and I thought Catherine Zeta Jones' rendition of 'Send in the Clowns' from A Little Night Music was incredibly beautiful.

My education in all things Musical Theater, which began early last year, has continued steadily ever since.While I still have a lot to learn and to experience, I have familiarized myself with most things Sondheim. I really love the original cast album of A Little Night Music and I've been wanting to check out the revival's cast album, with Zeta Jones and the incomparable Angela Lansbury, and tonight just gave me even more reason to do so.

I was just reading yesterday that Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch are taking over for Zeta Jones and Lansbury in the show this summer and I'd love to be able to hear their version, too! I haven't really experienced any of Bernadette's work yet, but Company is one of my favorite cast albums thus far and Elaine's 'The Ladies Who Lunch' is my favorite song from that show.

But back to tonight. The performances from Ragtime and Fela were the only two that I just couldn't get that into. That's not to say I thought they were bad, of course. I just didn't really connect with either of them.

What I did connect with were the special performances by Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele. I was a bit disappointed in one sense, I admit: I thought they'd be singing together, when in actuality they gave back to back solo performances.

That's a minor quibble, though, because they were both incredible. Matthew did 'All I Need is the Girl' from Gypsy and not only did he sound amazing, but he was as hot as I've ever seen him, and that's really saying something!

I felt a tiny bit let down when the music for Lea's number began and it was 'Don't Rain on My Parade'. I absolutely loved her rendition of the song on Glee, but my first thought tonight was that she should have sung something we all hadn't heard her do so recently.

That went right out the window, though, when she started singing. Hearing her do the song live, with so much more intensity than she brought to it as her character on Glee, was a totally different experience. She was phenomenal, there is no other word to describe it. What a voice, what a star!

I also loved when she sat on Jonathan Groff's armrest on the way up the aisle! The two of them, best friends in real life, are so adorable together! I was hoping that Jonathan, whom I kept catching glimpses of in the audience, would at least get to present an award, but no such luck.

By the way, Jonathan (whom if you hadn't already guessed is someone I've been crushing on in a major way since his time on Glee) is going to be starring in the revival of the play Deathtrap in London starting in August. It's bad enough that I'm forever longing to go to New York to see all of these shows, but now I'm wishing I could afford a trip to London, too!

Speaking of plays, I really want to see Next Fall! The little bit we got to see from it in the play montage looked pretty good, but it was the banter of the stars, Patrick Heusinger and Patrick Breen, as they described their nominated show that really caught my attention. Honestly, though, I thought all of the plays sounded very good.

I know the award show is already long, of course, but I do wish we could see more from the nominated plays, too. I guess seeing a full scene acted out from each one would be too much to ask for, but it really feels like they get the short end of the stick.

Last year, I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris' closing number at the end of the show, so I was hoping for something similar tonight. Instead, they had the cast of Memphis, who'd just won Best Musical, perform again. It just felt like it was all thrown together at the last minute and not really a great way to end the night. Maybe Neil Patrick Harris was just so good last year that he ruined all future Tony Awards for me?

All in all, though, I loved getting my annual taste of Broadway.

Everything's Coming Up Kurt

Things are still busy and I'm trying to make time to catch up with most of my shows (I haven't been able to get to last week's LuRe episodes of As the World Turns just yet, for instance), but there is one series that I never fail to watch the night it airs. It should surprise no one that the show I'm talking about is Glee.

I really have to say that Mike O'Malley and Chris Colfer knocked it out of the park yet again in their final scene together on tonight's show. I can never get through one of their father/son moments without tears in my eyes! Don't bother voting, just send the Emmys to them now.

Kurt's insecurity over losing his dad because of his sexuality was very genuine, and I thought the show found the perfect balance between the humor of Kurt attempting to 'straighten up' and the very real emotions that were behind him feeling the need to do so. That's where Chris Colfer really shines, I think. I love his voice and he's incredibly funny, but he really kills me in the emotional scenes.

And how amazing was his rendition of 'Rose's Turn'?! One of my favorite Glee performances to date, I have to say. His butch attempt at doing Mellencamp's 'Pink Houses' in a deeper than normal voice wasn't bad at all, but it just wasn't Kurt. The minute the music for 'Rose's Turn' started, though, I gasped and clapped my hands in anticipatory glee (do you think moments like this could have something to do with why I'm still single?!).

I'm glad that Santana got to sing again in the episode, I really like her voice. I also really enjoyed there being more Puck tonight, too. Mark Salling pretty much rocks my world. The man just personifies hotness.

I did miss seeing Jonathan Groff's adorable mug as Jesse, though! (And by the way, how blind was I that I didn't see Finn's rendition of 'Jesse's Girl' coming from a mile away?)

Speaking of Jonathan, both Cheyenne Jackson and Michael Urie have joined Kristin Chenoweth in responding to Ramin Setoodeh's ridiculously homophobic Newsweek piece on gay actors being unable to successfully portray straight characters.

Michael Urie:

Look, I'm not from f*cking Vienna [He's playing a Viennese character currently on stage]. We're all actors, and the audiences get it. When I saw Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, it was a full house and everyone was completely in love with him. And I saw it at a Wednesday matinee full of tourists. They've all seen Sean in Will & Grace, and they loved him and believed in his relationship with Kristin. It worked.

And to attack, to quote Ugly Betty, someone [like Groff] recently 'hatched from the gay egg' is unconscionable and he should strung be [up]. [Groff] made everyone want him in Spring Awakening. And Cheyenne was f*cking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He's always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.

Cheyenne responded with this:

''That's because when straight actors play gay, they're so 'brave.' Why is it so f*cking 'brave'? It's a part and he's a good actor. I hope we can get to the day where the best actor gets the part. End of story.''

I love that both guys are so quick to come to Jonathan Groff's defense in particular, since he is newly out and Setoodah seemed to take a special delight in ripping apart his ability to portray a straight character post-coming out (though apparently he was just fine at playing one successfully in Spring Awakening before he came out, which as Chenoweth pointed out is a pretty contradictory statement).

I think it's interesting that no one has really pointed out that if anything, it's the writing for Jesse that is making the character come across as something other than the stereotypical straight character. Jesse loves Sondheim, he refers to himself as a drama queen, he's in show choir and ballet, and he praises Olivia Newton John's 'Physical' for its groundbreaking depiction of sexual fluidity. None of that is about Jonathan Groff's personal life, that's the writer's take on the character!

Did it ever occur to Setoodah that the way Jonathan is playing the part likely has nothing to do with his own sexuality and everything to do with how he's being directed? I honestly think it would be surprising if the character of Jesse wasn't bisexual and I suspect Groff has been asked to portray him with that in mind.

What Setoodah is really saying is that no one would buy Groff as being attracted to women, and that's just ridiculous since there's plenty of chemistry between him and Lea Michele.

Anyway, next week is another Glee episode I've been waiting for with great anticipation. Three words: Neil. Patrick. Harris. Yes!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to watch Kurt's version of 'Rose's Turn' at least once more before bed.

Tony Nominations and a Bit of Homophobia

The nominees for the 64th Annual Tony Awards were announced yesterday. Over the past few years, I've really come to love watching this particular award show and getting a taste of what's going on in the theater world. Seeing songs performed from the musicals and scenes acted out from the plays during the Tonys is as close as I've managed to come to Broadway.

It can be a bit hard to get all that excited about the nominees in advance when you haven't seen any of the shows, of course, but there are usually one or two people on the list that I'm already a fan of.

I was hoping to see Kristin Chenoweth's name among the nominees this year, but it was not to be. Her co-stars Sean Hayes and Katie Finneran were both nominated, but she was not. The reviews of Promises, Promises haven't been all that great, sadly, but I was still keeping my fingers crossed for her. I have to admit that when I first heard she was doing the show I got the cast album for the original production and it honestly seemed like an odd fit for her. The original seemed to be Jerry Orbach's show, first and foremost.

Speaking of those bad reviews, one I should mention is the rather homophobic review by Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh, who just couldn't get past the fact that an openly gay man was playing a straight role. In fact, he incorporated the review into a larger piece posing the question: "Heterosexual actors play gay all the time. Why doesn't it work in reverse?" Are you kidding me?! It's been working in reverse for centuries, pal.

Here's what he said about Sean Hayes:

'The reviews for the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises were negative enough, even though most of the critics ignored the real problem—the big pink elephant in the room. The leading man of this musical-romantic comedy is supposed to be a single advertising peon named Chuck who is madly in love with a co-worker (Kristin Chenoweth). When the play opened on Broadway in 1968, Jerry Orbach, an actor with enough macho swagger to later fuel years and years of Law and Order, was the star. The revival hands the lead over to Sean Hayes, best known as the queeny Jack on Will & Grace. Hayes is among Hollywood's best verbal slapstickers, but his sexual orientation is part of who he is, and also part of his charm. (The fact that he only came out of the closet just before Promises was another one of those Ricky Martin-duh moments.) But frankly, it's weird seeing Hayes play straight. He comes off as wooden and insincere, like he's trying to hide something, which of course he is. Even the play's most hilarious scene, when Chuck tries to pick up a drunk woman at a bar, devolves into unintentional camp. Is it funny because of all the '60s-era one-liners, or because the woman is so drunk (and clueless) that she agrees to go home with a guy we all know is gay?'

Setoodah also goes on to critique Jonathan Groff's performance on Glee in much the same fashion. I think the real problem lies with Setoodah and those like him who just can't seem to focus on anything else beyond an out performer's real life sexuality.

It's called acting, people. Would they get hung up on the fact that a married actor was playing a single ladies man, for instance? No. They wouldn't let the his personal life affect the believability of the performance in the least. But if an actor is openly gay and playing straight, it's all these guys can think about!

With Setoodah freely admitting that straight actors can successfully play gay, the issue seems to come down with his own perceptions of masculinity and what it means to be straight. In other words, manly heteros can play act at being gay just fine, but queers can't possibly fool anyone into thinking they're 'real' men. Give me a break!

At any rate, here are this year's Tony nominations for performances:

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane
Denzel Washington, Fences

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Viola Davis, Fences
Valerie Harper, Looped
Linda Lavin, Collected Stories
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
David Alan Grier, Race
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts
Stephen Kunken, Enron
Eddie Redmayne, Red

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family
Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!

I love Laura Linney and Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony last year), and of course Jude Law is always incredibly sexy, so I'm glad to see their names on the list.

Here are the show nominations:

Best Play

In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Next Fall
Red
Time Stands Still


Best Musical

American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet


Best Revival of a Play

Fences
Lend Me a Tenor
The Royal Family
A View from the Bridge


Best Revival of a Musical

Finian's Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime

Of all of these, I think La Cage aux Folles and American Idiot intrigue me the most. I've seen the original French film of La Cage aux Folles (I won't even mention seeing The Birdcage!), but never the musical. I'm not a big Kelsey Grammer fan, though.

As for American Idiot, a musical based on my favorite Green Day album just sounds like the definition of awesome!

The Power of Glee

Could I ever express just how much I loved last night's episode of Glee? It might quite possibly have been the most perfect hour of television I've ever experienced.

Now, I'm not a Madonna fanatic. I like Madonna's music but I've never been one of those gay guys who completely worship her. Even so, I've been looking forward to this episode of Glee since I read that it was in the works and last week's sneak peek of Sue Sylvester doing 'Vogue' just left me in even greater anticipation.

It turned out to be far better than I'd hoped it would be. All of the musical numbers were fantastic this week, so much so that it's hard to pick a clear favorite! I guess if I had to choose just one I'd say 'Like A Virgin'. I really loved the mix of all the voices on that and it was great to see Santana getting a chance to sing! Plus, it just worked so well with the story and those scenes were very well done. After watching that, I think I have to take back what I said last week about Will and Emma being more sweet than sexy!

Then again, I might have to pick '4 Minutes' as the number I enjoyed most because I loved, loved, loved seeing Kurt and Mercedes get a chance to shine and I'm thrilled with this Cheerios storyline for them! Chris Colfer and Amber Riley sounded incredible together and there was just something so right about seeing them both in Cheerios uniforms! It should be interesting to see how this all plays out. I think the conflict is even better than the whole football team/glee club set up from last fall.

This was just a brilliant episode all around, the humor was there in full force ("When I pulled my hamstring, I went to a misogynist."; and Rachel's little "No!" when Jesse challenged Finn to a sing off in the parking lot after school totally killed me!) the stories all moved forward, and I'm intrigued by Jesse joining New Directions.

I'm totally falling for Jonathan Groff in a big way! He's one of those guys who is both sexy and adorable all at the same time, and he's so funny! I love how smarmy and conceited Jesse is!

As if I wasn't already in Gleek heaven by the end of the hour, the previews for next week show that Kristin Chenoweth is back as April Rhodes! I knew she was returning, I just didn't realize it would be this soon.

I love this show so much! It won a much deserved GLAAD award this week for best TV Comedy, by the way, and I loved what Ryan Murphy had to say:

Out writer/co-creator Ryan Murphy accepted the award with cast members including Jane Lynch, whom he thanked for using the show's "national platform" to talk about her engagement to her longtime partner Lara Embry -- "they're registered at Tiffany's," he joked -- and tipped his hat to her fellow out cast member Chris Colfer, who plays Kurt.

"We have so much love for our own Chris Colfer, who at age 19 when the media came calling, Chris was true to who he is instead of waiting to announce (that he's gay) at 40 when it doesn't matter," Murphy said. "This show is about arts education and inclusion, and we are using the show in a great way.

"Chris' character will never be the victim," said Murphy, who noted that next year the out character "will have a boyfriend, and they are going to be prom kings and be popular."

I may not have mentioned this yet, but I love Glee. No, really, I LOVE Glee. If you could marry a TV show, I'd be down on one knee with a ring. I also love everyone involved with it. It's one of those perfect combinations of talent that are so rare that they just create magic.

Let There Be Glee

I didn't think it was possible that four months could go by so very slowly, but at long last the wait is over: Glee is finally back!

Tonight's episode was everything I'd been missing since last December: hilarious, heartfelt, and boasting some great musical performances. My personal favorite from tonight was Finn's version of The Doors 'Hello, I Love You'. I think it's my favorite Finn song ever, actually. There was just so much energy to the performance.

A close second, though, was Rachel & Jesse's version of Lionel Richie's 'Hello'. They sounded fantastic together, and Jonathan Groff is, to use a phrase that totally fits my new found crush on him, so dreamy!

After four months, I'd forgotten what scene stealers both Brittany and Kurt are! They're each masters at one liners that catch you completely off guard and make you laugh out loud. Chris Colfer is also fantastic at conveying what Kurt is feeling without saying a word, as in the scene tonight where Finn was performing the above mentioned song for the rest of the glee club and Kurt just had this "God, I want you!" look about him.

Tonight also saw the debut of two new characters: Jesse, the male lead of rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, and Shelby, the coach of said rival. Jesse is being played by openly gay actor Jonathan Groff, whose voice I'd already completely fallen in love with thanks to the Spring Awakening cast album, and it took about three seconds for me to fall in love with the rest of him tonight!

Idina Menzel, original Broadway cast member of both Rent and Wicked, is playing Shelby, and she had a seriously sexy scene with Mr. Schuester tonight. Now don't get me wrong, I love Will & Emma together, but they're more sweet than sexy, and it was very hot to see Will getting so passionate with someone!

I think things are going to get very interesting with Vocal Adrenaline coming into play more, and next week's Madonna themed episode definitely looks exciting!

Speaking of which, the Sue Sylvester 'Vogue' video was awesome! I completely loved it. I especially liked that they tweaked it a bit to fit Sue ("Will Schuester, I hate you"). I've been looking forward to Sue finally singing and it didn't disappoint!

Oh, Glee. Don't ever leave us again!

Gleeful News

Someone out there seems to be asking themselves what all they could do to make me love Glee any more than I already do. It's like a shadowy, behind the scenes figure is running down a check list made specifically for me:

Hire Kristin Chenoweth. Check!

Give Kurt a boyfriend. Check! (They're casting him for next season).

Hire Spring Awakening hottie/out gay actor Jonathan Groff. Check!

Let Sue Sing! Check! (It's coming up in the second half of the first season!)

And now, the latest item to be checked off the list: Hire Neil Patrick Harris!

This doesn't leave much remaining on my list, I have to say. As soon as they deliver a few tasteful nude scenes for Puck and Mr. Shue, I'll have just about everything I could possibly want!

Van's True Colors

This month's edition of the True Colors Cabaret concert took place last night and was hosted by Van Hansis. It featured two Glee stars, Lea Michele and the openly gay Jonathan Groff (or maybe I should say one current and one future Glee star, since Groff hasn't debuted on the show yet).Seeing Van standing next to Lea in that picture makes me want very badly to see him join Glee! Let's not forget that he has a history with Mr. Schuster himself, too, since Matthew Morrison did a month long stint on As the World Turns a few years back. Van has done a musical, last year's Dance Dance Revolution, but I seem to remember him saying at the time that he's not really a singer. Not every character on Glee sings, though, at least not so far. Quick, someone talk to Ryan Murphy about Van!

As I noted last month, this ongoing series of monthly concerts benefits both the True Colors Fund and Broadway Impact. There isn't much I wouldn't have given to be there last night! If anyone was lucky enough to attend, please share the details.

True Colors Cabaret

If you're lucky enough to live in or near NYC, please allow me to live vicariously through you and attend the True Colors Cabaret series. When I read about things like this, it's all I can do not to just get on a plane and go, expense be damned!

Cyndi Lauper hosted the October 26th show, which featured one of my favorite Broadway men, Gavin Creel. Another one of my very favorite men in entertainment, As the World Turns' Van Hansis, will be hosting the next show, on November 29th, and that show will feature Glee and Spring Awakening co-stars Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, as well as Rufus Wainright! Jason Mraz will be performing in the December edition of the show.

Several of the names I've just typed are people that I would LOVE to see perform live, or even just host the show like Van and Cyndi. If you're lucky enough to go, please share the details and let me be sick with envy!

The best part is that 100% of the proceeds from the shows go to support LGBT Equality through the True Colors Fund and Broadway Impact. It doesn't get much better than that. Why must I live on the opposite side of the country?!

By the way, Gavin Creel and the newly out Jonathan Groff are said to be dating, which would pretty much make them Broadway's gay power couple! They do make a really cute couple, if it's true:

Out of the Closet and into the Glee Club

So, last week I read an interview on We Love the Soaps with Jonathan Groff, an actor who'd been nominated for a Tony for playing the lead in Spring Awakening. The interview was about his stint on One Life to Live a few years back.

I remember hearing about his story on the soap (which featured him as a school shooter and which was rewritten after it had been filmed, due to the events at Virginia Tech right around the same time it would have aired), but it was before I'd started watching OLTL.

Reading the brief interview, I thought Jonathan came across well and that he looked really cute in the picture. I regretted a bit that I'd missed his time on the show, but I didn't give it much more thought than that.

Now, just a few days later, Jonathan Groff is suddenly very much on my radar. First came the announcement that Jonathan would be joining Glee for a five episode run as the male lead in rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, reuniting with his Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele, who of course plays Rachel on Glee.

As exciting as that bit of news is, things get even better: I just read on AfterElton that Jonathan was at the National Equality March last week, and that the cutie took that opportunity to publicly come out of the closet as gay!

By the way, the article in which Broadway.com casually mentions Groff's coming out also highlights the many Broadway connections to the National Equality March.

An openly gay Tony nominee with a past connection to One Life to Live doing a multiple episode story arc on Glee? The fates couldn't have designed a person for me to be more interested in if they'd tried!

The only thing I'd like better is if his character was a new love interest for Kurt, rather than Rachel. But, hey, you can't have everything!

In the meantime, I'll settle for this picture from the Equality March, borrowed from AfterElton, of Jonathan with another Broadway favorite of mine, Gavin Creel.