Man oh Manilow

I'm a Fanilow!

It all happened last night. At the Las Vegas Hilton. The lady who sat next to me had just got off the plane from London. She had seen him over a hundred times. This was my first. As soon as he hit the stage he sashayed over towards us. As he got closer he looked like ET... taller and thinner, yes, but with that same inner glow. As his eyes bored into me, I involuntarily rose to my feet, arms outstretched. "I think you're going to be going home with someone," my fanilow companion said with a nudge and a wink. I was prepared; I had stocked up at the gift shop on Manilow water, Manilow breath mints, and even Manilow hand-sanitizer. In the end, though, he picked some girl in front of me to dance onstage with him.

But I still got to nuzzle Barry, thanks to the Manilow pillow case I had also bought.

– Fenton Bailey

Kanye West's Graduation in 17

(Photos by Steven Corfe)

A Rose Is a Rose

'Charlie Rose' by Samuel Beckett is like Frost/Nixon by Harold Pinter.

Harry Potter's Wand

Daniel Radcliffe is bringing his junk Stateside. The smash West End revival of Equus will open on Broadway in September at the Broadhurst Theatre, reports the NY Daily News. Radcliffe will reprise his role as the psycho stable boy who blinds horses with a metal spike in Peter Shaffer's play that has always been saved from its dated lameness by the presence of full-frontal male nudity. (This is especially true in local little-theater productions.) The theater's go-to homo, Richard Griffiths, plays the boy's shrink. A younger New York crowd will likely flock to the play in the hope of having their eyes put out by Radcliffe's spike.

Comedy Tonight!

On Tuesday April 8, it's gay vs lesbian as our favorite comedy troupe, Creation Nation, returns to New York City with Creation Nation: Horton Hears A Hussein! featuring special guest, Sex and the City's Cynthia Nixon. One Night Only! Tonight, Tuesday, April 8 at 8PM, at the Zipper Factory. Hurry! GET TICKETS NOW HERE. (This post is such a Miranda, says CN's Billy Eichner.) Meanwhile, watch Creation Nation act up in Projeckt Runwaüsen, above.

Spandex Ballet

In Germany earlier this year, acrobats and dancers from the Great Chinese State Circus performed Swan Lake the way you wish it could be performed more often. Don't fast-forward or you'll miss stuff. And watch for Germany's answer to John Larroquette at the end. (t/y Phil)

A Disneyland of the Mind

ANNOUNCER: Hey, Britney, you just scored big acing the role of a receptionist on the low-rated CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother! What are you going to do now?

BRITNEY: I'm going to London play Blanche DuBois in the West End revival of A Streetcar Named Desire, y'all

Schwarzenegger IS Hamlet

Arnold brings the Great Dane to life in this Shakespeare classic retold in no uncertain terms by James Cameron. Pretty sure this is how the Bard would have produced it if he were working in Hollywood today.

A Four-Dimensional Continuum

At least that's how we view this amazing South Korean synchonized halftime dance. Puts those Pinoy prisoners to shame – and us, who can't even figure out where our seats are at the game. (t/y Brent)

Cry Me a Rivers

Living in LA, one doesn't get out to the theater much. I think the last show I saw was Naked Porn Stars Singing at the Henry Fonda. Well, tonight I'm going to see Joan Rivers' one woman show at the David Geffen. And in case anyone was ever in any doubt, she hates LA. It's official.

– Fenton Bailey

Turning on the Waters Works

When John Waters, whose Cry-Baby musical adaptation of his 1990 Johnny Depp movie is in $54 previews on Broadway (it's set in 1954), joked on The Daily Show that Hairspray should be produced on ice, ice-show producers called the next day with serious offers, says Michael Musto in his VV column. Meanwhile, at a party for Cry-Baby (which Musto dubs "Grease with extra lube"), Waters asked the columnist if two Broadway musicals could be called a genre. (La Dolce Musto; photo: Cary Conover)

Tab Stars Broadway Bound

First Nicole Richie was asked to star in Chicago on Broadway, now Kevin Federline might be heading to the Great White Way to play three roles in Legally Blonde. According to a friend, he's got the support of Britney's parents, Jamie and Lynne, and he'd like to take Sean and Jayden with him if he goes to New York in September. “This is his chance to show the world what he can do,” said a source. Hasn't he done that already? (Us; photo: Jordan Strauss/Wire Image)

ImprovEverywhere Really Are

Sixteen agents of the hilarious troupe burst into song, creating a spontaneous musical, in the food court of a Los Angeles mall. It's like low-Rent with fries.

Diss Me Kate?

All London is over the moon about the prospect of Pete Doherty writing a musical. Doherty and his old Libertines bandmate Carl Barat have been approached by the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden (the people who produced Frost/Nixon and The Blue Room) to write a show about a struggling rock band. The Arctic Monkeys must have been touring. Doherty, who was voted Hero of the Year last week by readers of NME a mere year after being voted Villain of the Year by those same readers, has invited Barat down to his crib in Wilts to begin writing. How about a chav version of Cats, with all the kitties testing positive for crack? Write what you know. (AFP; photo: Jean/EMPICS)

Where's My Beef?

Argentinian actor Juan Pablo di Pace was in the chorus line of Verdi's Rigoletto at London's Royal Opera House in 2001 when he posed with other members of the company for this gorgeous promotional tableaux. He's the naked guy in the middle. The photo's been used again and again to promote the subsequent stagings of the opera, which is fine with di Pace, who's no longer in the production – but he wants the Royal Opera House to reinstate his penis to its proper size. Seems they've photoshopped it down to what looks like a tiny wad of chewed gum. He's employed a lawyer. (Daily Mail; photos: Clive Barda/Arena PAL; Alan Davidson)

One-Cent Post

Did anyone bother to find out if Nicole Richie could a) sing, b) dance, or c) act before offering her the lead role of Roxy Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago?

The Day the Earth Stood Still Again

One chilly afternoon in London's Trafalgar Square, a massive group of volunteers, inspired by the outlaw troupe Improv Everywhere, assembled and, on cue, stopped in their tracks and stayed motionless for five minutes, further bewildering already-bewildered tourists. Never gets old.

Two Heads Are Better Than Not Having One at All

And speaking of collaborations, Stephen King and John Mellencamp have finally teamed up and written the blues-tinged, guitar-driven, sultry Southern gothic mystery musical the theater world has been waiting for. Ghost Brothers of Darkland County opens in Atlanta at the Alliance Theatre next year. So obvious, it's a wonder they hadn't collaborated before. And doesn't it seem like Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher are perfectly suited to work together too? They've put their half-heads together to form a whole one and come up with a reality show involving contestants competing in a beauty pageant. Sounds fresh.

Harry Potter and the Kiss of the Cohost

When Daniel Radcliffe won the Newcomer of the Year trophy at the Whatsonstage Theatregoers' Choice Awards at the Lyric Theatre in London on Sunday night, he got more than the affection of the audience. The ceremony's cohost James Corden surprised him with a lengthy, romantic, hair-stroking kiss that Radcliffe eventually dissolved into, to the delight of those in attendance. Radcliffe has been quoted as saying, "I would love to be the first gay James Bond and Rupert [Grint] to be my first leading lady." Just saying.

The Worm Returns

Finally, here's Episode 8 of The Worm, an existential mini masterpiece directed and co-written by Austin Young and starring the multiple-personality genius of co-writer Nadya Ginsburg as Gloria Steinem, Cher, Britney, Madonna, Winona, a Brooklyn housewife, and The Worm. If you missed Episode 7, watch it here.

If String's Your Thing

Perhaps the focus of Stockhausen Waterman's "String 'em Up" was a bit too inclusive for you. Try on the more selective "String 'em Up" from Dula the Musical.

Stopped in Their Tracks

Two hundred "agents" from the outlaw troupe ImprovEverywhere staged a surreal freeze-in inside Manhattan's busy Grand Central Terminal recently, prompting some New York commuters to pause a moment.

Turning Japanese

While you're munching on your morning muffin, enjoy the munchable erotic dance troupe from Brooklyn, the Daisy Spurs, performing to Robyn's 2005 sleeper hit "Konichiwa Bitches." And by sleeper hit we mean"Wake up, people!" (t/y tigerpedal)

You'll Have Sun Fun Tonight

The WOW Report's favorite comedy troupe, Creation Nation ("Jen's Vlog"), is headed to Miami next week to perform in Comedy Central's South Beach Comedy Festival. You're invited to the show, which is Wednesday, January 16, 10:30PM at The Colony Theater on Lincoln Road in South Beach. Tickets are free and you can get yours by clicking here. We'd be there but we have sensitive skin. (Photo: CN's Robin Taylor and Billy Eichner with TR Knight on stage at a New York show)

A Little Help Here!

It was like something right out of The Simple Life; you know, unreal. During a Beacher's Madhouse Oompa-Loompa performance at Art Basel in Miami Beach, a surprisingly quick-on-the-uptake Paris Hilton – who'd probably been checking out the little persons' rumored big packages – "screamed for help and jumped up to move everyone away from" performer Robin Sherwood, who'd been shoved into a metal stage support by an overly enthusiastic crowd and had sliced open his leg, which was bleeding. "She held Robin's hand and said the sweetest things to keep him calm," said a witness. "She stayed with him until he was safely in the ambulance on his way to the hospital." So, yeah, she'd definitely been checking out his package. (Gatecrasher; photo: WireImage)

Joan Van Eeeeek

Here's Joan Van Ark in Los Angeles last night at a reading of Love Letters. Sad to say, she's got a face more suited to The Vagina Monologues. (via dlisted; photo: WENN)

FYI

Michael Musto informs us via his VV column La Dolce Musto that Dan Savage's book The Kid, about his experiences with his boyfriend raising a... kid, is being adapted into a musical directed by The Women's Scott Elliott. And that the sequel to Another Gay Movie, ingeniously titled Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild, will start shooting in two weeks in Fort Lauderdale, with most of the cast, plus RuPaul, Lady Bunny, and Logo's Will Wikle.

Rolling in the Isles

Liza Minnelli's ex, music promoter David Gest, is turning his life into a musical-comedy traveling show (like it isn't already), produced by and starring himself. Called David Gest Is Nuts: My Life As a Musical, it will feature 20 top-five songs performed by the original artists, including Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and Shalimar's "I Can Make You Feel Good," both of which sound like there's some creepy ego-boosting written into the script. Gest also intends to introduce some jungle characters he made famous during his stint on the UK's I'm a Celebrity – Get Me Out of Here reality show, like the "little people in David land." In an uncharacteristically verbose statement, Gest's best friend Michael Jackson said, "We never thought we would see the day David Gest would sing and dance in public. Now he is working on flips and dances with little people. Considering David can't sing and can't dance it will be amazing to see just how nuts he gets on stage!" The show is set to open in February in London and then tour around the British Isles. (ITN; photo: WENN)

Weekend Update

The Saturday Night Live cast, with host Michael Cera and musical guest Yo La Tengo, put on its weekend show anyway, despite the writers strike – but at the Upright Citizens Brigade theater in Chelsea instead of Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, and in front of an audience of fewer than 200 people. “We’re like cranky trained monkeys if we don’t get to perform,” said Amy Poehler. (NY Times; photo: Joe Fornabaio/NYT)

The Worm Turns

Episode 7 of The Worm is an existential mini masterpiece directed and co-written by Austin Young and starring the multiple-personality genius of co-writer Nadya Ginsburg as Cher, Britney, Madonna, Winona, and The Worm.

Project Runwausen

Just in time for the new season of Project Runway, Creation Nation's German Expressionist take on the Bravo hit is back on YouTube! In light of the Jen's Vlog web series, Bravo requested we take it off of YouTube so we wouldn't upset Heidi Klum or Michael Kors. Seriously! But now we've decided that the public can no longer be deprived! So to see Billy as Heidi as well as some strange Tim Gunn/Michael Kors hybrid, affectionately named "Old Queer." Check it out now!

– Billy Eichner

It's Old Gregg

An inexplicably funny sketch from The Mighty Boosh.

Men Without Shirts

One hundred eleven shirtless men descend on Abercrombie & Fitch in Manhattan. Videos and photos at Improv Everywhere. (t/y Chris)

Puttin' on The Ritz

Ryan Idol will be making his Broadway debut soon in the revival of Terrence McNally's gay-bathhouse comedy, The Ritz, directed by Joe Mantello and costarring Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin. We have to assume Idol will be playing the role made indelible by Treat Williams in Richard Lester's 1976 movie version. Bravo's Andy Cohen has a "world exclusive" interview today with strapping gay porn star Ryan Idol on his Andy's Blog. What's this? Idol's not gay?

Bowled Over

If they had dropped a bomb on the Hollywood Bowl last night, no one today would have been able to get their hair done, their wardrobes jeujed or their houses redecorated. I swear, that's how gay it was at "Rufus Rufus Rufus," Rufus Wainwright's faithful recreation of Judy Garland's 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, right down to a shirt, nylons, and fedora drag finale. Okay, so renowned heterosexual Jake Gyllenhaal was there as was Nip/Tuck's very heterosexually married Dylan Walsh. And the openly heterosexual and Jewish comedian Jonathan Silverman was also in attendance. On the gay side: Peter Paige and Robert Gant (from Queer As Folk, but not together), interior designer Scott Roberts, interiors photographer John Ellis, Teri Hatcher wardrobe stylist Vincent Boucher, Rufus' boyfriend Yorn (at least that's what it sounded like from the stage), Yogi and Boo-boo, the two bears who squished me and my date, super manager Gina Rugolo. Oh, and of course, honorary gays like Lorna Luft (who belted a few numbers), Debbie Reynolds (who got a kiss from Roofie), and Marisa Tomei. Mind you, that's all I saw, because I did not cruise the audience although it was kind of like a queer Costco – lots of similarly packaged products in bulk. Oh, the show? Well, that depends on how you feel about Judy and Rufus. The arrangements were sumptuous and swinging and there were a few genuine goosebump moments, but some patrons, including the very vocal gay actor Gedde Watanabe, left the Bowl with a sour taste in their mouths. If you were in Parking Lot C, you would've heard it ALL.

– David A Keeps

Tori & Dean: Onn Broadway

Tori & Dean: Inn Love stars, Tori and Dean, are thinking about possibly taking over the roles of Roxie Hart and Billy Flynn in the Broadway production of Chicago. If they do, it would be the second time they've acted together since meeting on the set of the TV movie Mind Over Murder, and would make them the third married couple to do Chicago, after Michael C Hall and Amy Spanger and Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna. (People; photo: WENN)

An A-choired Taste

Even though the group Yes recorded "Roundabout" in 1971, those wacky kids in the Hastings Riverside Show Choir are determined to keep it top of mind. I think they've succeeded brilliantly!

– Harry Redlich

Philips Shred

Our friend, comedian Emo Philips, performs his act every third Monday of the month, as regularly as a menstrual cycle, at The Steve Allen Theater, on Hollywood Boulevard. But this Monday, his show will be a little different, a little more... aggressive. He's calling it "The Shredder." He explains in this email:

What is "The Shredder?" Well, as you are of no doubt aware, I have written quite a few jokes. The ones I perform in my act, or have recorded onto CDs, are but the tip of the iceberg. I have many, many more jokes, the collective equivalent of the monstrous relative in the attic that no one ever sees. Some of these jokes have never gone over, despite my most patient efforts to hone them. Some of them got nice laughs at first, but then – mysteriously – stopped getting laughs. And some still get nice laughs, but only every now and then, and as a professional comedian I cannot afford the luxury of keeping them in my act, any more than a soldier can afford the luxury of carrying a rifle that only fires some of the time.

Anyway, after 32 years, I have hundreds and hundreds of these "iffy" jokes, each on its own index card, and at this point their potential for someday going over is beginning to be outweighed by their danger as a fire hazard. So this Monday I'm taking a big bunch of these joke cards onto the stage with me, and I'll give each gag my absolute best shot... but if it fails, it will immediately be fed it into an on-stage paper shredder, never to be performed again.

Place: The Steve Allen Theater.
Location: Hollywood Blvd, 2 blocks west of Vermont.
Date: Monday, August 27, 2007.
Time: 8PM
Ticket price: $10.

Igor-ly Awaited

Mel Brooks' great Young Frankenstein – #13 on AFI's list of the 100 funniest American movies – will hit Broadway's Hilton Theater in October as a musical, from the same Mel Brooks-Susan Stroman team that created such a Broadway monster out of Mel Brooks' The Producers – #11 on AFI's List. Currently, Young Frankenstein, the musical, is playing previews in Seattle. After much folderol over Brooks not allowing Cloris Leachman to reprise her film role as Frau Blücher (cue whinny), the hilarious Andrea Martin was cast in the part. But, oh sweet mystery, can Megan Mullally fill Madeline Kahn's priceless pumps? (Broadway.com via Movie Dearest; pictured: top, Roger Bart and Christopher Fitzgerald; right, Shuler Hensley and Bart)

One Nation, Two People

Some of us here at WOW went to see the New York comedy troupe Creation Nation perform their first-ever shows in Los Angeles, Tuesday and Thursday, at the tiny Acme Comedy Theatre on LaBrea. When we say troupe, we really mean only two performers, Billy Eichner and Robin Taylor, and when we say Billy Eichner and Robin Taylor, we really mean only Billy Eichner, who calls himself president of Creation Nation to Taylor's vice-president. Plus he dominates. In the true sense. At Tuesday's show, Macaulay Culkin and Hayden Panettiere were in the audience, and Eichner made Hayden come up on stage for a bit of grilling which she handled with the charm and glittering gorgeousness of an 18-year-old star. Here are two examples of Eichner's inspired hilarity.

Diss Me Kate?

We knew that, in addition to ingesting copious amounts of drugs when they were snuggled at her place, Pete Doherty and Kate Moss also wrote poetry and songs together and dabbled in shooting YouTubular shorts. But it's just come to light that they'd been working on ideas for a musical, too. A musical with proper singing and dancing that would open in the West End and eventually become the toast of Broadway. Now that Moss has dumped him (and may already have found a replacement junkie), Doherty thinks it would be wasteful to just chuck the reams of material they'd accumulated on the toe-tapping story of "two star-crossed lovers as they struggle through life." So hoping for a reconciliation with his supermodel, Doherty wants to get their collaboration into production. (WhatsOnStage)

That and a Penny Will Get You a Dollar

And speaking of 99¢,"one of my favorite seasonal activities in Los Angeles and, frankly, some of the most ridiculously entertaining theater in Los Angeles is the 99¢ Show," Ray Cochran tells us. "Every costume and every set piece is made from merchandise purchased at the 99 Cent store." (Metroblogging)

Dylan Does Debbie Does Dallas

The off-Broadway sensation Debbie Does Dallas: The Musical is coming to LA! It's an uproarious good time and stars me, Dylan Vox! The show opens next week at the prestigious Key Club in Hollywood and runs on Thursdays for the next five weeks. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster or by calling 213 480-3232. I would love to see you all there!

Q: How Do You Get an Elephant Out of the Theater?

Our latest WOW staffer, William Carl Radke, a regular Tommy Tune, is appearing in One Bed & One Night Stands, a musically theatrical evening currently counting down its final performances at the Avery Schreiber Theatre in LA. This clip, says Radke (on the left), is a scene that deals with a myspace hookup; a shy good girl versus the sex-addicted male model.

A: You can't. It's in his blood.

Dropped On, Dragged Off

Randy Barbato sent this to the WOW Report with no info other than specific times in the video when he is thrilled – as you will be – starting at the taint-splitting entrance of female impersonator Tandi Iman Dupree. It's the kind of act even America's Got Talent can't touch. Stay till the end. (Click here)

Tango Tangle

Wouldn't this make a great senior play at your high school? No lines to learn and plenty of parts for everyone. Click here. (t/y Nick)

WOW TV: Ring My Bell: Jer Ber Jones

See more at Ring My Bell.

Check out JER BER JONES on Ring My Bell (WOWTV edit version recorded live on Tuesday) This RMB includes a self-written musical number "Boobs," introducing the Sir Huffington Dancers!! Get out the mustard and ketchup, Mary!

– Selected by Thairin Smothers

(After the jump, get invited to the multimedia musical FOWL)

Five Minutes, Mr Saban!

True story. This Scotsman, Stevie Starr, whom we never thought we'd see again, was one of the comics who shared a dressing room with your WOW Report editor back in the '90s when we foolishly volunteered to perform five long, grueling, sweaty minutes of standup at Club Soda during Montreal's venerable Just for Laughs comedy festival so we could write about it in Details magazine. Sadly, for us, Starr was the act just before us, so we had to follow the guy who ingested live goldfish, for God's sake, then regurgitated them in reverse order. He stole our act, which was in gestation. (Painful memory via Knife Writer)

A Horse of a Different Cover

In a surprising bit of crossover promotion, Daniel Radcliffe is portrayed on one of the myriad covers for the latest and final Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Harrows, as his Equus character, Alan Strang.
(Illus: Steven Corfe)

Feels Like Team Spirit

On the heels of such theatrical falderol as Movin' Out and The Times They Are A-Changin' comes the apostropheless Nevermind, a dance production by the Seattle Spectrum Dance Theatre set to the music of the seminal Nirvana album, 15 years after its release. The show presents images from Kurt Cobain's life – drug addiction, sexual confusion, fame, and suicide – and the cast wears what the Seattle Times called "spot-on grunge-rock costumes." The show is not strictly a biography of Cobain, but two of the dancers portray Cobain and Courtney Love. It's directed by choreographer Donald Byrd, who said the backstory of Cobain's tumultuous relationship with Love and his suicide touched him because "it's like sometimes when you're watching Romeo and Juliet, you think, If they had just waited... even if it seems unbearable, it's going to change." Nevertheless, Nevermind played for two performances at the Moore Theater in Seattle; a mounting on or off-Broadway has not been mentioned. (Source)

Your Attention Please!

The Nellie Olesons, the original renegade homo punks of sketch comedy, are celebrating their 10th anniversary with shows not only in Maui and Palm Springs, but also in Los Angeles! Tomorrow thru Sunday they'll be at the Cavern Club Theater at Casita Del Campo Restaurant, 1920 Hyperion Avenue, Silverlake, CA 90027
Tickets: $15 in advance, $18 at the door
Reservations: 323-969-2530

The critics rave!
"Brazen sketch comedy trio is high-octane, high-camp" - Vanity Fair
“Clearly nothing is off limits for this raucous comedy group” - Entertainment Weekly
"Defiantly disgusting and refreshingly raunchy" - Los Angeles Times
"Inarguably hilarious! Much too good for prime time" - New York Times

The Terrorists Are Winning

Terrorists, white supremacists, and ecstasy, oh my! If you live in the Los Angeles area, this weekend is one of your last chances to catch The Beastly Bombing, a theatrical tale of two terrorists tamed by the tangles of true love. Starring Ring My Bell alumnus Prince Poppycock as Jesus, no less, this Friday's performance features a panel discussion with the editor and bloggers of The Huffington Post, with special focus on comedy as a tool for social commentary. They'll also be asking whether Ann Coulter is a satirist or a bigot ...or both?

– Steven Corfe