The Tony Nominations Get Kinky!

Kinky Boots, the fierce new musical from Grammy winner Cyndi Lauper and Tony winner Harvey Fierstein, based on the indie film about a drag queen teaming up with a boot maker led this morning’s Tony Award nominations with 13 bids. The show will compete for Best Musical, Book of a Musical, Music & Lyrics, Direction, Choreography, Featured Actress (Analeigh Ashford) and Lead Actor (Billy Porter and Stark Sands) and more. Boots out shown the supposed front-runner Matilda the Musical which came in just behind it with 12 nominations including Best Musical. Those shows will go up against two other film to stage shows: Bring It On: The Musical and A Christmas Story: The Musical.… On the play side, Oscar winner Tom Hanks and his show The Lucky Guy (the final work by the late great screenwriter Nora Ephron) landed nominations as did Broadway vets Nathan Lane, Laurie Metcalfe, and David Hyde Pierce. Take a look at all the nominees below…. The other big news with this morning’s nominations was the virtual shutout for the hit revival Annie which only managed 1 nomination and the snubbing of lots of Hollywood stars like Alec Baldwin, Jessica Chastain, Al Pacino, Scarlett Johannson, Sigourney Weaver and most notably Bette Midler who is brilliant in her one woman show I’ll Eat You Last…. For more on these snubs, head to Gold Derby here and head to the Tony website for more on the show which airs Sunday June 9 on CBS.

The 2013 Tony Award Nominations:

Best Musical
Bring It On: The Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Kinky Boots
Matilda The Musical

Best Musical Revival
Annie
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Pippin
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Actor (Musical)
Bertie Carvel, Matilda The Musical
Santino Fontana, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Rob McClure, Chaplin
Billy Porter, Kinky Boots
Stark Sands, Kinky Boots

Best Actress (Musical)
Stephanie J. Block, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Carolee Carmello, Scandalous
Valisia LeKae, Motown The Musical
Patina Miller, Pippin
Laura Osnes, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Featured Actor (Musical)
Charl Brown, Motown The Musical
Keith Carradine, Hands on a Hardbody
Will Chase, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Gabriel Ebert, Matilda The Musical
Terrence Mann, Pippin

Best Featured Actress (Musical)
Annaleigh Ashford, Kinky Boots
Victoria Clark, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Andrea Martin, Pippin
Keala Settle, Hands on a Hardbody
Lauren Ward, Matilda The Musical

Best Book of a Musical
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Joseph Robinette
Kinky Boots
Harvey Fierstein
Matilda The Musical
Dennis Kelly
Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
A Christmas Story, The Musical
Music and Lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Hands on a Hardbody
Music: Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green
Lyrics: Amanda Green
Kinky Boots
Music & Lyrics: Cyndi Lauper
Matilda The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Tim Minchin

Best Director (Musical)
Scott Ellis, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Diane Paulus, Pippin
Matthew Warchus, Matilda The Musical

Best Choreography
Andy Blankenbuehler, Bring It On: The Musical
Peter Darling, Matilda The Musical
Jerry Mitchell, Kinky Boots
Chet Walker, Pippin

Best Costume Design (Musical)
Gregg Barnes, Kinky Boots
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Dominique Lemieux, Pippin
William Ivey Long, Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Lighting Design (Musical)
Kenneth Posner, Kinky Boots
Kenneth Posner, Pippin
Kenneth Posner, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella
Hugh Vanstone, Matilda The Musical

Best Scenic Design (Musical)
Rob Howell, Matilda The Musical
Anna Louizos, The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Scott Pask, Pippin
David Rockwell, Kinky Boots

Best Sound Design (Musical)
Jonathan Deans and Garth Helm, Pippin
Peter Hylenski, Motown The Musical
John Shivers, Kinky Boots
Nevin Steinberg, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

Best Orchestrations
Chris Nightingale, Matilda The Musical
Stephen Oremus, Kinky Boots
Ethan Popp and Bryan Crook, Motown The Musical
Danny Troob, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella

PLAYS
Best Play
The Assembled Parties Author: Richard Greenberg
Lucky Guy Author: Nora Ephron
The Testament of Mary Author: Colm Toíbín
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Author: Christopher Durang

Best Play Revival
Golden Boy
Orphans
The Trip to Bountiful
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Best Actor (Play)
Tom Hanks, Lucky Guy
Nathan Lane, The Nance
Tracy Letts, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
David Hyde Pierce, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tom Sturridge, Orphans

Best Actress (Play)
Laurie Metcalf, The Other Place
Amy Morton, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Kristine Nielsen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Holland Taylor, Ann
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Featured Actor (Play)
Danny Burstein, Golden Boy
Richard Kind, The Big Knife
Billy Magnussen, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Tony Shalhoub, Golden Boy
Courtney B. Vance, Lucky Guy

Best Featured Actress (Play)
Carrie Coon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Shalita Grant, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Judith Ivey, The Heiress
Judith Light, The Assembled Parties
Condola Rashad, The Trip to Bountiful

Best Director (Play)
Pam MacKinnon, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Nicholas Martin, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Bartlett Sher, Golden Boy
George C. Wolfe, Lucky Guy

Best Costume Design (Play)
Soutra Gilmour, Cyrano de Bergerac
Ann Roth, The Nance
Albert Wolsky, The Heiress
Catherine Zuber, Golden Boy

Best Lighting Design (Play)
Jules Fisher & Peggy Eisenhauer, Lucky Guy
Donald Holder, Golden Boy
Jennifer Tipton, The Testament of Mary
Japhy Weideman, The Nance

Best Scenic Design (Play)
John Lee Beatty, The Nance
Santo Loquasto, The Assembled Parties
David Rockwell, Lucky Guy
Michael Yeargan, Golden Boy

Best Sound Design (Play)
John Gromada, The Trip to Bountiful
Mel Mercier, The Testament of Mary
Leon Rothenberg, The Nance
Peter John Still and Marc Salzberg, Golden Boy

Adam Lambert & Cyndi Lauper Duet for LGBT Youth

Grammy winning pop music icon and longtime LGBT rights supporter Cyndi Lauper held a special benefit concert this weekend in New York with all the proceeds going to help LGBT Youth. She supports a ton of organizations like her True Colors Foundation that work towards equality, youth programs and other LGBT causes. She is a true ally and an incredibly talented one at that. Check out her amazing duet with Grammy nominee Adam Lambert on his signature tune from his run on American Idol, “Mad World” below. Simply brilliant! And head to Cyndi’s website here for more information on her upcoming performances, an appearance on the sitcom Happily Divorced starring Fran Drescher and all of her charities. It’s the holidays people, it’s the perfect time to help out.

Adam Lambert & Cyndi Lauper “Mad World” (live)

Glee v. kd Lang ~ “Constant Craving”

On last night’s great Glee episode focusing on the coming out of Naya Rivera’s Santana, there were several great musical moments. There was the slowed down version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”  by Cory Monteith (Finn) and Blaine (Darren Criss) & Kurt’s (Chris Colfer) great duet on Pink’s “Perfect”. However, my favorite was the show’s beautiful take on k.d. Lang’s Grammy winning 1992 classic “Constant Craving”. Sung by Rivera and Idina Menzel (Shelby) with a little assist by Colfer at the end, the song was just fantastic. Check it out below and then takee a listen to Lang’s brilliant original as well. Both are available at iTunes now too.

Glee Cast “Constant Craving”

k.d. Lang “Constant Craving”

It Gets Better~ the GMCLA show their “True Colors”

The Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles gathered this week to film a video for the ongoing “It Gets Better” campaign to stop bullying and raise awareness for LGBT youth suicide prevention. I’ve shown you videos from Adam Lambert, Ellen Degeneres and the stars of Modern Family to name a few and this one is just as wonderful and important. And seriously their gorgeous singing and sentiment just might make you shed a tear. Taking on Cyndi Lauper’s iconic smash “True Colors”, here’ the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles… And for more information and how to help the cause, head to The Trevor Project here.

The GMCLA “True Colors”

Time after Time, Cyndi Lauper champions the Gays!

Grammy and Emmy award-winning singer, actress and gay icon Cyndi Lauper is showing her true colors yet again as an advocate for the LGBT community. SDGLN.com reports that Cyndi is planning on opening the True Colors Residence, a shelter for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people. Opening in Harlem, NY, the shelter “will support young people who have been kicked out of their homes by their parents and disowned.” The number of LGBT young people on the streets continues to grow as people come out younger and younger. It’s estimated that 3000 to 8000 LGBT youths are currently homeless in New York City. Thank goodness Cyndi is here to help the cause. Click here for all the info on the new center and Cyndi’s wonderful True Colors organization. You can also catch Cyndi on tour this summer and currently every Sunday night on The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC.

True Colors Foundation: http://www.truecolorsfund.org/

Check out some great Cyndi goodness below:

“True Colors”

“Time After Time” with Sarah McLachlan