The Friday 5: Favorite Current Broadway Bit Players

5 Favorite Current Broadway Bit Players

They aren't above the title, and they aren't really supporting characters. But the shows they are in just wouldn't be the same without them! They are on. Then they are off. Then they blend back into the ensemble. Short time. Big impact. Here are 5 that we love that are currently brightening up the Broadway boards.

5. The Alien Showgirls from The Rocky Horror Show

Played by The Phantoms - What do you get when you cross a Vegas showgirl outfit with a one-eyed alien? A sign toting late night sci-fi hostess! They carry signs that warn us not to be assholes, and even told some audiences it was Knicks in 5! Just a first in a long line of zany costumes in a crazy revival. You may or may not agree with their signs say, but don't shoot the messenger!

4. Henry Ford from Ragtime

Played by Jason Forbach - He gets one of the catchier songs in the score - one of the few I wish was a bit longer. I love how it's the perfect sound for an assembly line, and has all the pompous bluster of an arrogant American. A small gem of a part, in a tapestry full of them.

3. The Sax Guy from The Lost Boys

Played by Cameron Loyal - This guy is an icon from the movie, and I can't imagine the musical without him. Thank goodness I didn't have to! The body, the oil, the smooth jazz... is it any wonder Sam has a sexual awakening when he sees him! And he sure can play!

2. Pete from Schmigadoon!

Played by Jess LeProtto - The goofy, clumsy guy who seems to appear in every Golden Age musical would naturally live in Schmigadoon, too, right? And in the hands of Jess, he's charming, sweet and pops up in fun and unexpected ways. For all his clumsiness, isn't it great that he can dance so well?

1. Sillabub from Cats: The Jellicle Ball

Played by Teddy Wilson, Jr. - This adaptation of the classic musical really clarified and deepened a lot of things in an otherwise light as a feather plot. One of the nicest surprises and most heartfelt things of that ilk is the sweet kitten Sillabub, who looks to Grizabella as a role model and mentor. Not only does it give the kitty more to do, but adds some weight to Grizabella's backstory; best of all is the deepening of Sillabub's verses in "Memory." Oh, how I'll miss this revival...

Summer Bracket 2026: Where Do 21st Century Broadway Musicals Come From? The Sweet 16

Each summer, we play a Broadway themed bracket game using your votes on a particular topic. This year, the topic is 21st Century Musicals and their sources. Inspired by the relative lack of completely original musicals like Maybe Happy Ending and Two Strangers, we thought this summer we'd settle, for once and for all which musical from the last 25 years is the very best based on another source. 

This week is The Sweet 16! You'll be voting to name the shows that will move on to next week's Elite 8 round!

Summer Bracket 2026:

Musical Sources 

The Sweet 16  

You can see from the bracket above which shows on the left side moved on to this round. This week, we have 16 musicals, all based on films!

• Select one show from each pair. Consider the entire production and how well it used its source material to create a new piece of art.
• When you are done all of the pairs (all are required), be sure to tap the SUBMIT button at the end to record your vote.
• The poll is 100% secure and no personal information is collected.

This week's round will close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, July 21st. (Haven't voted before? No worries! Join the fun this week!)

Thanks for playing along this summer!

Broadway Games: Who Am I?: July Birthdays Edition

Broadway Games:

My Birthday Is In July. Who Am I?

There are many Broadway luminaries celebrating another trip around the sun this month. Can you name the actor, writer or director based on the three given clues? Good luck! 

July 3:

Who am I?  

• I made my Broadway debut in a Tony-winning show perfect for the month of July.
• I played one role in the movie version of this story, and I played another, bigger part in the short-lived musical version.
• So far, I am the only Jellicle to win a Tony Award.

Who am I? 

• I celebrated Sondheim by singing "The Ladies Who Lunch" as a trio while drinking wine via Skype.
• I am married to another Broadway star.
• I credit my late, great friend Gavin Creel with my getting my most recent Tony-nominated role. It was a real mother!

July 4:

Who am I? 

• I am most well-known as a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright.
• I won one of my Tonys for bring a Leading Actor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
• My wife is a beloved actress who was nominated last season for her role in a revival of one of my plays.

July 7:

Who am I?

• I was born in Brazil, but have played a Frenchman in two Broadway shows.
• I won the Tony. Drama Desk and Theatre World Awards for my Broadway debut.
• I am also an acclaimed opera singer.

July 9:

Who am I? 

• I made my debut in a flop musical about the woman behind many girl groups, played by Beth Leavel.
• I am probably most familiar to theater fans as a musicals guy, but I won my Tony for a play that also starred my current co-star.
• I have a long history with my current show, for which I was nominated for a Best Leading Actor in a Musical Tony. 

July 13:

Who am I? 

• I am a famous pop singer, who at one time was a backup singer for Celine Dion.
• I have made a name for myself on the Broadway stage, making my debut as a replacement in the title role of Aida.
• I play a real-life person in my current show, proving life vests really did work.

July 15:

Who am I?

• I have co-starred in two different shows with my friend Patti LuPone.
• I am probably best known outside of the theater scene for my impersonation of a certain First Lady.
• I won my Tony for playing a famous ecdysiast. 

July 16:

Who am I? 

• I am a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright, who is not afraid to get political.
• I am the only playwright to have written the Tony winner for Best Play two years in a row.
• I am recently famous for re-writing the beloved screenplay for West Side Story. 

July 21:

Who am I? 

• I followed up my Broadway debut in The Who's Tommy by being an original cast member of The Lion King.
• I am a character actor, most recently Tony-nominated for my corny turn in Shucked.
• I am really proud of my even more recent Tony nomination as a producer of Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

July 22:

Who am I?

• I am an EGOT. 
• I am a composer/lyricist of four Disney on Broadway productions. One is still currently running.
• I wrote my most famous musical with my partner Howard Ashman, and it is a enjoying a very popular off-Broadway revival. 

July 23:

Who am I? 

• I am a world-famous actor, beloved for my title role in 7 movies!
• I won a Tony for a role in a musical revival of a notorious Broadway flop.
• I recently played in the same theater where I earned my Tony. It was a one-man show.

Who am I? 

• I am the only actor that appeared on both the original and revival productions of Spring Awakening.
• I was in the TV series that was the basis for a musical that was all about putting on a Broadway show. Unfortunately, it did not live up to its title.
• I am currently back on Broadway in the longest-running musical revival in history.

July 24:

Who am I? 

• I made my Broadway debut wearing a dress made of cellophane.
• I won my Tony in a largely re-written role in a musical revival based on a comic strip.
• I made a cameo in the the film version of my most famous role.

Who am I? 

• I am an acclaimed composer/lyricist, touted as a newer generation Sondheim.
• I wrote an acclaimed musical for Lincoln Center that starred another July Broadway baby.
• I wrote an acclaimed, but flop Broadway musical that recently had an even more acclaimed run at City Center.

July 30:

Who am I? 

• I made my Broadway debut as Frenchy in the Tommy Tune revival of Grease!
• I am married to a popular Broadway character actor.
• I have become a successful and sought after director since my directorial debut of a recent Best Musical. That one was puzzling, but my next effort was a real circus!

Summer Bracket 2026: Where Do 21st Century Broadway Musicals Come From? Round 4

Each summer, we play a Broadway themed bracket game using your votes on a particular topic. This year, the topic is 21st Century Musicals and their sources. Inspired by the relative lack of completely original musicals like Maybe Happy Ending and Two Strangers, we thought this summer we'd settle, for once and for all which musical from the last 25 years is the very best based on another source. 

This week, you'll be voting to name the 8 shows on the right side of the bracket that will move on to the Sweet 16 in a couple of weeks!

Summer Bracket 2026:

Musical Sources Round 4

(Movie-based Musicals)  

You can see from the bracket above which shows on the left side moved on to this round. This week, we have 16 musicals, all based on films!

• Select one show from each pair. Consider the entire production and how well it used its source material to create a new piece of art.
• When you are done all of the pairs (all are required), be sure to tap the SUBMIT button at the end to record your vote.
• The poll is 100% secure and no personal information is collected.

This week's round will close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, July 14th. (Haven't voted before? No worries! Join the fun this week!)

Thanks for playing along this summer!

Broadway Who's Who: Casey Nicholaw

Broadway has a long history of actors becoming directors and/or choreographers. Bob Fosse, Graciela Daniele, Joe Mantello, and Maria Friedman are but a few. These days, Michael Arden carries that torch, too. But, so far the 21st Century's most prolific director/choreographer who used to be an actor is the latest addition to our Broadway Who's Who - Casey Nicholaw. 

 

His work on both Aladdin and The Book of Mormon continues to pack them in at The New Amsterdam and Eugene O'Neill, respectively. And he's a consistently working artist, including working on film (he choreographed the movie version of his The Prom), television (directing episodes of Smash) and the West End (such as an acclaimed revival of Dreamgirls and the stage adaptation of The Greatest Showman). Is it any wonder we are honoring him this way?

Broadway Who's Who:

Casey Nicholaw

Did You Know?...

        Born: October 6 

        Birthplace: San Diego, California

        Education: UCLA  

   

    

Broadway Acting Credits:

Crazy For You, The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public, Victor/Victoria, Steel Pier, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Saturday Night Fever, Seussical, Thoroughly Modern Millie

 

Broadway Directing Credits (Plays/Solo Shows): To Be or Not to Be, All About Me

Broadway Directing/Choreography Credits (Musicals) 13 Tony Nominations, 2 Wins:

Spamalot - Choreographer

Shubert Theatre (March 17, 2005 - January 11, 2009) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

The Drowsy Chaperone - Director and Choreographer

Marquis Theatre (May 1, 2006 - December 30, 2007) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Elf - Director and Choreographer

Al Hirschfeld Theatre (November 14, 2010 - January 2, 2011) 

The Book of Mormon - Director and Choreographer

Eugene O'Neill Theatre (March 24, 2011 - present) 

⭐⭐Tony Winner - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Aladdin - Director and Choreographer

New Amsterdam Theatre (March 20, 2014 - present ) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Something Rotten! - Director and Choreographer

St. James Theatre (April 22, 2015 - January 1, 2017) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

Tuck Everlasting - Director and Choreographer

Broadhurst Theatre (April 26, 2016 - May 29, 2016) 

Mean Girls - Director and Choreographer

August Wilson Theatre (April 8, 2018 - March 11, 2020) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Choreography

The Prom - Director and Choreographer

Longacre Theatre (November 15, 2018 - August 18, 2019) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

Some Like It Hot - Director and Choreographer

Shubert Theatre (December 11, 2022 - December 30, 2023) 

⭐Tony Nominee - Best Direction

⭐⭐Tony Winner - Best Choreography

Friday 5: 5 Favorite Hamilton Moments

With the nation's 250th birthday tomorrow, it seems only appropriate to acknowledge the occasion with a look at current Broadway phenomenon, Hamilton. I suppose 1776 would have been a little too on the nose. But as mildly subversive as that gem is, Hamilton is the more appropriate given the current state of affairs in the USA. The modern twist in content and the on point casting of multicultural actors really is what the country should be about.

Favorite Hamilton Moments

I'll be honest. The show is one I appreciate more than I love. The concept and staging are brilliant. but I find it more a marvel of precision than an emotional juggernaut. That said, there are several stand out moments that I absolutely adore. Between Lin-Manuel Miranda's often catchy score and thought-provoking book, Thomas Kail's often eye-popping staging, and Andy Blankenbuehler's electrifying choreography, it was difficult to limit myself to just a Friday 5.

Here they are, in the order they occur in the show. You'll probably notice a commonality in my choices!

"The Schuyler Sisters" - Angelica, Eliza, Peggy, Burr & Company

Here is the first real point, for me anyway, in the show that slows down enough to let us catch our breath from the barrage of intense staging and extremely dense lyrics. It helps that there's the "and Peggy" joke and that the three captivating women caught my eye. I knew then that these divas, not the posturing parade of masculinity that will surround them until the final bows, would be what I pay the most attention to!

"You'll Be Back" - King George III & Company

The pomposity of the crazy king coupled with deliciously funny lyrics create a fun moment with a serious toned after taste. A pointed reminder that leaders can destroy themselves, but not before taking as many lives as possible down with them. A cautionary tale with a reality check for today's audiences. Plus Jonathan Groff was a gem.

"Helpless/Satisfied" - Eliza, Angelica, Hamilton, Laurens & Company

Is it a cheat to count two songs as one moment? Not really. They happen back-to-back, and are impossibly catchy toe-tappers. I've been in love with "Hopeless" ever since the cast created a video using Zoom calls to sing the song during Covid, and "Satisfied" contains one of the two most ingenious bits of staging/choreography in the whole show. No spoilers, but I bet you know what I am referring to - no small feat considering that the entirety of the performance is staged with a mind-numbing precision and intensity.

"Ten Duel Commandments" - Laurens, Hamilton, Lee, Burr & Company

I always love when a song cleverly loads a bunch of explanation/exposition into a simple ear-worm of a tune coupled with clever, smart lyrics, and a dynamic yet simple staging. Not since A Chorus Line's "I Hope I Get It" has a number like this been as good!

"Burn" - Eliza

The rare (and maybe the only) moment in the whole show that allows emotion to permeate the entire theater. A beautiful example of Miranda's ability to stir up all the feelings in simple terms and lovely musicality. I always leave his shows - and particularly this one - wishing there were more like it. Bonus: the absolute thrill of watching Phillipa Soo just be. (Big fan of hers here...)

Bonus: "The DeBose Track" - Ariana DeBose

Today, after many articles written on the topic, and the meteoric rise of Ms. DeBose, this seems an obvious choice. But back when I first saw the show, when it was still brand new, I knew from the minute I saw her she was going to be big. And, frankly, she was what I looked at whenever the ensemble was doing the work. It is the way she is used as the harbinger of death, and especially as "the bullet" that solidified it as one of the two staging triumphs of the production (thank you,Tommy Kail and Andy Blankenbeuhler).

"Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)" During the victory celebration, she shakes hands with John Laurens who dies almost immediately after.

"Blow Us All Away" She flirts with Philip Hamilton and points him in the direction of George Eacker, who takes the young Hamilton's life in a duel.

"The World was Wide Enough (The Final Duel)" Maybe the most clever bit of staging in the whole show, everything turns into slow motion, with DeBose "taking" the bullet from Burr's gun and carrying it across the stage to Hamilton. Gives me chills at the the thought of it!

Summer Bracket 2026: Where Do 21st Century Broadway Musicals Come From? Round 3

Each summer, we play a Broadway themed bracket game using your votes on a particular topic. This year, the topic is 21st Century Musicals and their sources. Inspired by the relative lack of completely original musicals like Maybe Happy Ending and Two Strangers, we thought this summer we'd settle, for once and for all which musical from the last 25 years is the very best based on another source. 

This week, you'll be voting to name the 8 shows on this side of the bracket that will move on to the Sweet 16 in a couple of weeks!

Summer Bracket 2026:

Musical Sources Round 3

(Literature/TV and Songbook-based Musicals) 

You can see from the bracket above which shows on the left side moved on to this round. This week, we have 16 musicals: 8 based on TV shows, books and plays, plus 8 based on songbooks!

• Select one show from each pair. Consider the entire production and how well it used its source material to create a new piece of art.
• When you are done all of the pairs (all are required), be sure to tap the SUBMIT button at the end to record your vote.
• The poll is 100% secure and no personal information is collected.

This week's round will close at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, July 7th. (Haven't voted before? No worries! Join the fun this week!)

Thanks for playing along this summer!