Horse Play With Daniel Radcliffe

The weekly look at all that's in the works from Broadway to Hollywood and back again:

- For you muggles out there who couldn't make it to London for his au naturale performance in Equus, Daniel Radcliffe promises that he will soon be blinding horses stateside by the end of next year, if all goes well. Radcliffe's Harry Potter uncle Richard Griffiths (Tony winner for The History Boys) will co-star.

- Like, ohmygod! Taking their cue from Hairspray and Grease (both of which have been benefiting nicely from exposure in other mediums), Legally Blonde will soon be filmed live for a future broadcast on MTV. And if you so desire (and are willing to wear a pink shirt), you can even be in the audience.

- Speaking of Grease (and really, when are we not?), meet the revival's scene-stealing Rizzo, Jenny Powers, and check out the track list for the newest cast recording, on sale October 2 (Click here to pre-order the new albumfrom Amazon.com).

Meanwhile, Grease: You're the One That I Want hostess Denise Van Outen has (get this) been cast as the militant Maureen in London's Rent. Not to be catty, but isn't she a teensy bit past her prime mooing years?

- In more music news, original Maureen Idina Menzel has released a club mix of her big Wicked showstopper, the divalicious "Defying Gravity". Click here to purchase the CDfrom Amazon.com.

- As playwright Terrence McNally and stars Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin chat up The Ritz, Seth Rudetsky dishes on his co-star/fellow "bathhouse patron" Ryan Idol. Seth also recounts his recent one-on-one with Xanadu hunk Cheyenne Jackson.

- Get ready to return to La Cage aux Folles, via a West End revival; no word yet if the star of the recent New York run, Gary Beach, will "strap on his fake boobs again" for it though.

Elsewhere, this is what the Episcopalians think about a high school musical about drag queens. Who woulda thunk it?

- Director Rob Marshall has revealed his star-studded, international cast for his big screen adaptation of Nine, although only one (Sophia Loren) is actually Italian.

- "They're the Dreamgirls ..." The originals, that is: Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine and Jennifer Holliday will reunite in LA for a "one night only" benefit performance. And I'm telling you, I'm going ... (OK, I'll stop now.)

- Tours from around the world: 42nd Street in China, Little Shop of Horrors in the UK and 12 Angry Men in the US of A.

- Billy Elliot, soon to be grande jeté-ing his way to Broadway, celebrates his 1,000th performance in London.

- Angela Arden has found her son. Charles Busch will be joined in Die Mommie Die! with current gay soap sensation Van Hansis (a.k.a. As the World Turns' Luke Snyder).

- In an unusual move, the producers of Young Frankenstein will reportedly not release the show's weekly grosses. Hmmm ...

- The 39 Steps is stepping closer to Broadway.

- In our Hairspray news of the week, the title of this Playbill article says it all: "Love Finds Beaver Cleaver".

- Do video games and show tunes mix? We'll find out when The Last Starfighter takes to the stage.

- Remember the opening number of the movie Hair, with all the hippies dancing about, all Twyla Tharp-y like, in the middle of Central Park? Well, now you'll be able to see that in person.

- While Claire Danes (who, having never seen My Fair Lady, must have had a really sad childhood) prepares for George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, John Lithgow mulls a return to Broadway with Arthur Miller's All My Sons.

- I don't know why but I don't care: the San Francisco Jersey Boys will perform on next Sunday's Emmy Award telecast. For a taste of the original Broadway Four Seasons, here's their electrifying performance at last year's Tony Awards.

Links via MoviesBlog.MTV.com, Playbill.com, Broadway.com, AfterEllen.com, AfterElton.com and YouTube.com.

He Got Annie

In last week's "From Screen to Stage", Seth Rudetsky interviewed Andrea McArdle on the Rosie Cruise. Well, it turns out McArdle wasn't just aboard for the seafood buffet.

In part two of Seth's story, he relates how his childhood dream of being an orphan in Annie was realized, with McArdle reprising her most famous role (at age 43, no less). Naturally, Miss O'Donnell herself got into the act as Miss Hannigan (that's her with McArdle - in the red dress, mind you - above).

And what about Seth, who spent hours listening to the "Red Album" as a child? He played Tessie, the "ohmygoodness" girl. (More pics available at Broadway.com.)

In other Broadway via Hollywood news:
- The Dolly Parton-scored 9 to 5 should punch the clock sometime in the 2008-09 season.

- A stage version of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the classic movie that starred Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sidney Poitier, is also being readied for that time.

- Dallas star Linda Gray returns to Texas (onstage, at least) in a stage adaptation of Terms of Endearment that will tour the United Kingdom.

- The movie version of Nine gets a screenwriter and some possible leading ladies. Rumor has it that Judi Dench, Anne Hathaway, Katie Holmes and Chicagoans Renee Zellwegger and Catherine Zeta-Jones are all in the running.

- Speaking of Chicago, real-life marrieds and Dancing With the Stars alumni Harry "Making Love" Hamlin and Lisa "Melrose Place" Rinna have extended their run as Billy Flynn and Roxie Hart.

- The Producers, no longer on Broadway but still in Vegas (for now), heads to Atlantic City.

- When in California, visit Universal Studios Hollywood ... especially for their "Wicked Wednesdays".

- The Kiss of the Spider-Woman musical returns to New York.

- Special mention must be made of a milestone achievement for my favorite Off-Broadway musical, Altar Boyz.

- Mash-ups are fun: Carrie White meets Harry Potter in Carrie Potter and the Half-Blood Prom.

- In other oddities: Hannibal the Cannibal sings in Silence!, the musical version of The Silence of the Lambs. Seriously.

In stars on stage news: Ian McKellan takes on King Lear, Kathleen Turner returns to the stage - to direct Crimes of the Heart, and Queer as Folk's Randy Harrison is Billy Bibbit in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

- And finally, read all about gay goddess Tallulah Bankhead's onstage mishaps at Playbill.com.

Links via RFamilyVacations.com, Playbill.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com and Variety.com.

Xanadu Soars, Tarzan Falls and More

The big Broadway news lately is the phenomenal success story of Xanadu, the stage version of the camp flop movie we all secretly love. Not only has it received surprisingly great reviews, but it also set a record at the Helen Hayes Theater where it is currently playing to rapturous applause. Basking in the glow is our guy, Cheyenne Jackson, who tells AfterElton.com all about the ins and outs of roller skates and short shorts.

Also on that site, Michael Portantiere gives us a full review, while Steven Frank gives us his own hilarious (as usual) take on his experience at the show, including this bit overheard in the audience: "They made a musical from the book Wicked? Like, who doesn't know that?

And while we're in Valley speak mode, the cast album for the totally pink musical Legally Blonde (starring Laura Bell Bundy goes on sale today. And yes, there is a song titled "Bend and Snap". (Click the link to purchase the CD from Amazon.com.)

Miserably received, Disney's Tarzan, which starred hirsute hottie Josh Strickland, has closed, the first Broadway flop for the Mouse (but hey, it's HUGE in Holland). "Broadway Mouth" at the Broadway Blog provides an in-depth post-mortem on what went wrong.

Speaking of Disney, their first foray onto the Great White Way, Beauty and the Beast, is closing as well. But at least Belle, the Beast and all that cutlery were a little more successful. The long-running family hit will end July 29, to make way for the next Disney toon tuner, The Little Mermaid, which opens later this year.

Also closing on that day is the musicalization of the cult documentary film Grey Gardens. Rumor has it that they may film it for a future television broadcast and/or DVD release. That would be very S-T-A-U-N-C-H of them (I know that really doesn't make sense, but when you can quote Edie Beale, you quote Edie Beale).

Fantasia follows up her impressive Tony Award appearance with five more months in The Color Purple, while the tour for that show adds four additional weeks to their Chicago stay.

Hairspray the stage musical is benefiting from Hairspray the movie with a nice bounce in ticket sales. Celebs joining the cast include Jerry Mathers as the Beav ... oops, I mean Wilbur, Lance Bass as Corny Collins (starting August 14) and Grease: You're the One That I Want runner-up Ashley Spencer as Amber Von Tussle, effective July 24.

In other Grease news, the winning Sandy of that reality competition/casting session, Laura Osnes tells Playbill.com absolutely nothing about how disappointed I ... I mean, she was that total dreamboat Derek Keeler was not cast as Danny.

And here we go again: producers of the London run of Monty Python's Spamalot are planning another let's-let-the-people-(read: gay men)-decide television show to find their next Lady in the Lake.

In the latest screen to stage adaptations, we have Desperately Seeking Susan, All About My Mother, Ever After and Jane Austin's Emma, plus a new twist on the trend: musical stage versions of television shows. Yep, soon both Fonzie and Columbo will be warbling live on a Broadway stage sometime in the near future.

Rounding out the round up, we have:

• Stars on the boards: Orlando Bloom in London and Claire Danes in New York.
• Only in a musical could casting a male as Peter Pan be "untraditional casting".
• "Broadway Bares", the raunchy annual fund-raiser created by Legally Blonde's Jerry Mitchell, may find a permanent home in Vegas, baby.
• Whoopi Goldberg, of all people, will host the Fire Island Dance Festival.

And finally, Seth Rudetsky, our favorite musical/comedy guy, talks all about his trip on the Rosie Cruise, including a chat with original Annie Andrea McArdle, who discusses the pitfalls of M&M's and poppers on the Broadway stage.

Links via Playbill.com, AfterElton.com, BroadwayMouth.blogspot.com, SFGate.com, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld.com, Derek-Keeling.com and RFamilyVacations.com.