Lea Michele has announced that she’ll be leaving the Broadway revival of Chess.  Of course, that clever minx ain’t going anywhere until after the Tony Awards.  Her final show will be on June 21^st.  So I urge you to quickly grab your tickets now – for June 22^nd!  Her replacement is the biggest guessing game in New York.  The luminous Lena Hall did the concert which was the basis of this production, so she’s in contention – as is Karen Olivo, who did the DC run.  The funniest suggestion I’ve read online is that an offer should go out to Beanie Feldstein!

Last week, I got to spend time with the uber-talented, award-winning John McDaniel…TWICE.  First was a scrumptious brunch at Casablanca Café in Fort Lauderdale where we hung out with the spring breakers.  Days later, he invited me to see him and Tony-winner Lindsay Mendez at the Broadway in Worcester series (less than an hour outside of Boston).  I adored Lindsay in Merrily We Roll Along, but I was not prepared for the range and depth of her vocal ability.  She is phenomenal and her connection with the lyrics is mesmerizing.  I was honored to see her, and thanked the powers that be for having me.  Check them out at BroadwayInWorcester.com.

Didya know that Timothee Chalamet was up for the role of Spider-Man?  He was actually a finalist – but lost out to Tom Holland, who had the edge in the action sequences due to his years of ballet training for Billy Elliot, The Musical.  I think we’ve just uncovered what bug crawled up Timmy’s ass, so to speak.