While they all look pretty awesome as these Presidents, I have to say that the winner overall has to be Sherri Shepard’s Lincoln penny costume. Brills! Props also go out to Barbara Walters for being the only Viewstress to not only dress up as one of our most beloved Presidents but also one of her classmates as well. Hahahaha … I love these costumes … very cool and very timely. Well done, ladies!

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Whoopi Goldberg joined the cast of the hit Broadway musical “Xanadu” on Tuesday, July 29th for a special six week engagement through Sunday, September 7th. Ms. Goldberg is playing the role of Caliope. Jackie Hoffman, who created the role, will be releasing her new cd “Jackie Hoffman Live from Joe’s Pub” and will return to the production on September 9th. In a statement, Ms. Goldberg said “What better way to stick my toe back on to the Broadway stage than to join the amazing cast of “Xanadu”. It’s such a fun show and is definitely my sensibility, as written by the divine Douglas Carter Beane. For me, it’s going to be unbelievable”. Producer Ahrens wholeheartedly agrees by saying “On behalf of the entire “Xanadu” family, we are overwhelmed and appreciative that Whoopi has chosen to return to her turf of Broadway with our musical. We are thrilled!”

Hello! I *am* thrilled! I am really hoping to get to see the show (for the third time, mind you) with Whoopi in it during my super short stopover in NYC at the end of this weekend … I’m flying back to LA on Tuesday so I think Sunday is my only chance to see it. In any event, if any of y’all are considering seeing the show — go now! What better way to see this really fun show than with Whoopi Goldberg playing one of the funniest characters. Get your tickets now, she’s only there until September 7th!

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Everyone looked amazing on the red carpet … I love that Xanadu’s Cheyenne Jackson had to show up on the red carpet in a tux and then had to strip it off to don his shorty jean shorts for the live performance and then had to get all dolled up in his tux again — and he wasn’t even nominated for an award! That’s dedication, y’all. I cannot stress enough how fun and inventive both Xanadu and Macbeth are as Broadway productions … and I’m convinced that is why neither show took home any awards. Tony voters seem to love being mired in the past (South Pacific), bucking the new and innovative and choosing instead to stick with the traditional, tired yet true (the same thing happened last year when Legally Blonde got the shaft).

The Tony Awards show itself, tho, was really fun to watch (it normally isn’t fun to watch at all). Here are a few pics from some of my fave parts of the show:

“Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific” dominated Broadway’s top honors, the Tony Awards, with seven prizes on Sunday, followed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “August: Osage County” with five wins. “South Pacific,” nominated for 11 Tonys, picked up awards for best musical revival, best musical director (Bartlett Sher), best leading actor in a musical (Paulo Szot), scenery, costume, lighting and sound. Sher said audiences seemed to find contemporary resonance in the show’s themes of racial tension at a time of war — issues of heightened interest in the U.S. presidential election campaign with black candidate Sen. Barack Obama winning the Democratic nomination. “The reception was completely overwhelming,” Sher told reporters, adding the show happened “to hit this weird crease in the culture around the election.” “August: Osage County,” the Tracy Letts play that won the Pulitzer Prize for drama this year, won Tonys for best play, best featured actress (Rondi Reed), best leading actress (Deanna Dunagan), scenic design and direction (Anna D. Shapiro). Cast members signaled that the sprawling drama about a dysfunctional family in rural Oklahoma could transfer to London’s West End later this year. Broadway veteran Patti LuPone won best actress in a musical for her role in “Gypsy,” while her co-stars won best featured actor (Boyd Gaines) and featured actress (Laura Benanti). The show is a revival of a musical suggested by a stripper’s memoir with Stephen Sondheim lyrics. It was the second Tony for LuPone, who last won for “Evita.” “Shut up, it’s been 29 years,” she yelled as the orchestra began playing at New York City’s Radio City Hall. “It’s such a wonderful gift to be an actor who makes her living on the Broadway stage and then once every 30 years or so pick up one of these.” Rock musician Stew, whose real name is Mark Stewart, won best book of a musical for “Passing Strange,” the show’s single award from seven nominations. “It’s incredibly insane to be up here,” he told reporters. “Our goal was to put music on stage that people are actually listening to, the music people actually listen to on subways or when at they’re at home getting stoned.” “In the Heights,” a musical about a largely Dominican northern Manhattan neighborhood, won four awards, including best original score for creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. It had led the Tony nominations with 13. “I used to dream about this moment, now I’m in it,” Miranda, 28, who thought up the show during his second year in college and worked on it for eight years, said in a speech he rapped to the crowd. “I wrote a little show about home.” “Boeing-Boeing,” the classic farce which is the most performed French play, won best revival of a play … Around 750 people from the theater industry — from actors, to directors to journalists — vote for the Tony Awards. Sondheim, who wrote music and lyrics for such shows as “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Sweeney Todd” was given a special Tony for lifetime achievement.

I do have to send out huge props to August: Osage County. Altho I’ve yet to see it (David has), I hear it’s a stunning play and well deserved the accolades it received last night. In fact, I don’t want to take away from any of the winners — they are all deserving. I just wish that the fun, new Broadway shows that are bringing in the dollars on Broadway could get a little lovin’ too. Meh. I’m over it … but I will continue to sing the praises of shows that I LOVE and know that others of like mind will love as well :)

While I’m glad they squeezed in time (what felt like 1 1/2 mins.) for The Little Mermaid to have a performance, I was upset that it was so … bare. I get that the show wasn’t one of the big nominees but a flashy, sorry, splashy performance might’ve helped with ratings. The Rent performance was touching … but fell flat for me. I love Jonathan Larson and his masterpiece but a better celebration of his life and work would’ve been the Original Broadway cast coming out in full costume to put on a raucous performance. I dunno, that’s just what I would’ve loved to have seen. Click HERE to watch the somber Rent performance that we did get. All in all, I guess it’s impossible for all the shows to win awards and maybe I’m a bit miffed that my faves didn’t win … but eh, I can be miffed if I want to. I can’t even begin to guess what poor Cubby Bernstein is feeling today. Click HERE for a full list of this year’s Tony Award winners.

[Photo credit: Bauer-Griffin, Wireimage; Source, Source]