Five Theater Happenings

OK, just a few little theater tidbits you might find interesting:

1. Congratulations to Idina Menzel and Taye Diggs, who just announced they’re expecting!

2. Open auditions have been announced for the upcoming rock musical, “Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark.” Here’s the list of cities and dates: Orlando (April 9); New York City (April 13); Los Angeles (April 18); Seattle (April 20); Chicago (May 7); and Austin, TX (May 27). And it sounds like you’ve got to be able to belt!

3. The revival cast of “West Side Story” will be heading to the recording studio on April 6. The CD will be released on June 2.

4. John Stamos and Gina Gershon are set to headline Roundabout Theater Company’s upcoming Broadway revival of “Bye Bye Birdie.”

5. And this week, President Obama headed to London for the G-20 summit. As his gift to Queen Elizabeth II (can you imagine … surely she’s a woman who has EVERYTHING), he upgraded her iPod and gave her a personalized one, with … what else? Show tunes!

Forty songs from legendary Broadway productions were already loaded. And he also gave her a rare book of songs of Rodgers and Hart, signed by Rodgers in 1952.

Here are the songs from our country to theirs: “Oklahoma!”; “If I Loved You”; “You’ll Never Walk Alone”; “There’s No Business Like Show Business”; “Once in Love with Amy”; “Some Enchanted Evening”; “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”; “Getting to Know You”; “Shall We Dance?”; “I Could Have Danced All Night”; “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face”; “The Party’s Over”; “Maria”; “Tonight”; “Seventy-Six Trombones”; “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”; “The Sound of Music”; “Try to Remember”; “Camelot”; “If Ever I Would Leave You”; “Hello, Dolly!”; “If I Were a Rich Man”; “People”; “On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)”; “The Impossible Dream”; “Mame”; “Cabaret”; “Aquarius”; “Send in the Clowns”; “All That Jazz”; “One”;, “Tomorrow”; “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”; “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”; “Memory”; “The Best of Times”; “I Dreamed a Dream”; “The Music of the Night”; “As If We Never Said Goodbye”; and “Seasons of Love.”