There's a New Dame In Town

Dame Edna Everage has her Honorary Understudy, and his name is Scott Mason. The honor was bestowed upon Mason on Wednesday morning when he won a contest being held at Henry Miller's Theatre, where Dame Edna's new show All About Me is soon opening. Among the contest's judges, which scored the participants on criteria such as make-up, costume, and accent, were Michael Musto and New York Post columnist Michael Riedel. Dame Edna herself (aka Barry Humphries) and All About Me co-star Michael Feinstein had their say as well, of course. Although he will receive a credit in the show's Playbill, Scott Mason's role as official understudy will be purely honorary (after all, there is only one Dame Edna Everage). However, Mason is no stranger to playing the good Dame - he has worked extensively as a professional Dame Edna impersonator.

Michael Feinstein and Dame Edna To Play Henry Miller's Theatre

All About Me, the forthcoming Broadway show featuring Dame Edna Everage and Michael Feinstein, is still a few months away from opening but has already re-located. Instead of playing the John Golden Theatre as originally announced, All About Me will instead take over Henry Miller's Theatre. The Henry Miller's is set to be vacated by current tenant Bye Bye Birdie, which recently announced that it will be closing in late January. This is an interesting development considering that it now appears that Roundabout Theatre Company, which acquired the theater as its third Broadway space, may actually be regularly renting it out to commercial productions to raise money for the company.

Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein Join Forces on Broadway

Following a lighthearted publicity stunt in which both artists announced separate upcoming Broadway shows with suspiciously similar titles, Australian drag comedian Dame Edna Everage (also known as Barry Humphries) and piano man/crooner Michael Feinstein (who has just released an album with Broadway actor/singer Cheyenne Jackson) have finally admitted that the new musical entertainment All About Me will be a joint theatrical effort between the two experienced and distinguished performers. Directed by Broadway veteran Jerry Zaks and written by playwright Christopher Durang, the show will begin performances on March 6, 2010, with an official Broadway opening on March 23. A theater has not yet been announced.