I'm in New York a lot and I love droppping by Ellen's Stardust Diner at 51st and Broadway.

It's a lot of fun and a great place to go on your own. It's a fifties diner with lots of wonderful kitchy decorations -- old albums covers on the wall (Sugar n' Peggy Lee, Sing-a-long with Connie Francis, Showtime with Doris Day, Johnny Mathis).

It's a big tourist place but we go 'cuz it is very kid friendly.

But the best part is that the waiters and waitresses, who are dressed up in fifties garb, sing to karaoke musical theater songs and standards.

Sometimes they even do it while they are serving which is lots of fun. What I love is that these performers seem to be having a blast singing and serving. These kids are great -- great voices, great presence and great interaction with the customers while they are performing.

Even the gruff maitre d' who won't seat you unless your whole party is present, will do a song (tonight he sang the Dean Martin hit "Ain't That A Kick in the Head").

Funny thing, this time I dropped by for a late snack and a beer (boy it's hot here!). The first song one of the waiters sang was "Artificial Flowers"! It's funny -- I hadn't heard that song before and now I've heard it twice (see my previous post). Usually these things happen in threes so I wonder where I'll hear it next...

And now I read this great follow-up to the Tony Awards by Liz Smith in the Baltimore Sun. It's behind a registration, so here's the relevant part of the article -- read the last sentence:

A star is born?

During a commercial break in the Tony Awards Sunday night, host Hugh Jackman asked the audience if they had any requests? Somebody shouted out, "The Boy Next Door!" Hugh asked, "Who said that?" In the audience, Matthew Hoffman raised his hand and tentatively replied, "I did."

Jackman had him up on stage in a flash. He and Hoffman, who is (natch!) an aspiring singer-actor, began a duet of the famous song from Meet Me in St. Louis. But young Matthew wasn't giving it his all. Jackman stopped and said, "So, what else have you got?" Matthew said "I Can See It" (from The Fantasticks.) Hugh then stepped aside and gave Matthew the stage. Matthew offered a true Broadway performance. He hit the last notes just as the back-on-air signal came. Big applause!

Later, at the post-show parties, Matthew was stopped by many big names. He was congratulated on his impromptu moment in the spotlight. If he becomes a star, it'll be the best up-from-nowhere tale since Shirley MacLaine got lucky because of Carole Haney's broken ankle. For now, he is a singing waiter at Ellen's Stardust Diner.

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