glinda

The Orange is the New Black star has landed a role in the latest incarnation of the Wizard of Oz-themed musical.

Watching the amazing Megan Hilty belt out “Crazy Dreams” on Smash has gotten us thinking about some of our favorite Broadway divas of the past few decades. Hilty herself is no stranger to the Great White Way, having played Glinda in Wicked and Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical. But who else do we worship? While there are far too many to name them all, we managed to list — in no particular order — four powerhouse women who never stop thrilling us.

Lena Horne died on Mother’s Day in May 2010 at the age of 92. If you are of my generation of Lena Horne fans your first encounters with the star was her role as Glinda, the Good Witch of the South in The Wiz, the 1978 film of the all-black version of L. Frank Baum's children's classic  The Wizard of Oz. But Ms. Horne’s breakthrough on the silver screens was decades before 1978. It began in 1943 when Horne was in the all-black production, Stormy Weather, where she performed the title song that became her signature tune.

Latifah joins Uzo Aduba, Amber Riley, Mary J. Blige, Shanice Williams, and Stephanie Mills for NBC's live version of The Wiz

Out actress and now talk show co-host Sara Gilbert channeled Dorothy for The Talk’s Wizard of Oz themed Halloween show, and the actress best known as Darlene Conner made for a pretty convincing Dorothy Gale.

The adorable Kristin Chenoweth opened up to Time magazine about being a Christian who supports gay and lesbian rights. The actress caught some religious slack for appearing on Pat Robertson's show to promote her record and calls the ordeal a mistake. "I'm a Christian...God doesn't make mistakes...and I think people should be able to get married and love each other." The actress  just made her return to Broadway with the revival of "Promises, Promises." 

Fans of musicals and good TV dramas in general are rejoicing today after the executives at NBC decided to post the 40-minute pilot episode of their much anticipated, midseason drama, Smash. Lesbians are going to love Smash, starring the adorable Katherine McPhee, Debra Messing and Megan Hilty.

Just as Glee is about to go on vacation until April comes this gem of a casting: Broadway diva Idina Menzel has been cast as the vocal coach. Menzel, who famously played lesbian Maureen on the Broadway and big-screen incarnations of Rent and Elphaba in Broadway's Wicked, has said that she's a big fan of the Fox freshman show.