If you’re a fan of Broadway musicals, you’ll be excited to know that five of the Tony-nominated musicals will be showcased on television this week. “Live with Regis and Kelly” which is calling this week Broadway Week 2008.

Each featured show has been nominated for one of more of the Antoinette Perry Awards, otherwise known as the “Tony” awards.

Monday starts with Sierra Bogges from Disney’s exciting Broadway recreation of their hit animated film, “The Little Mermaid. Bogges will perform “Part of Your World,” a song well known by children and adults alike.

Tuesday brings Alli Mauzey from “Cry-Baby The Musical,” also an adaptation from a motion picture. Harvey Fierstein will be presenting “Coney Island” on Wednesday from the new musical “A Catered Affair.” On Thursday it’s another motion picture turned Broadway hit—“Xanadu.”

American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks, who along with the cast members of the revival of “Grease” will be performing “Beauty School Dropout”, will finish off the week.

Although the choices for show are definitely high profile in that the majority of the musicals featured are also movies, it will be a good plug for the wonderful theater options in New York these days. For tickets to these and other wonderful plays click on the link.

I was reading about the Broadway musical version of “Cry Baby” and something caught my ey. The score is co-written by Adam Schlesinger. For those of you who don’t know who this guy is, he’s a writer from one of my favorite bands, Fountains of Wayne. They are best known for their hit song, “Stacy’s Mom,” which was fun but overplayed on the radio and VH1. They have many other better songs on several other great albums worth checking out.

Anyway, my point is that after noticing his involvement, I really want to see “Cry Baby.” A Broadway musical is only going to be as good as the music. Given Schlesinger’s involvement, I can’t help but think it should be great.

The story takes place in Baltimore in 1954. An innocent young girl starts a romance with a guitar-playing rebel from across the tracks. The original movie starred Johnny Depp and was directed by the ever eccentric, John Waters.

After the reasonable success of the film version of the musical “Hairspray,” maybe John Waters’s movies have found their true place as musical theater, first on stage, then regurgitated back onto film. I hope that they make a movie musical of “Cry Baby.” But until then, we can get our Broadway tickets online for the stage show.