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.

If you’re in a Disney park anytime soon, you’ll want to check out the latest addition to Annie Leibovitz’s acclaimed series, placing famous stars into famous Disney worlds. The new picture features Juianne Moore as Ariel, the heroine of the animated film and now Broadway show, “The Little Mermaid.

Leibovitz is one of my favorite photographers. Known for her Vanity Fair cover shoots, she has a knack for bringing the cinematic into the world of photography. She also has a a wonderful sense of lighting, giving a smooth, almost glossy look to her images. It’s as if she’s taking pictures in a fantasy world where everything is gorgeous.

And so she was a perfect choice for this series of pics. This new pic places Moore in the center of magical water world, with mermaids and men swimming around her. In the foreground is the famous gold medal Olympian, Michael Phelps, this time with a tale.

Other images in the series show Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella, Beyonce as Alice in Wonderland, Rachel Weisz as Snow White, Julie Andrews as the Blue Fairy from “Pinocchio,” Jennifer Lopez as Jasmine and Marc Anthony as Aladdin, with Whoopie Goldberg playing the Genie.

It makes me think that maybe Disney will attempt live action versions of their famous animated films. I’d love to see “The Little Mermaid” on the big screen again, but live action, with all new songs.

I never realized that the Tony Awards have such a complicated eligibility process. Some people have questioned it. But regardless of it’s fairness, it’s the most important award for theater in the U.S. So everyone in the industry is certainly pining to be recognized.

Rules are new every year. The decisions for eligibility are complicated.

This year, for example, they just announced that “The Little Mermaid” would be eligible for nomination in the Best Score category. This was in question, given that many of the songs were originally written for the movie. But since more than 50 percent was written for the play, the decision makers deemed it eligible.

The biggest criterion to consider is the required opening dates for eligibility. The management established that for the 2006-2007 year, the cut off date was May 9th, 2007.

Another criteria to consider is the actual theater. A Broadway theater is defined as one having more than 500 seats. Although the definition of Broadway theater does not take into account the location of the theater, the committee determines the list of eligible theaters, which only consists of theaters in New York City.

This Administration Committee has 24 members and determines eligibility. The Nominating Committee makes the actual nominations for the categories.

To see this year’s competitors, get your tickets for Broadway plays online and enjoy.