Musical Monday with Laura Bell Bundy...

What do you get when you combine vodka + a disco ball + the one night of the week that most Broadway theaters are dark?  You guessed it... a room full of chorus boys crooning show tunes. Add to that a 2,000 square-foot dance floor lined with industrial cabaret tables, surrounded by enormous video screens playing every musical theater clip imaginable, and it doesn't get much campier on a Monday.

Every Monday is Musical Monday at Splash, the famous nightclub in the heart of Chelsea.  If you arrive before 10pm, there's no cover charge.  And the downstairs bar features two-for-one drink specials, as well as smaller video screens... 

Musical theater videos begin playing at 7pm.  Be sure to look around as you enjoy the tunes, because when someone nearby is doing the full choreography to a particular number, it's most likely because they are in the actual cast.  On past Mondays, we've seen Patti LuPone, the casts of [title of show], Rent, The Little Mermaid, even the cast of Ugly Betty.  

Last night, for example, a spunky little blonde bombshell was spotted shaking her hips to "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde.  As soon as the video ended, the DJ introduced Laura Bell Bundy to the stage.  

Having recently left Broadway (Legally Blonde, Hairspray, and Wicked) to pursue a country music career in Nashville, she was here to promote her new single, "Giddy On Up."  She took a moment to express gratitude for the support she has received from the gay community, and then introduced her new single.

Take a pause to watch her video.  It's silly, incredibly sexy, and downright infectious...

Afterwards, she stayed at the club and mingled with the audience for a few hours.  Laura Bell Bundy was every bit as adorable and approachable as you could hope for her to be.  It was a real pleasure to meet her, and a refreshing surprise to see a Broadway star before the live Curtain Call actually began.  Click here (and use code "LBBCOOTR" in all caps) for a free download of her single, Giddy On Up.

Shortly after meeting Laura Bell, we ordered a refresher round from one of the newest members of the Splash bar staff, Scott.  It's hard to believe he was my baby brother's college housemate in Indiana, and in just a year has already tackled an off-Broadway role, and is now shaking things up at one of Manhattan's biggest clubs.  If you stop in on a Monday, be sure to say hello to Scott.

Beyond the celebrity appearances and the buff bartenders, the fun of musical Mondays is watching a roomful of Broadway fans singing and dancing to the most random compilation of songs.  The drunken syncopated clapping during West Side Story is hilarious, and Wicked always inspires some booze-loosened theater fanatic to mount a table and impersonate Elphaba or Glinda.

The climax of the night begins at the conclusion of the Dreamgirls montage.  When Jennifer Holliday begins her emotionally-charged origination of "And I Am Telling You,"  you know that a live performance is next. 

Hosted by the absolutely hilarious and insanely talented Emily McNamara, the Curtain Call portion of the evening features authentic Broadway talent performing usually five or six songs.  If you are fortunate enough, you'll even hit the occasional night that features the astounding vocal and comedic acrobatics of Emily McNamara herself.

Curtain Call alone makes the $10 cover charge worthwhile if you don't make it before 10pm.  Last night was one of my absolute favorites, and fairly frequent regular to Musical Mondays at Splash...  Shayna Steele (Rent, as well as Bette Midler's show in Vegas).  There's a bit of annoying banter at the beginning of the clip I captured, but once she settles into the song... watch out.  This woman can holler something insane. I hope you enjoy!

Musical Mondays is a weekly party at Splash in New York City, produced (and occasionally still hosted) by the exceedingly charming, handsome, and talented Scott Nevins.  Though his numerous NYC fans unfortunately now have to settle for regular visits (since his move to the west coast), he can be seen each Thursday on "The Smoking Gun Presents" on TruTV.  For Los Angeles musical theater fanatics, he now co-hosts and co-produces "The Star Spot" during Musical Mondays at the Eleven Nightclub.