On this day in 1558, Elizabeth I ascended to the English throne upon the death of her half-sister, thus giving birth to the remarkably fecund Elizabethan Age. From that era sprang probably the most influential writer in English history, William Shakespeare.

Today, let's remember Shakespeare by taking a look at Denzel Washington as Brutus in the 2005 Broadway revival of Julius Caesar. Washington received lukewarm reviews for his performance – and some outright bad ones – but it sure looks good.

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Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Bill T. Jones' play, Fela!, about Nigerian music legend and activist Fela Kuti. While waiting to enter the theater, I briefly chatted with someone who told me that he was part of Beyonce's crew and that she would be attending the show. If you know me, you know my interest was more than piqued, but, to my great disappointment, I never actually saw her. Fast forward to today, and the New York Post is reporting that Jay-Z and Beyonce are now obsessed with the off-Broadway production, and Jay wants to do all he can to help make it a success on Broadway. So.. I guess she was there, and she and the hubby liked it as much as I did. It deserves the A-list attention.

Oh no! Julia Roberts couldn’t do it; nor could Amanda Peet or Denzel Washington. And it looks like Katie Holmes‘ chance to do it was over before it even began. But we had such high hopes for Morgan Freeman! He was supposed to be The One, the major movie star that would take Broadway by storm with a performance hailed by critics and ticket buyers alike. Alas, it was not to be:

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When Danity Kane's Aubrey O'Day and India.Arie join Broadway casts this summer and fall, they'll be added on to the long list of Broadway stars who were better known for their activity on the Billboard charts or Neilsens than their theater work when they started out. Above you'll find Usher as Billy Flynn in Chicago, circa 2006.

Anyone watch the Tony Awards last night? I didn't, but upon looking at the photos of host Whoopi Goldberg doing a Mary Poppins impersonation, I sort of wish I had caught some of it. In the Heights, a play revolving around Dominican Americans in NYC, won for best musical, edging out Passing Strange, a coming-of-age tale about a black man living abroad. Passing Strange won the award for best book of a musical. Whoopi Goldberg wins the award for most awkward on the red carpet. See below.

FISHBURNE PRACTICES ALCHEMY Laurence Fishburne just signed on to star in and direct the big-screen adaptation of the best-selling novel, The Alchemist.

In other Fishburne news, he won a Drama Desk award this weekend for his portayal of Thurgood Marshall in the Broadway play, Thurgood. Passing Strange, a play about a black bohemian in search of new experiences, won for best musical.

• India.Arie is Broadway-bound and set to appear in a revival of Ntozake Shange's famous For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. [EW]

• What do Jack Johnson and Eliot Spitzer have in common? [Root]

• Remy Ma is calculating and irresponsible, says the prosecution in her shooting trial. [MTV]

• HBO has ordered 13 episodes of a series based on Jill Scott's movie, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. She'll star of course in the show, of course. [DV]

• Janet Jackson's in the hospital with the flu. Buy her album to make her feel better, would you? [E!]

Depending on how things go today in Texas and Ohio, Barack Obama might be the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee by Thursday, when he and Michelle attend the official opening night of Broadway's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. This should do nothing for the opening night jitters of the cast, which includes Terrence Howard, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad, and James Earl Jones. Although they've been performing for audiences for about a month, having a possible future president in the audience probably ups the pressure a bit.

Also planning to attend the opening night show are Denzel and Pauletta, Will and Jada, and, of course, Camille and Bill. Date night! [NYDN]

I'm a musical girl. Give me a song and dance number, and I'm quite content. As a result of this, though, I miss out on a lot of good Broadway drama. A quick search through the archives will show you that I was more than willing to make Debbie Allen's production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof a notable exception. I caught a preview (more like a formal dress rehearsal) of the show Sunday night, and I didn't long for a song or a dance break. Not even once.

Tennessee Williams' play was not written with an all-black cast in mind, but someone who hadn't known that going in probably wouldn't guess it. The play covers one night in the life of a rich Southern family, the members of whom are in conflict over the sorts of things rich people are often in conflict over — power, sex, money, and mendacity, to name three. The action centers around Big Daddy's (James Earl Jones) 65th birthday and the entire play takes place in the bedroom of Brick (Terrence Howard) an alcoholic ex-football player with a broken ankle who won't have sex with his wife Maggie (Anika Noni Rose), who desperately wants to have sex with her husband. The two of them do an amazing job capturing the sexual tension, resentment, and hatred that poisons their relationship and keeps it alive at the same time.

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I've had many unprofessional moments in my years as a working woman. There was the time during my (brief) newspaper career that I fainted (I had forgotten to eat breakfast) while conducting an interview at the modest home of a just-returned-from-Iraq soldier and awoke reclining in the family's threadbare La-Z-Boy, where I was force fed a couple of pieces of Wonder bread and a glass of orange juice. Then there was the time, when I was an intern at Jane, that I got rained on so severely during my lunch break that my tank top — which, when dry, was totally safe to wear without a bra — became completely see-through. Completely. And for some reason, it took about 4 hours to become opaque again. I had no jacket, and the size-zero samples in the fashion closet wouldn't even fit over my head. Luckily, they liked that sort of thing at Jane (R.I.P.).

Yesterday was one of those unprofessional days. Why? Well, yesterday, Jossip Initiatives boss-man David Hauslaib and I went to a press event for Debbie Allen's all-black production of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Terrence Howard was there (whatevs — he had on a hat and a man-purse the whole time), as was Anika Noni Rose (very cute and pleasantly sassy), James Earl Jones (!), Giancarlo Esposito, Mr. Gaines, Debbie Allen, and…Phylicia Rashad.

Phylicia Rashad was where the unprofessional bit came in.

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• Jermaine Dupri was named after Jermaine Jackson. That's just weird. [People]

• Chaka Khan doesn't seem like the nervous type, but she's shaking in her boots over her upcoming debut on Broadway in The Color Purple. [SP]

• More senseless racism. More Al Sharpton. [SIA]

• The Apprentice made Omarosa a "celebrity," and now she's going to be on Celebrity Apprentice! She's come so, so far. [Jossip]

• Michael Vick lost his house. Bummer? [EUR]

Mya, who seems to be having some serious trouble sustaining any sort of success in her recording career despite appearing in public whenever humanly possible, may be moving on to something new. Broadway! I've always been impressed with her dance skills, which are shown off in this number (my favorite) from the film version of Chicago (one of my favorites).

According to the New York Daily News, Mya was spotted having an intimate conversation with the Chicago casting director responsible for bringing Usher to Broadway. If it counts for anything, I'd be far more likely to go see her on stage than in concert.

[NYDN]