This morning out actor David Hyde Pierce (who won a Tony last year for Curtains) and Grey's Anatomy's Sara Ramirez (who won a Tony herself alongside Pierce in Spamalot a few years ago) announced the Tony nominations for 2008.

Best Musical: Xanadu, aka Gayness on Skates, was nominated (also for Best Book), as well as gay-pedigreed Cry-Baby (Cry-Baby also snagged a nom for Best Score and Best Book).

Best Actor in a Play: Out actor Ben Daniels (Beautiful Thing) was nominated for his brilliant (and revealing!) performance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses.

Best Actress in a Musical: Xanadu's Kerry Butler was nominated, as was Faith Prince for the gay-themed A Catered Affair.

Featured Actor in a Play: Out actor Raul Esparza (Pushing Daisies) was nominated for The Homecoming. And gay-fave actor Bobby Cannevale (Will & Grace) was nominated for Mauritius.

Featured Actor in a Musical: Out actor Robin De Jesus (Camp) was nominated for In the Heights.

Best Choreography: Xanadu and Cry-Baby were both nominated.

And gay composer Stephen Sondheim will be given the Lifetime Achievement Award (deservedly!). 

Of course, the big disappointment is that multiple-threat hunk Cheyenne Jackson wasn't nominated for Best Actor for his short-short-filling turn in Xanadu. Sigh. Well, we know we still haven't seen the best of him (at least, I know I haven't!). Congrats to all the nominees! The Tony Awards will be handed out on June 15th, and you can check out the full list on noms after the break!

Fans of Cheyenne Jackson can rejoice, he's just been nominated for "Distinguished Performance" at this year's Drama League Awards for the smash Broadway musical Xanadu!

That's the good news. The bad news is that there are 69 other nominees for the same award (it reminds me of when I was in 5th grade, and was elected class president ... along with every other student in class, because our teacher didn't want anyone to feel left out). Cheyenne isn't the only out nominee; others include Charles Busch for Die Mommie Die!, Ben Daniels for Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Nathan Lane for November, and Harvey Fierstein for the book for A Catered Affair.

Joining the out men are such gay faves as Christine Baranski, Bobby Cannavale, Angela Lansbury, Laura Linney, Faith Prince, and the most likely winner, Patti Lupone for Gypsy. Of special interest is nominee Terrence Howard, for his controversial performance in the revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

I'm not sure how they pick the winners, but if Cheyenne doesn't win, at least he'll be in fine company. After the break, you can see the clip that proves once again why he is deserving of all the accolades he's received, and still will receive (cross your fingers for a Tony nomination).

Neil Patrick Harris and boyfriend David Burtka at the Harold and Kumar premiere

It was a big gay night out for the casts and guests of upcoming comedy Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and Broadway's A Catered Affair. Enjoy!

Neil Patrick Harris and Harold and Kumar co-star Kal Penn

Out actor B.D. Wong at the A Catered Affair opening

More pics after the jump!

Cultural Institution Sir Ian McKellen

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• A Conversation with Sir Ian has been nominated for a 2008 Webby Award, under the "Cultural Institutions" category. I don't know that I'd put the man out to pasture just yet with that designation, but I suppose we've all probably been called worse things.

• I don't know if anyone has been catching EW's America's Next Top Doll webseries, but this week's makeover episode is just crazy enough reason to start tuning in. (I particularly like the mermaid's makeover, where they cut off her fins so she can be "where the people are".)

• Is He Who Blogs Behind the Rows really cleaning up his act? We'll believe it when the shocking footage of him rescuing a kitten out of a tree surfaces on TMZ.

• Why is Harvey Fierstein serenading Kathie Lee Gifford? Or is MadTV syndicating sketches to The Today Show now?

• Dan Savage, the outspoken gay writer behind Savage Love (I started reading him way back when it was called "Hey, Faggot") and the brilliant Skipping Towards Gomorrah, has lost his mother. His column today is a heartfelt remembrance of her, and our sympathies are with him and his family.

• Jerry Mitchell (whom we recently interviewed about Step It Up & Dance) is publishing a photo-filled book this summer about his other campfest, Broadway Bares, the strip-show that has raised a heck of a lot of money for Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS. The racy cover can be found after the break.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

This week it's all about the pretty pictures as we select three avatars mostly on the basis of their artistic merit. Call it Avatar of the Week: The Artsy Fartsy Edition.

First up is BibiMuschel for her post-modern still life. Now I know what you’re saying: Is it art or merely a bad case of cropping? Whatever the case, I found her avatar strangely thought provoking. It had me wondering what was going on with the rest of that apple, and what was casting the ominous shadow in the right hand corner.

Second up is queertheorist who is a 20 year old student living in Turkey. I just love this image (painting?) of a woman crying ribbon candy and everlasting gobstoppers. At least that’s my interpretation. (I have a bit of a sweet tooth.)

Anyway, I’m curious if this is an original image or whether queertheorist borrowed it from somewhere else? If anyone recognizes it, please let me know.

This week’s winner is Junior, who is a 38-year-old landscape designer living in Atlanta. I liked his avatar mostly because it reminded me of that iconic image of Che Guevara. Power to the People!

Junior is of Irish & Italian descent and lists as one of his favorite movie characters, “Harvey Weinstein in Torch Song Trilogy.” One often forgets that before founding Miramax Pictures with brother Bob, Harvey was treading the boards in gay Broadway plays. (Just kidding, Junior. We know who you meant and totally agree. In fact, you can check out our recent interview with him here.)

So congrats to runners up BibiMuschel & queertheorist, and a special tip of the artist’s palette to this week’s winner: Junior!

Frequent Conan O'Brien contributor Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (AKA Robert Smigel) made an appearance outside the Tony Awards two Sunday nights ago. As Triumph's name pretty much indicates, his bit is to insult everyone who crosses his path. Since this was the Tonys, naturally the gay jokes flew fast and furious, and I'm glad they did, as it's nice to be included even when it's all about the insults. Some of the jokes were flat out funny. Some not so much. The Gaydar gun was pretty hilarious, especially the warning label to not use at the Tonys.

It seemed a little off-putting that the jokes about Elton John and Harvey Fierstein all had to do with sex while Judd Hirsch, Jeff Daniels, and Martha Plimpton got tweaked for being washed up and not terribly famous. I haven't seen much of Triumph's work before, but Brian assures me he's an equal opportunity offender and that normally we would have heard as much about Martha's vagina as we did about John's butt cheeks. Maybe Triumph was fixated on the gay stuff because it was the Tonys and there ain't do denying just how gay that is.

Finally proof John Travolta is unwatchable in either gender. Where is Harvey Fierstein or Bruce Vilanch or even my Uncle Max when you need them? When we interviewed Hairspray creator, this is what he had to say about Travolta:

And with John Travolta it's a new version, which it should be. Imagine John Travolta playing a fat woman that can't dance and suddenly gets up and can. That sounds crowd-pleasing to me. It's a different kind of wild hog. Isn't that the name of that movie [that Travolta is in right now]? Edna is a wild hog of her own.

Here is the clip so you can judge for yourself!