Mr. Memphis, Charlie Williams Wins Broadway Beauty Pageant

Broadway's fourth annual all-male beauty contest, The Broadway Beauty Pageant, took place on Monday, April 19th. Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh hosted. The 2010 contestants were Wes Hart (Mr. West Side Story), Eddie Pendergraft (Mr. Wicked), Daniel Soto (Mr. Fela), Rickey Tripp (Mr. In The Heights) and Charlie Williams (Mr. Memphis).

The winner for the year was Charlie Williams who rapped and danced his way to victory from this year's celebrity judges - Christine Ebersole, Charles Busch and Jackie Hoffman.

The Broadway Beauty Pageant features male cast members representing their respective Broadway shows, competing for the title crown through talent, interview and swimsuit competitions. The contestants go head to head in front of a panel of celebrity judges, but ultimately, the final vote is in the audience's hands.

Conceived by Jeffery Self and directed by Ryan J. Davis, The Broadway Beauty Pageant is musically directed by Christopher Denny with new music by Rick Crom (Newsical). The evening is produced by Ryan J. Davis, Jeffrey Self and Wil Fisher in association with Tim Hur.

The Ali Forney Center (AFC) was started in June 2002 in response to the lack of safe shelter for LGBT youth in New York City. They have grown quickly to become the nation's largest and most comprehensive organization dedicated to homeless LGBT youth. They are committed to providing LGBT youth with safe, dignified, nurturing environments where their needs can be met and where they can begin to put their lives back together. The center provides short and long term housing in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, plus free medical care, HIV testing, mental health services, showers, food, computer access and job training and placement at its drop-in centers in Chelsea and Brooklyn.