These days, celebrity websites are popping up all over the place. For those who can't get enough of Broadway's newest runaway star, Brian Stokes Mitchell -- who plays Coalhouse in the musical Ragtime -- there's a new site that will provide you with all kinds of fascinating details about his life and career: www.brianstokes.com. The site features news about "Stokes" (as he is known to his friends), including a timeline of his career highlights, reviews from Ragtime, interviews, photos and -- most interesting of all -- a comprehensive look at his discography that's brimming with anecdotal behind-the-scenes stories. (You will, for instance, learn why one of Mitchell's more unusual recordings, a concert version of Duke Ellington's Queenie Pie featuring Cleo Laine and Roberta Flack, is still sitting on the shelf waiting to be released.)
Future additions to the site will include a journal to be penned by the charismatic actor who -- by the way -- is encouraging fans to e-mail him with suggestions for show tunes he might record on his upcoming CD.