The title came as kind of a comfort after the name of their high-profiled, sold-out gig last year: Kiki & Herb Will Die for You at Carnegie Hall. Broadway is just their “little” way of proving there is life A.C. (after Carnegie). What follows Broadway is anybody’s guess.

“I haven’t got a clue,” admitted Bond (Kiki) when the question came up at the post-show bash at the 02 Lounge at The Time Hotel on West 49th. “I guess we’ll tour.”

The two and only constitute a crowd for the Helen Hayes, sandwiched in for four weeks between Sarah Jones’ one-person, 14-character show, bridge & tunnel (Jan. 12-Aug. 6) and the ventriloquist one-man show that follows them Sept. 19, Jay Johnson: The Two and Only).

Bond said he next surfaces this fall in cinema (but still in drag), playing a brothel madam in an independent feature written and directed by Hedwig’s John Cameron Mitchell.

“We previewed in Philadelphia last week, and I tightened everything up,” said Bond. “I was nervous, only because I can’t control how people perceive the show. But I felt—from Saturday, when most of the press was there, through tonight—if people didn’t like the show, they didn’t like the show. But at least Kenny and I did the show we set out to do.”

Mellman, who provides wall-to-wall accompaniment to Bond’s riffs and rants and ramblings in addition to the musical numbers, had the look of a man who had just done Everest in double-time. His eyes fluttered a touch when someone reminded him he’d be doing this eight performances a week—a rude jolt to the system for a downtown performance artist. “We’ve done it, but that was out of town,” he said. “Right now, we’re both very exhausted. There was a look that passed between us tonight in the middle of our bows, and you could tell we were saying to each other, ‘How are we going to do this?’”

It helped that so many downtown staples and friends rode the rails uptown to catch their opening night on Broadway. “Tonight was great,” declared Bond. “The previews were pretty nerve-racking, but tonight was like a party, having so many friends around.”

Blondie's Deborah Harry, and Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz topped the gritty glitz. Joan Rivers no-showed, but Molly Ringwald made a surprise appearance, as did Ramones manager Danny Field, the godfather of American punk. Also: Michael Cavadias, Miss Guy, puppeteer Basil Twist (who once played Charley the Tuna opposite Kiki), Kathleen Hanna, Ian Falconer , and biographer James Gavin (now busy with Lena Horne).

The Tony-winning star on hand was Jane Adams, who got hers when An Inspector Calls called in 1994 and who was last seen on Broadway between Frank Langella and Ray Liotta in Match. “Justin’s one of my best friends,” she said. “His shows are more like therapy.”

Neal Medlyn, who has been known to perform with Mellman on Bond’s night off or out (they do evenings of R Kelly songs), betrayed not a hint of jealousy seeing his sometimes partner hitting the big-time stride. “I’ve seen lots of stuff on Broadway, so to see them there—it’s one of the more exciting things in my life. He’s such a generous performer.”

Downtown deejay Sammy Jo is a rabid fan of their music. “All of the songs are covers,” he said, "but they do such a good job of making them their own and making them make sense, within the context of the show, that folks think they wrote the songs themselves.”

No, Boy George did not make the scene—he was probably catching some z’s from all the community service he has been sweeping up lately—but his lookalike wannabe from The Wedding Singer did: Kevin Cahoon. He left his eyeliner on from the show so he infiltrated the first-nighters with ease. “We went to the show last night. We’re just here for the party—for my friends Justin and Kenny, whom I’ve been seeing since they were doing this show in the backroom at The Cowgirl Hall of Fame. And then to see them sell out Carnegie Hall last year, and now this—it just doesn’t get better than this.”

Cahoon’s own show is proving to be something of an Energizer bunny among Broadway musicals. “Josh was just picking me up at the stage door, and said, ‘Not every show has a hundred kids at the stage door afterwards, screaming.' It’s like a little sub-rock concert.”  Continued...