November 2007 Archives

As Liza with a Z would say:
"You gotta ring them bells,
You gotta ring them bells,
You gotta make 'em sing and really ring them bells.
It's such a happy thing to hear 'em ting-a-ling,
You gotta ring—them—bells!

It's over. It's finally over, and the lights of Broadway are once again bright.

To help ring some Broadway bells and belts, there will be a Broadway's Back free concert tomorrow at Noon onstage at the Marquis Theatre, home of the 2006 Drama Desk Outstanding Musical and Tony nominated Best Musical, The Drowsy Chaperone.

Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Fantasia, Bob Martin and cast members from every Broadway show, many in costume, will perform to celebrate the return of Broadway and the holiday season. Seth Rudetsky will music direct a full orchestra.

Doors open at 11:30. It's first come, first served, so be there early!

There's joy throughout the world of Broadway and in Who-ville.

Patrick Page is The Grinch

Dr. Seuss' classic story How The Grinch Stole Christmas! is celebrating its 50th anniversary. In the return engagement of the musical adaptation, this season at the St. James Theatre, Patrick Page, the Grinch's biggest fan, has returned in the lead role.

Last year, over 200,000 fans saw the limited engagement and broke box office records. This year, the production runs up to 15 performances a week with up to 8 performances on weekends including several 11 A.M. school "matinees."

"It's a whole different show," says Page. "There have been a lot of changes by Matt [August], our director. Timothy [Mason, book and lyrics] and Mel [Marvin, music] had things they wanted to strengthen. There are two new songs and reprises that really make a huge difference in terms of the emotional arc of the show."

The new numbers sung along side the established "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and "Welcome Christmas" are "It's That Time of Year," for Old Max and Young Max, and "It's the Thought That Counts."

The musical has additional music and lyrics by the late Broadway composer Albert Hauge [Plain and Fancy, Redhead] and the late Theodor Geisel [Dr. Seuss] from the original production in Minneapolis Children's Theater, where Jack O'Brien discovered it and made it a perennial, still running (its tenth season), at his Old Globe.

With last year's co-star John Cullum up at Lincoln Center in Cymbeline, there's another change: Drama Desk Award nominee Ed Dixon—alumnus of the original Les Miz, the 1999 Iceman Cometh and the 2000 Best Man revival—is playing Old Max opposite last year's delightful Young Max, Rusty Ross.

Then there's the change in theater. "The St. James is more intimate," notes Page, "and the show is better suited to an intimate house. Last year, at the Hilton, [set designer] John Lee Beatty did everything he could to fill that huge space. For the St. James, he's done incredible things. It's terrific being so close to the audience."

Page may be the ultimate Grinch fan. He's had the book memorized since he was eight. "I loved the Grinch. I devoured it by reading it over and over until I knew it by heart, then I began to perform the entire thing for anyone who'd listen, complete with facial expressions, characters, voices, everything. I was attracted to the book because I identified with the Grinch's defense about being left out. I also liked the fact that he is so dry and funny."

He adds that the Grinch really wants to be accepted by the people of Who-ville, but would never admit that. "The sad fact is that he doesn't think he can be accepted. That's something I connected with. Growing up, I was shy and not interested in sports. When sides were picked for games or sports, I was always last or not chosen at all. Often, I didn't even want to go out at recess. I'd stay inside and read. One of my teachers used to bribe me with candy just to get me out there. And I think she bribed some of my classmates to try to get them to choose me."

He explained The Grinch... is supposed to be a book for children, but it's very adult. "I'm a huge Dr. Seuss fan. His The Lorax warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth's natural beauty. It's a most extraordinary book. Then there's The Sneechers collection, with the four stories about moral lessons and Xenophobia. Dr. Seuss is marvelous in how he deals with adult topics in a way children can accept."

Patrick Page was born in Spokane, Washington, and raised in Monmouth, Oregon. He had his first onstage speaking role at seven. "Acting," he says, "is all I ever knew." His father, an actor and theater professor, would perform in summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, the largest regional theatre in the country. The family came along. "When I saw my father onstage," adds Page, "I was in awe. When I heard the applause, I knew that's what I wanted to do." And it was. Growing up, he performed in numerous college productions.

From age 16 until well into his 20s, he paid his way through college (where he graduated Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and beyond as a magician traveling eventually with a full-scale show. In 1979, Page was awarded the International Brotherhood of Magicians top trophy in his division.

"That experience helped me a lot in a role like the Grinch," he states. "There's a lot of showmanship involved playing it that you don't learn in acting class. You learn that onstage trying to hold down a show for a couple of hours in front of a full house."

Speaking of magic, the Grinch is all make-up (designed by Angelina Avallone) and costuming. "There are no prosthetics," states Page, "just greasepaint. It takes about an hour and a half to get into everything. On weekends, with so many performances, I don't even have time to get out of it before I have to be back onstage."

When the theatrical bug bit again, Page came to New York. He never had to go the route of odd jobs to survive, but he had a tough time just the same. "I arrived with a name from my work in California and the regionals. I'd had my Equity card for years. I had been a member of several resident companies and knew I could go back if it didn't work out. But I knew I had to challenge myself here."

His big break was arriving on Broadway playing a number of small roles in the much-anticipated Kentucky Cycle. "When I read the script, I thought it would run forever, but it only ran two months. Here I was wanting to make a career but not knowing if I could. I got quite depressed after it closed. I had built a career on the West Coast as a leading actor and I came here and nobody knew me."

He became adept early on in classical roles, but the big payday came when he joined Beauty and the Beast as Lumiere; then came the role that fit him like a glove, Scar in Lion King.

Page came to The Grinch... last year, thanks to the largesse of Disney. "Tom Schumacher okayed giving me time off. Productions don't usually do that. I've worked for Disney for over ten years. They've been kind to me. That's one reason I was able to stay so long in both roles was that I was allowed time off to pursue my creative career. I taught and directed at NYU's Graduate School, directed and acted in the regionals."

After The Grinch... closed last January, he was welcomed back to Lion King, but when the musical ends its run this coming January, he won't be going back to Scar. "I have some career things going. That's not to say that I won't ever put the costume again if they'll let me. But it will be at least a year, and only for short periods."

In February, at Washington, D.C.'s Shakespeare Theatre, he'll do Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, in what the theatre is calling the Roman Repertory. Swan Song, his three-character play that was done in the Summer Play Festival and at the Kennedy Center will play in January at the Seattle Shakespeare Company.

Page has a Paige in his life, Paige Davis, a former Chicago Roxie and a TV host for Trading Places. They met in the Third National tour of Beauty and the Beast, where she played Babette. The couple just celebrated their sixth anniversary, but they have been together 12 years.

The Grinch is a very physical role, notes Page. "I have only Mondays off. I played Hamlet twice, the Scottish king three times, Richard III twice, the lead in the Shakespeare play I'm not allowed to speak the name of in my dressing room and Cyrano, and this is by far the most difficult and exhausting."

Maria and Tony Return—One Week Only

Fifty years after two teenage gangs known as the Jets and the Sharks first engaged in a fatal turf battle on the West side of Manhattan, specifically the Winter Garden Theatre, as interpreted by Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents. In West Side Story, gang members and a couple of young lovers sang songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim and another theatrical landmark was born.

December 4-8 at 8 P.M. for five performances, a few blocks from where warfare mythically broke out (in the neighborhood torn down to create Lincoln Center), the Jets, Sharks, and Tony, Maria, Anita, Bernado, and Riff will be onstage when John Jay College presents in its Gerald W. Lynch Theatre (899 Tenth Avenue, between 58th and 59th Streets) what may be its most ambitious theatrical production ever, a revival of WSS.

In a unique arrangement, John Jay, known for teaching criminal justice, joined in an educational partnership with more than a dozen colleges and universities, including Ohio Wesleyan University and the member institutions of the Great Lakes Colleges Association to create the West Side Story Project, according to director Dana Tarantino, "in the spirit of the original musical."

The decision to present WSS was based on the fact that the speech and theater department, in keeping with the mission of the college, presents plays dealing with themes of justice and societal problems. "West Side Story," says Tarantino, "in an artistic, social and cultural collaboration offers a practical and potent learning experience for urban John Jay students and Midwestern students from the Colleges Association."

The show has received full cooperation from the Bernstein estate and the blessings of the Bernstein children, Jamie, Alexander and Nina.

Tarantino has a special affinity for the musical. She's also a professor in Jay's Department of Speech, Theatre and Media Studies. The process of adapting West Side Story from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet into Bernstein/Sondheim/Laurents' contemporary musical was the subject of her doctoral dissertation.

Dr. Nicholas G.M. Ross, former director of the Hunter College Symphony, is musical director. James Beaudry is choreographer. The cast and crew number more than 150 students, faculty and staff.

With a project of such magnitude, explained Tarantino, outside funding was sought. "The biggest shot in the arm came in the eleventh hour from Paul Newman, who awarded a generous challenge grant. That really lifted the spirits of all involved in a huge way."

West Side Story tickets are $20, $10 for students with valid ID. To reserve, call (212) 695-6908 or purchase in person at the Speech and Theatre Department in Haaren Hall, Room 336.

A 70s Nativity

You don't have to travel uptown to catch Tony nominee Andre De Shields in a new production of one of Langston Hughes' beloved works, Black Nativity. It's come downtown for the holiday season.

Produced by the New 42nd Street and the DD Award-winning Classical Theatre of Harlem, with partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts, it runs through December 30 at the Duke [229 West 42nd Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues].

Set in Times Square in the early 70s, the production provides a colorful environment for exuberant African-American music and dance, gospel standards - of course, infused with lots of sour, R&B, even hip-hop. Black Nativity also features members of Kenya's Shangilia Youth Choir, whose members come from a child rescue center and residence named Shangilia, which is Swahili for "rejoice," in the heart of Nairobi's Kangemi slum.

BN is adapted and directed by CTH A.D. Alfred Preisser, with music by Kelvyn Bell. Choreography is by Tracy Jack, who also portrays Mary in the 11 member cast.

Tickets are $50 and available at the Duke box office, online at DukeOn42.org or by calling (646) 223-3010.

He's Back!

Everyone's favorite reality show champ Sam Harris, who's been busy on the West Coast concertizing and doing TV shows, returns to the cabaret stage when Jim Caruso's Cast Party and TheaterMania.com present this celebrated vocalist and DD-nominee in concert at 7 P.M. on December 16 and 17 in their Broadway at Birdland series [315 West 44th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues].

Besides so many of the songs associated with his career, Harris will be debuting songs from his new CD, Free.

Tickets are $30.00 with a $10.00 food/drink minimum and can be purchased online at www.birdlandjazz.com or by calling (212) 581-3080. VIP tickets available for $50 plus the minimum.

It's the Season to be Jolly

Celebrate the Hanukkah and Christmas holiday season December 5 with seasoned multiple Bistro and MAC Award-winning cabaret performer, TV hostess, producer and record producer Jamie deRoy when Jamie deRoy & Friends bring to life songs from the Harbinger Records CDs 'Tis The Season and Animal Tracks at 6 P.M. at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center (Broadway at 66th Street).

The performers will include a cappella group The Accidentals, MAC and Bistro Award winners Lisa Asher and Scott Coulter, three-time Tony-nominee Dee Hoty, two-time DD-nominee Karen Mason, and the outrageously entertaining Jay Rogers (Drama Desk Award nominee, When Pigs Fly).

Barry Kleinbort is directing the B&N show, with musical direction by Paul Greenwood.

'Tis The Season [SRP $16] has 16 holiday favorites sung by Asher, Coulter, Jerry Dixon, Eric Michael Gillett, Jeff Harnar, Hoty, Sally Kellerman, Anne Runolfson, Billy Stritch, KT Sullivan and, among others, Sal Viviano. Animal Tracks (SRP $13) features 16 pet-friendly songs also sung by, among others, Kerry Butler, deRoy, Rogers, Emily Skinner, Don Stephenson and none other than Marian Seldes. The CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com and at the Broadway B&N.

This free event will also offer the opportunity to adopt orphan cats and dogs through Animal Haven, a not-for profit no-kill animal shelter serving the tri-state area.

Chinese Acrobats Replace Dragons

Due to all sorts of visa complications, the New Shanghai Circus, a popular troupe of energetic Chinese acrobats, aerialists and athletes that's appeared here twice before, has replaced the Golden Dragon Acrobats at the New Victory Theatre through January 6. TNSC combines colorful costumes, show-stopping choreography, dazzling lighting, music and amazing props in the tradition of the harvest festivals of 2,500 years ago.

Tickets for The New Shanghai Circus are $15 - $50 and available at the New Vic box office, by calling (646) 223-3010 and online at www.NewVictory.org. Purchased tickets to the Golden Dragon Acrobats will be honored.

Broadway on CD

Just in stores is the cast CD of MTC's production of LoveMusik [Ghostlight, SRP $19], the story of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, that starred Michael Cerveris, Donna Murphy, David Pittu and Judith Blazer.

Arriving just in time for a very proper stocking stuffer is Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein Decca Broadway, SRP $19] with Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, the madcap Megan Mullally [in full Roarin' 20s mode], scene-stealing Andrea Martin as Frau Blucher, scenery-eating Christopher Fitzgerald as Igor and set-destroying Shuler Hensley as Frankie.

Avoiding the holiday glut, Jeff Lynne and John Farrar's Xanadu [P.S. Classics; SRP, $20] arrives in January with Kerry Butler, Cheyenne Jackson, Tony Roberts and the astounding Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman.

Hitting the bins in February will be Alan Menken/Howard Ashman/Glenn Slater's The Little Mermaid [Disney, SRP $19], which has moved its opening at the Lunt-Fontanne to January. Sierra Boggess, Norm Lewis, Sherie Rene Scott, Tituss Burgess, Eddie Korbich and Sean Palmer star.

Now Complete On DVD

How many remember 1990 when the daring ABC TV network pushed the envelope and had people around watercoolers asking "Who killed Laura Palmer?" It was a heady time.

If you were a fan of David Lynch and Mark Frost's memorable 1990 ABC dark comedy supernatural thriller series Twin Peaks, you know what a groundbreaker it was. Every episode had so many twists, turns and hairpin curves that you were left on the edge of your very comfy seat.

No stone was left unturned, and that's not specifically directed at the lengths idiosyncratic FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, brilliantly played by Kyle MacLachan, and Harry Truman -- the sheriff, not the late President of the U.S. -- portrayed by hunk Michael Ontkean, went to in solving the brutal murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer [Sheryl Lee] in their most anti-Mayberry rural Northwest locale.

The just-issued "definitive" gold box" DVD set [Parmount Home Entertainment/CBS; 25 hours; 10 discs; SRP $100] of all 30 episodes, totally remastered under Lynch's supervision, and the two-hour pilot, boasts of "taking you deeper into the woods than ever before" with "sights unseen and sounds unheard until now." Among the bonus features, for the first time ever on DVD, is the uncensored European version of the pilot; all-new 5.1 Surround Sound and a truckload of interviews, featurettes [such as A Slice of Lynch], the doc Secrets from Another Place, deleted scenes and nuggets such as MacLachlan's Saturday Night Live monologue and sketch, Julee Cruise music video, an interactive map and, oh, yeahhhh!, the Log Lady.

Twin Peaks was a career peak for many of the eclectic cast that also included Sherilyn Fenn as bad girl Audrey Horne, Peggy Lipton as waitress Norma Jennings, the unforgettable Catherine Coulson as Log Lady and Lara Flynn Boyle as good girl Donna Hayward. The series was known for it's off beat casting of supporting roles. The featured ensembled included film stars from the 50s such as Piper Laurie [Carrie] and Russ Tamblyn [Seven Brides for Seven Brothers]; also Richard Beymer [who played Tony in the film adaptation of West Side Story], Miguel Ferrer, Harry Goaz, Dan O'Herlihy, Ray Wise, Grace Zabriskie and Billy Zane -- even Lynch.

Unlike her big moment in the 1992 Broadway reading of Salome and her scenes in the Sidney Lumet film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, where she left nothing to the imagination, Oscar winner Marisa Tomei will be doing a change of pace at the Drama Desk and Obie-honored Flea Theatre [41 White Street, between Broadway and Church Streets] in Oh, the Humanity and Other Good Intentions by Pulitzer finalist Will Eno.

The production of these five short plays dealing with contemporary realities runs through December 22.

Eno garnered international attention with Thom Pain (based on nothing), which played to acclaim in London, Edinburgh and New York and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tomei received a Supporting Actress Oscar for My Cousin Vinny and a nomination for In the Bedroom.

Tickets are $18, through tomorrow, to Flea members and, one hour prior to curtain, on a first-come/first-served basis to the public at the Flea box office. Beginning next Monday, tickets will be $50 and $60. They are available by calling (212) 352-3101 or online at theflea.org.

Friars Fete Friar Bebe Neuwirth

Tony and Emmy-winning star, dancer extraordinaire and new Friar Bebe Neuwirth, right on the heels of being honored by Inside Broadway for her theatrical outreach work and tributed with Rolex Gold at the Career Transitions for Dancers gala, will be grilled in the grill room of the Friar's Club on November 28 by New York Post theater columnist and Theater Talk co-host Michael Riedel. The event is being produced by Friar Randie Levine-Miller. Freddie Roman is head Friar.

Support Off Broadway!

Talks may have collapsed between the striking stagehands and the League of American Producers and Theatres, which is a darn shame (an even worse shame is that they do not plan to meet again until next week). Sadly, the majority of Broadway theatres are dark, inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of local and out of town theatergoers, during one of the theater season's usually busiest times. One door shuts, another opens; so don't sit home alone watching reruns. There's Off Bway and cabaret. Both are jumping. It's Turkey Lurkey Time. Happy Thanksgiving!

Ebersole and Stritch Create Winter Wonderland

Jim Caruso's Cast Party and TheaterMania.com are presenting Tony and DD-winner Christine Ebersole and pianist Billy Stritch in the holiday treat Winter Wonderland at Birdland December 5 and 6 at 8:30 and December 7 and 8 at 8:30 and 11.

The duo will perform seasonal standards and Ebersole will debut songs from her upcoming CD, Sunday In New York. Tickets are $40 with a $10 food/drink minimum [VIP tickets, $60 with the minimum] and can be purchased by calling (212) 581-3080 or online at www.birdlandjazz.com.

Golden-throated Luba Mason Returns

When Luba Mason enters a room, heads turn. After all, she's tall, blonde, beautiful, exotic and carries herself with the kind of je ne sais quoi that says she owns the world. When this classically trained Broadway babe sings, she has all ears.

You can enter Mason's ultra-sensual celestial zone for four nights, November 23-26 at the Metropolitan Room [34 West 22nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] at 10 P.M. as her voice rocks the intimate room with a blend of Latin, pop, jazz and folk. Ed Alstrom will music direct as well as play keyboards, accompanied by his trio.

Mason, a first-generation American born to Slovak parents, participaticed in all manner of ethnic entertainments growing up in Queens. When she began auditioning after college, she worked extensively in regional theater, where she met Michael John LaChiusa, a budding composer who became a lifelong friend.

She wasn't so sure how show business would accept her given name and went through a period of Americanizing it. She finally settled on Luba, which is Slovak for love. Mason is her name from her first marriage.

After meeting Ruben Blades on Broadway, she was tapped as a guest vocalist for his acclaimed CD Mundo, which won a 2002 Grammy Award. Mason received kudos from critcs, who called her crystal-clear pop soprano "celestial" and "soaring." Not long after, she became more than a guest in Blades' life. After a long courtship, a nice diamond engagement ring materialzed. The couple recently celebrated their first anniversary.

"Not only have I studied and can now sing in Spanish," she says proudly, "I've been learning how to cook a lot of Spanish dishes."

In 2005, she was on Broadway as Velma "opposite," as she puts it, "fellow Amazon Brooke Shields" in Chicago, where she also worked with Debra Monka, who at the time was playing matron Mama Morton.

Her first big featured role on Broadway was in the 1987 revival of How To Succeed..., where she as Hedy La Rue she proved a secretary is not a toy opposite Matthew Broderick, Ronn Carroll, Victoria Clark, Jonathan Freeman and Megan Mullally. Her duet with Carroll, "Love from a Heart of Gold" was a showstopper.

When Linda Eder announced she was leaving Jekyll & Hyde, Mason was determined the part would be hers. Not so fast, there. Known for her dancing and comic skills, director Robin Phillips and composer Frank Wildhorn weren't convinced she had a Eder-type voice. "But I persisted," she reports, "and finally got in. I sang, and that was that." Her renditions of "A New Life" and "Someone Like Me" never failed to bring the house down.

Mason got her feet wet, so to speak, "learning a lot about Broadway and also comedy in two very dissimilar projects." Mason refers to her Broadway debut under the name of Kim Freshwater in the 1987 four-performance flop Late Night Comic [*]; and two years later, rechristened Lubitza Gregus, in five performances in comedy legend and TV pioneer Sid Caesar's revue. Featured roles in Sunset Boulevard and The Will Rogers Follies followed.

In 1998, she auditioned for the much-anticipated Paul Simon musical The Capeman starring Marc Anthony as young Salvador Argon and and Blades as the older Argon. The show only lasted 68 performances but it led to her introduction to Blades.

Then, time off for good behavior. "I had time to really think about what I wanted to do," says Mason. That turned out to mean going West and working on an album, "which I never would have had time to do if I'd remained in New York. You get wound up in shows and benefits, it's hard to focus on anything."

The result was the CD Collage [PS Classics], produced by Jeffrey Lesser. The 14 tracks live up to the title. There are songs by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Elvis Costello, Neil Diamond, George Harrison, Van Morrison, a memorable rendition of Lou Reed's post-9/11 commentary "The Calm Before the Storm" and Blades, who joins Mason for a super rendition of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now."

Most recently, Mason was appearing in epsodic TV. Then, with a wish to return to her theater roots, she auditioned for what had the potential to be one of the most talked-about musicals of all time, the musical [yes!] adaptation of Cecil B. DeMille's blockbuster film The Ten Commandments at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. "Sorry to say, it was talked about, but not in such a positive way," says Mason. She described the production as "absolutely incredible, but not especially in a good way."

Her portrayal of Egyptian princess Bithia who discovers Moses in the rushes and becomes his foster mother received good notices. She appeared opposite Val Kilmer as Moses She raved about Kilmer's professionalism in the face of an overblown and not-ready-for-primetime production. In spite of all the miracles God endowed upon Moses to perform, it doesn't seem bringing the musical to Broadway will be one of them.

Mason is no stranger to cabaret, having performed in at L.A'.s famed Roosevelt Cinegrill and Vibrato clubs plus Opia and Cafe Versailles here. A lesser known fact about Mason is that she's an accomplished pianist.

Before arriving in New York, Mason broke in her act in Chcago and San Francisco. She's spent the last few months finishing up a CD with music she's written in an acoustic Brazilian jazz style with two songs sung in Portuguese. She'll preview some of the material at the Metropolitan Room.

For reservations to see Luba Mason, call (212) 206-0440 or go online at www.metropolitanroom.com. There's a $30 cover with a two-drink minimum.

Also at the Metropolitan Room

Liz Callaway appears tonight through the 30th for six nights at various times. Christine Pedi will perform an early show on the 25th and a late show on the 30th.

*

Composer/lyricist Brian Gari, the grandson of stage and film legend Eddie Cantor, who resurrected memories of his short-lived musical with his book We Bombed in New London—the Inside Story of the Broadway musical Late Nite Comic [Bearmanor Media, 2006] now has a recording of the score and songs cut from the show. The 20th Anniversary edition CD, due December 1 on Original Cast Records with proceeds benefiting the Actors' Fund, features Liz Callaway, Mario Cantone, Jason Graae, Rupert Holmes, Brian D'Arcy James, Liz Larsen, Howard McGillin, Julia Murney, Daniel Reichard, Tony Roberts, Seth Rudetsky, Paul Shaffer, Mary Testa, Martin Vidnovic, Sal Viviano, Karen Ziemba and Chip Zien.

Feinstein at Feinstein's

Next Tuesday through December 29, four-time Grammy nominee Michael Feinstein will help ring in the holiday season with a festive program at his namesake club in the Regency Hotel [540 Park Avenue at 61st Street]. The all-new show, Winter Dreams, will contain seasonal favorites and standards, as well as tributes to Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Tony Martin and Kay Thompson.

Feinstein, who recently completed a sold-out two-week engagement in the West End, will be accompanied by musical director John Oddo on piano with a trio featuring guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. His latest CD is Hopeless Romantics [Concord Records], a songbook of Harry Warren classics recorded with legendary jazz pianist George Shearing. Recently he hosted and produced The Great American Songbook, a PBS special, now available on DVD [Warner Home Video].

All shows have a $95 cover and a $40 minimum. Jackets are suggested, but not required. For reservations, call (212) 339-4095 or visit online at feinsteinsattheregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

This is the last week, through November 26, to catch Chita Rivera's extraordinary return engagement. If Linda Eder pops your cork, plan ahead. She'll be holding court at Feinstein's New Year's Eve.

Zip It

Gay Marshall, named by Playbill as one of the Top Ten Divas of 2006 for her performance in the recent revival of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, brings her acclaimed solo show back to The Zipper [336 West 37th Street, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues], where she co-starred in JBIAAWALIP, for four performances November 27 through December 18, all at 7:30.

She plans an eclectic array of songs from blues and jazz and Piaf and Brel; in addition, she'll share her French/American experience in comedic excerpts from her one-woman shows If I Were Me and Piaf: La Vie l'Amour. Marshall appeared on Broadway in ACL and played Grizabella in the original French production of Cats.

Tickets for Gay Marshall at the Zipper are $25 in advance and available by calling Ovation Tix at (212) 352-3101, online at www.thezipperfactory.com; and, if available $30 at the door.

The Sound of Music with Strings Attached

Talk about a family treat for the holidays! The renowned Salzburg Marionette Theatre's production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music and Mozart's Magic Flute will play two metropolitan-area dates. The company is celebrating its 94th year.

The elaborate, beautifully costumed, all-marionette production of TSOM, directed by Richard Hamburger, is set to a new fully orchestrated recording featuring, among numerous others, Christiane Noll and Tony-nominee and DD-winner and Broadway Unplugged veteran Martin Vidnovic as Maria and Captain von Trapp; Spring Awakening's Tony and DD-nominated Jonathan Groff as Rolf and Friederich von Trapp; Bill Youmans as Max; two-time Tony and DD-nominee Crista Moore as Elsa; Michael McCarty as Franz; Jeanne Lehman as the Mother Abbess; and Tarzan's Jane, Jenn Gambatese, as Louisa. The music is performed by the Istropolis Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Larry Blank.

TSOM plays solo at NJPAC's Victoria Theatre November 30–December 2. Tickets are $49 for adults, $26 for children under 14; and available by calling (888) 466-5722, at Newark's NJPAC box office or online at www.njpac.org.

TSOM plays four performances December 7, 8 and 9 and TMF one performance on December 8 at 7 P.M. in Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tickets are $15-$45 and available by calling (212) 570-3949, at the box office in the Great Hall or online at www.metmuseum.org/tickets.

The holiday season at the Met is in full swing with the stunning Baroque nativity creche, Christmas tree, concerts [December 18 and 19 ] and carols [December 20] with choristers from the Church of the Heavenly Rest. The concerts are at 6:30 and 8:30. To reserve, visit the above online address or box office.

John Ford Silent Classic Restored

One of the early works of legendary Western film director John Ford, that was originally supposed to be presented in the New York Film Festival, will be shown in its miraculously fully-restored print with orchestral scoring when the Film Society of Lincoln Center screens 1924's two-and-a-quarter-hour classic The Iron Horse at the Walter Reade Theater on November 27 at 2 and 7 P.M.

Kudos to 20th Century Fox for their digital restoration. No one knows how the negative survived, but it's believed that since Ford also produced the film he managed to somehow perserve it.

Starring is 20s hunk George O'Brien, a sort of pre-John Wayne [whom Ford would discover two years later] and an actor who easily made the transition from silents to talkies. He plays Davy Brandon, the son of a surveyor with dreams of building a railway to the West. The father is killed by a white man masquarading as an Indian [in attempts to raise Cheyenne uprisings as a means to stop the transcontinental railroad]. The role is played by one of the screen's great villians, Fred Kohler, then in his hunky prime [his partial right hand is no screen trick, but the result of a mine accident]. There are some excellent character roles among the Irish and Italian immigrants who laid the tracks and pounded the spikes.

Four-time Oscar-winner Ford took three years to film this epic. He was 29 and this was his 52nd film; however, as may have been the custom then in silents, he isn't credited. The producer is. Ford had two worker towns built and used more than 5,000 extras [including Chinese workers, Pawnee soldiers and, for the most part, real Indians]. He proved his mastery of narrative by weaving a revenge tale into the fabric of American history. He painted a wide canvas, covering the aftermath of the Civil War where Blue and Gray worked side-by-side, Lincoln's presidency, warring Indians and even got in and Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickock.

For audiences of the time, the big draw was the train ambush by the Cheyenne Indians, but there are amazing sequences such as roaming herds of buffalo, stampeding cattle, stunning scenic vistas. There are impressive closeups, but the camera is stationary 99% of the time. You might detect a slight move to the left twice, but nothing approaching a pan shot, which evidently hadn't come into favor. The entire film was shot on location.

O'Brien, the son of a San Francisco police chief who went on to stardom not only on the athletic field and as a WWI heavyweight boxing champion, appeared in over 85 films, including six helmed by Ford. He co-starred with Janet Gaynor in 1927's Oscar winner Sunrise, directed by famed German emigre F.W. Murnau.

For a silent, it has none of the trademarks of films of that era, such as those circular and wipe fadeouts. The extraordinary cinematography [shot from under speeding trains and atop them] is by George Schneiderman. The recently added symphonic score is composed, orchestrated and conducted by Chirstopher Caliendo.

Single screening tickets for The Iron Horse are $11, $7 for Film Society members, students and seniors and are available at the Walter Reade box office and online at www.filmlinc.com.

Pasolini Remembered

The Italian Cultural Institute and Fondazione Aida in collaboration with the Film Society of Lincoln Center are presenting a tribute to controversial Italian filmmaker and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini from November 26 through December 4 onscreen, in exhibition, concert and readings.

Locations include the Italian Cultural Institute, the Film Society's Walter Reade, the Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery, Joe's Pub, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò. The series is sponsored by Consorzio per la Tutela dell'Asti Spumante.

Pasolini's murder at age 53 transformed an already controversial and extraordinary artist into an iconic figure. It's been a decade since his work has been exhibited here. His significance as film writer and director increased with the release of the notorious Salò: 120 Days of Sodom, which will screen December 2 at 4 P.M. and December 3 at 8 at the Walter Reade.

FSLC will screen 11 of Pasolini's features and shorts and documentaries on his work. Among other films to be screened are Accattone, Mamma Roma, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, The Hawks and the Sparrows and Teorema.

For complete information on screenings and events, visit www.filmlinc.com, www.iicnewyork.esteri.it and www.fondazioneaida.it.

A Classical Bonanza on CD

There have been so many changes in the recording industry due to mergers and acquisitions. For instance, BMG, bought RCA; Sony bought Columbia; then BMG and Sony merged. In the process, classical music got shortchanged. So it's good news that Sony BMG has reactivated the respected RCA Red Seal series.

A host of hard to find classical composers in the once-famous Living Stereo series has been released, all totally-remastered. Some highllights of the latest releases are: Berlioz's Harold in Italy and four overtures, including Roman Carnival, [1958, 1959] with William Primrose on violin and Charles Munch conducting the Boston Symphony [SRP $10]; Mahler's The Song of the Earth, one of the first [1959] stereo recordings of the composer's epic and haunting symphony, featuring contralto Maureen Forrester and tenor Richard Lewis under the baton of Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony [SRP $11]; the acclaimed pianist Arthur Rubinstein with Saint-Saens Concerto No. 2 [SRP $12], Franck's Symphonic Variations and Liszt's Concerto No. 1 [with full symphony conducted by Alfred Wallenstein [1956, 1958] [SRP, $11]; and Richard Strauss' Symphonia Domestica and the charming French Baroque Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme with Reiner and the Chicago Symnphony [1956], unmatched in their interpretations of Strauss [SRP, $11].

The New York Philharmonic will host a belated celebration of and with Barbara Cook to mark her 80th birthday, which was October 25. Miss Cook will reminisce about her storied career and sing from her lengthy repertory of songs by Bernstein and Comden and Green, Lerner and Loewe, Arlen and Mercer, Gershwin and Caesar, Hammerstein and Romberg and, among others, a friend named Stephen. The concerts are Monday and Tuesday at 7:30 at Avery Fisher Hall.

This week's birthday concerts mark Miss Cook's first time with the Philharmonic since playing Sally in the still-talked-about 1985 concert version of Follies. Lee Musiker will music direct in his Philharmonic debut and accompany on keyboards.

Sondheim will be in the concert repertory. She doesn't think of his tunes as songs but as gifts. "I love the simplicity and the clarity of Irving Berlin, and Stephen's work has that also. There's something so rich about his work that I never tire of his songs. The more I do them, the more I'm finding different things and subtleties. Quite simply, nobody writes as he does."

The 80th Birthday celebration will culminate in London December 2 with an all-star West End World AIDS Day concert, Barbara Cook and Friends at the London Coliseum. Such stars as Ruthie Henshall, Julia McKenzie, Elaine Paige and Sian Phillips will join her. The concert will benefit Interact Worldwide, a UK-based international AIDS charity.

Barbara Cook's pure soprano tone and warm presence have delighted audiences around the world for more than 50 years. Considered a favorite ingenue during the heyday of the Broadway musical, Miss Cook launched a second career as a concert and recording artist.

In her trasdemark black pants, black pull-over that's a cross between a chemise and a poncho and those oh-so-comfortable sandals, Miss Cook has been equally at home on international stages, such as London's Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall or intimate cabaret settings, such as Cafe Carlyle, where she often rang in Spring with long-time collaborator and accompanist [the late] Wally Harper, and Feinstein's at Loews Regency.

She has a much-lauded career with Tony, Drama Desk, New York Drama Critics Circle and Grammy Awards. Miss Cook is a Theatre Hall of Fame inductee. In January, Miss Cook became the first female pop singer to be presented by the Metropolitan Opera in its 123-year history.

Her 2004 engagments on the West End and at Lincoln Center's Beaumont Theatre, Barbara Cook's Broadway, were hot tickets and received critical raves. Three years earlier, she premiered Mostly Sondheim at Carnegie Hall and took it to the West End, where she was nominated for Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment and Best Actress in a Musical.

Returning stateside, she took the show to the Beaumont for 14 sold-out weeks, and was Tony-nominated for Best Theatrical Event. Miss Cook and Harper, a team for over 30 years, were recipients of MAC Lifetime Achievement Awards.

It's been quite a lifetime for the seemingly ageless Miss Cook, who possesses one of the most impressive lyric soprano voices in show business.

Miss Cook arrived in New York from Atlanta in 1948 "to seek my fame and fortune." It took three years. "Considering the great talents in theater at that time," she says, "that was pure luck." A long-term cabaret experience in Boston prepared her for Broadway and clubs. "I spent nine months doing revues with small casts. The music was orter, Gershwin and Berlin."

She made her Broadway debut at 23 in 1951 as the ingenue lead in Flahooley, went on to play Ado Annie in the City Center revival of Oklahoma!, did the national tour and, in 1954, was a memorable Carrie Pipperidge in Carousel. She went on to create roles in Plain and Fancy, the original Candide as Cunegonde, The Music Man as Marian the Librarian, The Gay Life, She Loves Me!, The Grass Harp and, less we forget, Carrie.

The original Candide lasted only 73 performances, but what a pedigree it boasts: the only musical libretto by Lillian Hellman and one of Leonard Bernstein's best scores. Lyricist, John LaTouche, died prior to rehearsals and Richard Wilbur took over. However, no less than Dorothy Parker made a few contributions.

"When I heard who was putting it together," explains Miss Cook, "I wanted to be cast, but never thought I'd get a part. My vocal instructor insisted I learn Verdi, Puccini and Mozart, even though I kept telling him it wasn't the type of music I wanted to sing."

As it turned out, that insistence was a huge pay off when she arrived at her first audition and found she was surrounded by opera singers.

Bernstein was always late, "but," relates Miss Cook, "I used the waiting time to look over the sheet music and, with all those high notes, you could have mistaken it for grand opera."

Audition she did, and Bernstein was impressed enough to want to hear more, but not what she was prepared to sing. In what she called quite a brazen and foolhardy moment, she told the mastro that she would do an aria from Madama Butterlfy if she had the music.

"He said, 'I don't need the music! I know it.' And Mr. Bernstein sat at the piano and started playing - at a different place than I knew. He was playing a part of the aria I didn't know! But we got on the same page and I gathered all my strength and ended with a D Flat and, boy, did he perk up!"

As one might assume, Miss Cook learned a lot about music working with Bernstein. "He was wonderful and made me feel as if I could do anything." She adds, "He loved to catch you off guard. There was, however, one time I could have strangled him. He came to my dressing room and took great delight in telling me Callas was out front. 'That's not what I need to hear before a performance,' I shot back. He laughed and replied, 'Watch out! She'd kill for some of your E Flats!'"

Miss Cook was a memorable Anna in the City Center revival of The King and I, appeared in their production of Carousel as Julie Jordan and did a stunning portrayal of Magnolia in the New York State Theater's production of Show Boat. She ventured into non-musical roles during the run of Any Wednesday, in Jules Feiffer's Little Murders and the Lincoln Center production of Gorky's Enemies.

There is one theatrical experience she omits and it won't take long to figure why.

Tastes had changed and the Barbara Cook of Carousel, The Music Man and She Loves Me found her style of music was out-of-favor with "audiences that count." Work was hard to find. When director Terry Hands offered her the co-starring role in the original production of the infamous Carrie at Stratford in the Royal Shakespeare Company production it seemed like a good idea. It would be a new start.

Casting her as Margaret White was quite unusal casting [the part was played on Broadway for a few nights by Betty Buckley]. Throughout her career, Miss Cook played those nice girls Broadway audiences of that period loved. She wasn't quite your vision of a rabid religious fanatic, but she dug in and gave it her all. There were more than a few "creative differences" during rehearsals as she and Hands got into heated arguments. She wanted to quit but thought that would be unprofessional, so she courageously stuck with the show.

"Courageously" is not used casually. "On opening night," reports Miss Cook, "in one of those freak stage accidents, I was almost decapitated when one of the props malfunctioned!" She wanted out as soon as posible. "I did absolutely the right thing in leaving. It was a debacle. There were some good songs, but as a whole it was...Oh, God!"

Hands, then a leading light of the RSC, she explains "had a good vision - in the beginning. But he was used to directing works by dead authors. He'd never done a musical [actually, he had]. Carrie was a whole different can of worms. And I think we may have had a few cans of them onstage!

"I don't know if it was so much ill-conceived, or just problem-plagued," she continues. "The biggest problem was that not one person working on it had done a show from scratch. No one had a clue as to how to fix it. I thought if a scene didn't work, Terry would see it. He didn't."

Miss Cook's new theatrical beginning was not to be. She admits she found solace in alcohol, "which led to manic depression. Somewhere, somehow when I saw how I was spiraling to that point of no return, I pulled myself up and sought help."

Part of her "recuperation" was getting back onstage and singing. And her concert appearances and new recordings led to a rediscovery from new audiences.

Miss Cook has a long memory and jokes about Broadway's so-called "Golden Years," saying, "I didn't know it. I was just walking, one foot in front of the other, wondering where my next job would come from. Do you think, one day, the actors working today will look back at this time as the 'Golden Years' of musicals."

On second thought, rolling off names such as Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon, Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews and the shows they were appearing in at the time, she opines "I guess those were golden years. And I was lucky to be where I was. It was just the right time and I was the right package. I was so fortunate to have worked with such amazing people."

For Music Man, Miss Cook won a 1958 Tony. Strangely, it was in the Featured category but she was the co-star with Robert Preston and billed above the title.

She says she couldn't have asked for a more outstanding, easy-going or nicer co-star than Preston. "It was such a pleasure to come to work and hard to believe you were enjoying every day as much as you were. Robert was the engine of the show, the spark. Onstage, he had enough electricity to light Chicago for ten years!

"It was nice being in a show that was such a hit," she adds. "Everyone who was anyone came, and came back after. One night Robert came into my dressing room for our usual chit chat and said, 'Coop's out front.' I replied, 'Coop?' He said, 'Yes, Coop. Gary Cooper.' That got my attention. I told him if I didn't meet Gary Cooper there'd be hell to pay. After the curtain, there was a knock on my door. I opened it and there he was. I looked up at him and said, 'Oh, Mr. Cooper, it's so wonderful to meet you. I'm a huge fan.' And Gary Cooper replied, 'Gosh.' And that was it. Yes, there are some disappointments in life."

There was a huge one in 1964. Her She Loves Me! co-star Jack Cassidy was nominated for a Tony, but in her intergral role as Amalia Balash she was inexplicably overlooked by the Tony nominators. What made the oversight more unbelievable was the fact that Miss Cook had become a musical theater darling.

Though concerts and cabaret are her bread and butter, "Broadway," she says, "is still my first love." She was thrilled to be named to the Theater Hall of Fame in the early 90s.

"Candide, She Loves Me! and The Music Man were great experiences. Though I haven't done musical theater since 1971's The Grass Harp, there's nothing like it. I loved everything about it, especially the rehearsal period and being with people all working toward one goal. I made bonds that will last forever. Theater offers a wonderful sense of family and camaraderie. Even when you don't always get along!"

What? Not get along with Cunegonde, Marian the Librarian and Amalia Balash? "No, when they didn't get along with Barbara Cook," she reports. "It happened occasionally. But usually it was like we were all fighting on the same side, in the trenches, watching out for each other."

On those rare occasions when there were serious falling outs or a problem with a fellow performer, Cook says it was difficult to leave hurt feelings backstage, especially when she had to go out and sing a romantic ballad and do a love scene. "A couple of times it was quite the most difficult thing!" she emphasizes. "Most of the time, however, I just went out and did it. I didn't have a choice. Thankfully, the problems I had didn't last long. I'd try to patch things up quickly.

"It all comes down to the fact that you're not out there alone," she continues. "Some actors thrive on that. I never did. I hate that! I always tried to keep things cool because it's hard to work if you feel you can't trust the other person."

Miss Cook was greatly influenced in her approach to concert and cabaret music by the legendary song stylist Mabel Mercer. "I owe so much to Mabel for all I learned from her."

Over the years, it's often been noted that Cook's crystal soprano changed. Of course, she's aged, gained weight and isn't in the best physical shape. The voice is a shade darker but not in a blatant or perceptible way. There are other singers much younger who still perform and shouldn't. Miss Cook often forgets lyrics to songs she's sung a thousand times. Many wonder if it's a little trick to milk the audience. However, when she sings, it's magic.

Miss Cook is still blessed with the ability of sustaining mesmerizing and lengthy high notes with great clarity. She may not be younger than springtime, but her voice certainly is. It's amazing how very personal she makes the lyrics. You see she's feeling them and that makes for an affecting performance.

Now, at the milestone of her 80th years, you might wonder how much longer she can go on. "It's something I love doing," says Miss Cook, "so, as long as I can do it, why stop?"

Surprisingly, she never does vocal exercises. "I was fortunately born with a naturally sweet soprano. I had a wonderful vocal teacher who helped me build my voice. I learned good technique and I've always done what I was supposed to do. A lot of it has to do with the genes."

The person who often told her what to do was the person she trusted most, her rock, Harper. His death in 2004 was a devastating blow. Theirs was an incredible partnership where one seemed to know what the other was thinking before they even thought it. That's not to say they didn't argue and disagree. "Just like old friends," she laughs, "we went at each other over just about everything under the sun. In spite of that, we got along quite nicely. Now that I think about it, maybe it was because we rarely disagreed. On those occasions when we did, I listened to him. The best I can say about Wally is that he was simply a musical genius!"

From their first meetings in the 70s, Harper wanted to add another "element" to Miss Cook. She explained he really pushed her, not always willingly, to experiment to see what she was capable of doing. The result was the addition of a strong rhythmic pattern to her vocals.

Musiker is bringing a wealth of experience to the podium Monday and Tuesday. A fourth-generation musician, he's not only performed with the Philharmonic, New York City and American Ballet, the London Symphony and the Boston Pops, but has performed her and abroad as pianist with his trio.

Tickets for Barbara Cook's 80th Birthday Celebration with the New York Philharmonic are $29 to $119 and avaiable at the Avery Fisher box office, online at nyphil.org or by calling (212) 875-5656.

A Monday without Amps and Mikes

Scott Siegel's Broadway Unplugged is back tomorrow night at 8 P.M. at Town Hall and amps and mikes be damned. The sound from the starry array of vocalists will be the old-fashioned kind, the way it used to be on Broadway: without microphones and amplification. You might say the credit can read: Sound design by God.

There will be approximately 20 stars, including Sarah Uriarte Berry, Darius de Haas, Max Von Essen, Marc Kudisch, Aaron Lazar, Beth Leavel, Andrea McArdle, William Michals, Paul Schoeffler, Emily Skinner, Martin Vidnovic and Barbara Walsh. Musical direction is by Ross Patterson who'll be on keyboards accompanied by his Little Big Band. Dan Foster is directing. Siegel will host.

"Marc Kudisch [on his off night from his tour-de-force in Stephen Flahery and Lynn Ahrens' The Glorious Ones] and Emily Skinner continue to be its foundation. The gold standard is represented by William Michals and Martin Vidnovic. We keep adding 'booming' talent. Aaron Lazar, Max Von Essen, Sarah Jane McMahon and Michael McElroy are new to Unplugged."

Lazar, Von Essen and McMahon proved their mettle by bringing down the house at Town Hall singing unplugged in Siegel's Broadway by the Year last season.

Broadway Unplugged is sponsored by the Edythe Kenner Foundation, Thoroughbred Records, TheaterMania.com, Trattoria Dopo Teatro, Jill and Irwin Cohen, Edith and Ervin Drake, Peter and Barbara Leavy, Fred Landau, Stuart E. Bloom and Robert Aaron: Lightstyles, LLC.

Tickets are $75, $50, or $25 and available at the Town Hall box office, through TicketMaster, (212) 307-4100, or www.ticketmaster.com.

A CD Launch in Elegant Style

The Jay Records cast album of the York Theater one night benefit production of Richard and Robert Sherman's Busker Alley, which starred Tony and Drama Desk winners Jim Dale and Glenn Close, will be launched on November 30, but not in a record megastore. The setting will be very first class: the majesty of Cunard's Queen Mary 2, docked in Brooklyn.

There will be lunch and a theatrical presentation directed by multi-Tony Award-winning theater/film designer Tony Walton, who helmed last November's benefit at the Kaye Playhouse. The musical staging reunited old friends Dale and Close, who starred in Barnum [1980]. It was also a reunion for Close and Walton, who worked together on Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing [1984]

Also starring were John Bolton, Jessica Grove, George S. Iriving, Simon Jones, Greg Mills, Noah Racey, Krista Rodriguez, Anne Rogers, Michael Lane Trautman and Jeff Williams.

The book is by A.J. Carothers, based on the 1938 British film St. Martin's Lane [released in the U.S. as The Sidewalks of London] which starred Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison.

Busker Alley Partners have plans to bring the musical to Broadway next year starring Dale. That would be 39 years after the Shermans and Carothers finished it. The show's storied path to Broadway and the pratfalls along the way are now part of theatrical lore.

The Shermans, long a mainstay of anything that came out of Disney Studios with a song score [Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and one of the most played and best loved songs of all time, "It's A Small World"] will be honored.

Aaron Gandy will be music directing. Lisa Shriver will be choreographing. Among Walton's design credits is the acclaimed Guys and Dolls and Annie Get Your Gun revivals, the original Chicago , A Funny Thing Happened..., Grand Hotel, 1776, She Loves Me, Pippin, and The Will Rogers Follies. He will be directing Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, which begins performances at Irish Repertory on December 5. Last night he was honored by the National Arts Club with their Medal of Honor.

The event will be filmed for a Disney documentary about the Shermans.

Breakthrough for Early Thanksgiving?

According to sources involved in weekend negotiations between striking stagehands and the League of American Producers and Theatres, a major breakthough is predicted. As one producer active in the talks put it, "Let's hope by the end of Sunday, there will be compromises, handshakes around the table and that by Tuesday all Broadway shows will be up and running." He thought for a moment, then added, "Of course, there are no guarantees. If they dig their heels in, we're in big trouble."

If they don't, it will be just in time for the normally huge box office of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The sentiment on the picket lines was mostly for a quick settlement, as dragging the strike on is only creating ill will among theatergoers. One stagehand picketing in front of the St. James encountered a very irate parent who had tickets for The Grinch... and accused him of ruining her family's holiday trip to town.

Let's bring back Broadway...and soon!

Almost any American of a certain age who watches TV has a favorite moment from The Carol Burnett Show: Star or starlet either descending a Tara-like staircase fully draped or descending from anywhere stunningly draped by Bob Mackie; Mrs. Wiggins fiddling with the intercom; Eunice bickering with her dyslectic family, ear tugging, no telling how many Tarzan yells and closing song renditions of "I'm So Glad We Had This Time Together."

Tonight on PBS' American Masters' Carol Burnett: A Woman of Character you can revisit those hilarious times and appreciate not only the splendid knockabout slapstick Burnett is famous for but also one of the best ensembles ever put together for a variety show, namely Tim Conway and Harvey Korman, and her look-a-like Vicki Lawrence.

Burnett transformed herself from frumpy washerwoman into a one-woman army of comedic characters including blue collar women, dumb broads and goofy girls that many considered stereotypes, but on countless Saturday night she seduced us with laughter, the ROTF kind. And she didn't mind sharing the comic spotlight, allowing Harvey and Tim some of the most hilarious sketches ever - so funny, they often broke up laughing themselves.

In the process, The Carol Burnett Show won 25 Emmys, all well-deserved. Susan Lacy, American Masters creator and executive producer, says, "This consummate clown through force of will and talent forged a bond with her audience." Not too many would disagree with that statement. Burnett recollected that her grandmother told her, "Comedy is a tragedy plus time."

The child of divorced, alcoholic parents, Burnett was raised, as she put it, "a block north of Hollywood Boulevard, but a million miles from Hollywood" and amazed even herself by discovering who she was by pretending to be others. Going to the movie eight times a week accounts for her right-on characterizations. After more than 280 episodes, Burnett decided to tug that ear on last time. On March 17, 1978, she walked on in her charwoman character, delivered a moving speech about her colleagues and ended it.

A Tip of the Hat to the Merm

It's Ethel Merman time. There are two biographies in stores on one of Broadway's legendary talents and tonight from 6-7:30 P.M., the Paley Center for Media [formerly the Museum of Television & Radio, 25 West 52nd Street] celebrates the Broadway legend with highlights from her television legacy.

Selections from a 1949 performance of "I Got Rhythm" on Texaco Star Theater, her appearances on The Muppet Show, That Girl and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson will be shown. One of the hosts will be Brian Kellow, author of the new tell-all Ethel Merman: A Life [Viking Books. SRP $25]. The other Merman tome is Brass Diva: The Life and Legends of Ethel Merman by Caryl Flinn [University of California Press, SRP $35].

Coming up November 14th at 6 P.M. the Paley Center is a night honoring three-time Oscar, four-time Tony and two-time DD-winner Angela Lansbury with An Evening with Angela Lansbury, part of their Media&Lens series. Broadway treasure and TV's beloved Jessica Fletcher will discuss her illustrious 60 years in show business and the importance of TV to her career. Some highlights of her work: Film - Gaslight, The Manchurian Candidate, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs; Stage - Deuce, Sweeney Todd, Gypsy, Mame, Dear World, Anyone Can Whistle; and TV Murder, She Wrote, numerous MFTV movies.

Chita's Back in Town

Two-time Tony and Drama Desk-winning theatrical treasure Chita Rivera will be heating things up starting Tuesday and through November 24th at Feinstein's at Loews Regency [540 Park Avenue at 61st Street]. Dolores Conchita, who has received an incredible 11 Tony noms, will perform songs from her celebrated musicals, including West Side Story, The Rink, Sweet Charity, Chicago and Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Carmel Dean is music directing and playing keyboards with Michael Croiter on percussion and Jim Donica on bass.

Rivera recently completed a tour of her short-lived Broadway autobiographical revue The Dancer's Life, which was written by Terence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele.

Rivera will play Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:30 P.M., with late shows Fridays and Saturdays at 11. Tickets are $75, with a $40 minimum. Go ahead, spring a few bucks. Chita's special and she'll spread plenty of good cheer to help ring in the holiday season. Feinstein's suggests gentlemen wear jackets, but if you're no a gentleman it's not mandatory. For reservations, call (212) 339-4095 or visit online at feinsteinsattheregency.com and TicketWeb.com.

Maye in November

She could easily sing for her supper, but at the Metropolitan Room [34 West 22nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues] the powerhouse chanteuse will have to be satisfied performing for desserts from the Little Pie Company. In addition to those delicious treats, audiences can tipple a few as Maye returns with an all new show, after her acclaimed and sold-out March engagement at Metro. That run marked her return to the cabaret stage for the first time in 16 years.

For 11 performances beginning Wednesday and through November 19, Maye will dazzle with her Super Singer!, her tribute to Johnny Carson and her numerous appearances on The Tonight Show.

Tickets are $30 with a two-drink minimum. For reservations, call (212) 206-0440 or visit http://www.metropolitanroom.com/.

Also headling in Metro's star-packed November is the woman of many voices, DD-nominee Christine Pedi, returning in Great Dames, November 9, 10, 16, 25 and 30, with songs made famous by, of course, a bunch of other gals from stage and screen, such as Andrews. Merman, Liza with a Z, Streisand and more. On November 23, Liz Callaway joins the lineup in her solo New York cabaret debut with nine performances and will be followed by Luba Mason [How to SucceedÖ, J&H, Chicago] with four shows.

Lion Pride

Disney's The Lion King will reach a new plateau not only in the African Plains but also on Broadway on the 13th when it celebrates its 10th Anniversary. There'll be a gala performance November 11th, with an anniversary proclamation from Mayor Bloomberg, and this Friday a caricature of the Rafiki character, originated by DD-winner and Tony-nominee Tsidii Le Loka, will be hung on Sardi's celebrity-filled walls. The role is currently played by Tshidi Manye, who'll be at the "unveiling."

The Tony and DD-winning Best Musical set a new definition for spectacle in Julie Taymor's eye-popping production. As a reward, she became the first woman in Broadway history to win the Tony for Best Director, Musical.

The majority of the Tony-winning score is by Sir Elton John and Sir Tim Rice. Contributing additional music is Hans Zimmer, who wrote the movie score. Songs include: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" [Oscar, Best Song], "Circle of Life," "Hakuna Matata," "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and "They Live in You."

The Lion King is the 9th longest running musical in Broadway history. Of 70 awards worldwide, it garnered six Tonys, including Best Musical, eight Drama Desk and the New York Drama Critics Award for Best Musical. The Grammy-winning cast CD is certified Platinum. It has been seen by over 43 million people in 15 countries.

Some interesting trivia: Nathaniel Stampley, who plays Mufasa, met his wife Lanette Costas in the show; there are more than 230 puppets; 30 animals represented, including antelope, baboon, elephant, giraffe, hyenas, lion, meerkat and warthog [the tallest, of course, are the 18-foot giraffes, the biggest is the elephant at 13X11.3X9; to keep the musical faithful to its African origins, South African performers have been integral members of the company since opening; on average, the make-up department goes through 13 refill-packs of Baby Wipes per week [and they're used in a totally different way!].

Dashaun Young as Simba and Kissy Simmons, in her Broadway debut, as Nala co-star in the cast of 52.

To make Lion King painstakingly accurate, hair and make-up designer Michael Ward drew inspiration for his colorful work by researching various African tribes.One of the behind-the-scenes craftspersons who keeps the show fresh is make-up supervisor Elizabeth Cohen, who has her share of stories when things don't go as planned. "It's our job to get it right," says Cohen, "but there're always things you're not prepared for."

Like the time Kissy Simmons, playing Nala, complained of illness but insisted on going on. Whew! "because," notes Cohen, "the only Nala cover was Reema Webb in the ensemble and she was very pregnant."

Backstage crews, like Boy Scouts, learn to be prepared. During intermission, Cohen and her make-up team pulled Webb in and got her ready. But you can't keep a trouper down and Simmons bravely raised her head and said, "I'm okay. I can go on." And out she went, just in time for her big solo.

However, even the applause was not a cure-all. When Simmons exited, she informed the stage manager she couldn't continue. "Of course," says Cohen, "Reema was now back in the ensemble and had to be discreetly plucked off stage."

As the hair and sound folks went to work, wardrobe supervisor Kjeld Andersen scrambled to put together a costume for Nala, who would appear suddenly pregnant. "Reema was ready within seconds of Nala's next entrance," reports Cohen. "When she appeared, the audience had to wonder how Nala had gone from tall and statuesque to short and pregnant. To make it funnier, her next line was ëThere's no food, no water.'"

With little make-up or touching up to do in Act Two Cohen's friends often ask why she stays until curtain. She laughs, "That story explains why!"

Disney has more to celebrate. Their and the Sherman Brothers' supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Tony and DD-nominated musical Mary Poppins enters its 2nd year on Broadway November 16, still starring DD-nominee Ashley Brown, Tony-nominee and DD-winner Gavin Lee, Tony nom Rebecca Luker and Daniel Jenkins co-star.

If that's not enough, Disney and Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's The Little Mermaid just began performances, and not under the sea but at the stunningly refurbished Lunt-Fontanne, where Disney's Beauty and the Beast recently ended its 13-year run.

Cherry Jones Honored

Cherry Jones outspoken? Who knew? Now bi-coastal, two-time Tony and three-time DD-winner Jones returned to New York after three months in L.A. shooting the hit TV series 24 to be honored as Outspoken Community Leader by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, which held it's annual women's gala Saturday night at Chelsea Piers. On 24, in a sort of precursor of things to come, Jones plays the president of the United States. [Watch out, HRC!]

Jones was introduced by dressed to the nines and very regally relaxed Tony and DD winner [and multiple nominee] Marian Seldes, who praised Jones as one of the finest stage actors of our time. "I fell in love with Cherry the very first time I saw her in Our Country's Good," said Seldes, "and I'm still in love and in awe of her. She brings such power and commitment to every role."

Taking the stage, Jones had the audience of mostly well-heeled lesbians, some dripping with more diamonds than you see on the Oscars, in stitches when, after warmly embracing Seldes, she said, "Don't you wish we could make her one of our own. Let's do it for tonight only!"

Also honored at the gala sponsored by IBM was Sally Susman, Executive VP for global communications at EstÈe Lauder.

Crystal Twained

The Tenth Annual Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize will celebrate Billy Crystal. On PBS on November 12 from 9-10:30 P.M. you can enjoy the tributes and comic testimonials from Bob Costas, Robert DeNiro, Danny DeVito, Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, John Goodman, Jon Lovitz, Rob Reiner, Martin Short, Barbara Walters and Robin Williams. The program will also include an assortment of classic film clips from Crystal's career.

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was created in 1998 by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Past recipients include Richard Pryor, Jonathan Winters, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Steve Martin and Neil Simon.

"That's pretty heady company!" said Crystal. "It's a Who's Who of comic legends who helped write the book on contemporary comedy. To be given the same award is just unbelievable. As my grandfather said, ëIf you hang around the store long enough, once in a while they'll give you something!' I'm happy I hung around."

After touring with Billy Joel, Neil Sedaka and Sha Na Na, Crystal became a regular on Soap; and a pioneer of sorts, playing the first openly gay character on a network TV series. He went on to Saturday Night Live, became the first comedian to perform in what we knew then as the Soviet Union, hosted the Grammys and Oscars and starred in movies Crystal's film 61* for HBO garnered 12 Emmy noms, including Director and Best Made for Television Movie.

He made his Broadway debut in 2004 to SRO with 700 Sundays, his autobiographical one-man play about times sharing baseball with his dad. That venture turned into two best-selling children's books.

Theater Resources Benefit

Theater Resources Unlimited will be honoring Tony [Elaine Stritch At Liberty] and DD-winning [The Exonerated] producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld at their Sixth Annual TRU Love benefit on November 11th at 1 P.M. at Sardi's. Among those saluting Wiesenfeld will be Tony Winner and TV daytime drama star Tonya Pinkins, Mia Dillon, Keir Dullea and a possible appearance by Elaine Stritch. In addition, Danai Gurira and Nikkole Salter will perform highlights from their acclaimed play, In the Continuum.

There will be a silent auction for tickets to such shows as as The Color Purple, In the Heights and Legally Blonde, tickets to the Colbert Report, which include a behind-the-scenes tour, even a $5,000 sitting from Bradford Renaissance Portraits.

Tickets for the benefit luncheon are $100 for unreserved tables and may be purchased at www.truonline.org/store.htm. For more information, go to http://www.truonline.org/.

How About Some Soho Rapp?

Beginning Wednesday, the Flea Theater [41 White Street, between Broadway and Church Streets] is hosting the return of controversial Pulitzer Prize-finalist novelist and Obie Award-winning playwright Adam Rapp [Red Light Winter, Blackbird] with the world premiere of Bingo with the Indians, which he not only wrote but also will be directing.

The story tells of a disgruntled East Village theater company which descends upon a small New England town with a plan that will hopefully pay for their next production: they're going to rob the bingo game. If you've ever been to bingo, even in church halls, you know from some of the characters you've seen this isn't going to be a walk in the park.

The production stars members of the Flea's resident acting company, the Bats. The DD and Obie-winning Flea's A.D. is Jim Simpson with Carol Ostrow as producing director.

Tickets are $20 and $30. To purchcase, call OvationTix, (866) 811-4111.

Kabuki Anyone?

Renowned Japanese theater, film and TV star Ryuji Sawa returns to town with his show incorporating elements of Japanese popular theater, including Kabuki dance, Taiko drumming, sword fighting and martial arts. Performances are at Theater for the New City [155 First Avenue, between Ninth and Tenth Streets] from Tuesday through November 11.

Sawa, who made his stage debut at age four, is also a master of the quick costume change. Speaking of costumes, be prepared to be dazzled.

The cast of 11 features 12-year-old Ozora Takami, a fan dance prodigy playing, as is traditional in Kabuki, a female role, that of a geisha.

Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by calling (212) 352-3101 or online at www.TheaterMania.com. Student rush tickets for $20 are offered day of show, based on availability. For more information, visit http://www.tkonyc.com/.

Durang Returns

Ground UP Productions is presenting a revival of three-time Obie-winning Christopher Durang's wickedly comedy of manners, Baby with the Bathwater, through November 17th at Manhattan Theatre Source [177 MacDougal Street, between Waverly Place and West 8th Street].

The five-member ensemble is directed by Kevin Connell. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased by calling (212) 352-3101 or on-line at http://www.theatresource.org/.

Hot Feet

Punk rock and Celtic music and dance collide at the New Victory which is presenting Guiness Book of World Records' Fastest Dancer in the World, James Devine and his dance company in Tapeire through November 25.

Devine, who clocks in an astounding 38 taps per second, may be familiar as he starred with Michael Flatley in the world-wise smash Lord of the Dance. Acclaimed "grunge fiddler" Ashley MacIsaac and award-winning electric harpist Phamie Gow provide the musical fushion.
Tapeire was a sold-out hit at the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Tickets are $12.50-$35 and are available a the box office, by calling (646) 223-3010 or online at www.NewVictory.org. The New Vic is offering a special deal: those who purchase tickets to Tapeire and at least two other productions this season become automatically become members and can save 30% on tickets.

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