No one walks, talks or sings like a dame -- but you don't need to travel to the South Pacific to find that out. All ya gotta do is come to Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre, March 6, 8 PM. That's the date of the star studded, fifth-annual "Nothing Like A Dame" benefit. (The venue was recently changed from the St. James Theatre.)
At each year's celebration, proceeds go to Phyllis Newman's Women's Health Initiative at The Actors' Fund. Newman and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS are co-producing, with this year's "Dames" to include (asterisk denotes performance in a currently-running show):
Lucie Arnaz (The Shadow Box), Lauren Bacall (Waiting in the Wings*), Joy Behar, Ann Hampton Calloway (Swing!*), Caitlin Carter (Swing!*), Illeana Douglas, Sandy Duncan (Chicago), Melissa Errico (High Society), Dame Edna Everage (Dame Edna: The Royal Tour*), Lauren Flanigan, The women of Fosse*, Amanda Green, Uta Hagen (Collected Stories), Heather Headley (Aida), Dee Hoty, Susan Marshall & Company, Marin Mazzie (Kiss Me, Kate*), Rita Moreno, Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago*), Nancy Opel (Triumph of Love), Jane Powell, The Radio City Rockettes, Chita Rivera (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Joan Rivers and Elaine Stritch (Company).
For tickets ($50-$1,000) and more information call (212) 921-1227.
-- By David Lefkowitz