Cabaret vocalist Heather MacRae will sing the award-winning Songs For My Father, her tribute to film star Gordon MacRae, in a May 17 benefit for Colleagues Theatre Company in New York City.

Colleagues, a professional company devoted to works for, by or about mature people, presents the evening at 8 PM at Merkin Concert Hall. Singing songs from film musicals in which her father appeared ("Oklahoma!" and "Carousel," for example), MacRae will also share stories about growing up in Hollywood as the daughter of a movie star.

MacRae recently won a Manhattan Association of Cabaret and Clubs MAC Award as Best Female Vocalist.

Among songs expected at the benefit: "Out of My Dreams," "I Only Have Eyes for You," "Surrey With the Fringe On Top," "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'," "If I Loved You," "Soliloquy" from "Carousel" and "Look for the Silver Lining" from the film of the same name.

MacRae also won a 1999 Backstage Bistro Award for Songs For My Father. Her recordings include the original cast album of Falsettoland on DRG, A My Name Will Always Be Alice on Original Cast Records and "Over the Rainbow" on DRG Records. Tickets for the benefit are $35-$150, with various seating and reception options. Merkin Concert Hall is at 129 West 67th Street. For more information about The Colleagues Theatre Company benefit call (212) 362-0312 or, for show-only tickets, call (212) 501-3330.

The Colleagues Theatre Company, which presented its first major production, the American premiere of Angela Huth¹s The Understanding, Jan. 12-Feb. 6, 1999, was founded in 1995 by Catherine Wolf to commission and produce plays that celebrate the mature life experience. The company also created a scholarship program that trains recent high school graduates in the various theatrical crafts.

-- By Kenneth Jones