The 92nd Street YM-YWHA (Lexington @ 92nd Street) in New York City offers a lot more than fitness classes. The public can enjoy exclusive concerts, lectures and readings. A sample of some of the theatre notables scheduled to make appearances at the Y follows:

Sept. 24 & Oct. 20: Comedienne Joy Behar (Three From Brooklyn) continues her "Funny People" series, first with Bob Dole, then with Ed McMahon.

Oct. 25: Former NY Times chief critic Frank Rich will speak "On Culture and Theatre." (Hot Seat, a compendium of his reviews is due from Random House, Nov. 1.)

Reading Series evenings will include:
Nov. 23: Athol Fugard reads from his work, including his latest, The Captain's Tiger.

Dec. 7: David Mamet (The Water Engine, Glengarry Glen Ross) and novelist Howard Norman share the bill. Dec. 21: Jonathan Miller directs a reading of Robert Lowell's adaptation of Herman Melville's novella, Benito Cereno. Roscoe Lee Brown and Frank Langella star, as they did in the original 1964 production.

Jan. 4, 1999: a formal interview with Arthur Miller (The American Clock, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan), followed by a reading.

There will also be a gala poetry reading, May 17, 1999, featuring playwrights Edward Albee and Tony Kushner, among other literary celebs.

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In other 92nd Street Y theatre news, theatre actors such as Leslie Beatty and Bill Camp will give voice to classic story of Dante's Inferno,Sept. 26-Oct. 4 at the 92nd Street Y's Unterberg Poetry Center in Manhattan.

U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky's award-winning translation will be used in the stage adaptation, which will be directed by Robert Scanlan.

Populating Dante's 1325 vision of Hell, Camp will play Dante, Beatty is Beatrice, Reg E. Cathey is Virgil, and Jack Willis is Charon, Ulysses and Count Ugolino, among others. They will be accompanied by violinist Gil Morgenstern playing original music by Bruce Saylor.

Beatty recently appeared in the Atlantic Theatre Company production of Once in a Lifetime. Other credits include Silence, Exile, Cunning and Picasso at the Lapin Agile, both at the American Repertory Theatre.

Camp's Broadway work includes St. Joan, The Seagull and Jackie: An American Life. Off-Broadway credits include One Flea Spare at the Public and The Devils at New York Theatre Workshop.

Reg E. Cathey appeared in The Changeling at Theatre for a New Audience and The Green Bird at La Jolla Playhouse under the direction of Julie Taymor. Jack Willis was most recently seen in David Mamet's The Old Neighborhood on Broadway.

For information on 92nd Street Y programs, call (212) 996-1100.

-- By Robert Simonson and David Lefkowitz