Two of the women of Ragtime, Judy Kaye and Audra McDonald, will appear in the 1998-99 New York Festival of Song series at the Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse in New York City this season.

Kicking off the festival’s 11th season Oct. 15 at 8 PM is Kaye, the Broadway mezzo-soprano who plays Emma Goldman in Ragtime , in “New York, New York,” a collection of pieces celebrating the city’s centenary.

Playwright Tony Kushner narrates. Songwriters represented include Marc Blitzstein, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Cole Porter and others. Michael Barret and Steven Blier, the series artistic directors, are the pianists. Also singing are Amy Burton, Lewis Cleale (A New Brain), William Sharp and others.

The songlist includes Berlin’s “Slumming on Park Avenue,” Porter’s “I Happen to Like New York,” Sondheim’s “What More Do I Need?” and Bernstein-Comden-Green's “Come Up to My Place” from On the Town.

Also in the series: Soprano McDonald (Sarah in Ragtime ) is featured in “George Gershwin is 100,” Nov. 12 at 8 PM, with mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, tenor Ted Keegan and others. A rarely-heard handful of unpublished Gershwin works is on the songlist, played by pianists Blier and John Musto.

“Love and Betrayals,” May 13 at 8 PM, flirts with courtship, marriage and jealousy, using composers from Haydn to Richard Rodgers. Among the singers are soprano Ainhoa Arteta, mezzo-soprano Mary Phillips and baritone Dwayne Croft. Blier and Barret play piano.

The Kaye Playhouse is at 695 Park Avenue, at Hunter College, New York. Tickets are $14-$28. For information, call (212) 772-4448.