Mazel tov to Lucille Lortel, oft-dubbed "The Queen Of Off-Broadway." On Dec. 16 she'll receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Professional Theatre Women.

According to spokesperson Helaine Feldman, the Sardi's restaurant presentation coincides not only with the League's annual holiday party, but with Lortel's own birthday.

This will not be Lortel's first lifetime achievement honor, by the way. She received the Lee Strasberg Award and an honorary doctorate of fine arts from City University of NY.

A member of the Theatre Hall Of Fame, Lortel recently co-produced Bunny Bunny and Mrs. Klein, both at the Off-Broadway theatre that bears her name, the Lucille Lortel on Christopher St., current home of As Bees In Honey Drown.

Lortel also founded and serves as artistic director of a theatre in Westport, CT -- The White Barn Theatre, built back in 1947 to allow established artists "to work free of the stereotypes to which so many are confined after they have arrived." The White Barn Theatre celebrated its first half-century Aug. 31 with a special "Command Performance Gala."

-- By David Lefkowitz