Patti LuPone: Fierce, funny and sexy, the original Tony-winning star of Evita has brought her special touch of star quality to roles in both plays and musicals, including The Robber Bridegroom, Oliver!, Les Misérables, Anything Goes, Master Class and Sweeney Todd. She’s back on Broadway this season singing out as the latest Mama Rose in Gypsy.

Bernadette Peters: With porcelain skin, a rosebud mouth and masses of dark curls, two-time Tony Award winner Peters has been the sweetheart of the stage since she stopped the show in Dames at Sea. Most of the great composers of our day have cast her as the lead in their musicals: Jerry Herman in Mack & Mabel, Andrew Lloyd Webber in Song and Dance and Stephen Sondheim - twice — in Sunday in the Park with George and Into the Woods.

Chita Rivera: A great singer, actress and—especially—dancer, this two-time Tony Award winner has the distinction of having played great Broadway roles in each of the last six decades: Anita in West Side Story (1957), Rosie in Bye Bye Birdie (1960), Velma Kelly in Chicago (1975), Anna in The Rink (1984), Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1993) and Liliane La Fleur in Nine (2003). Next: Claire Zachanassian in The Visit.