LuPone told Playbill On-Line that she is very excited about starring in the Marc Blitzstein musical drama, which plays the Kennedy Center March 10-12, 2005. "I think it's going to be wild. And Lonny [Price] is directing it. George Hearn, Timothy Nolen and Neil Patrick Harris will be among the cast. I think it's going to be incredible."

In the past decade LuPone has triumphed in several musicals-in-concert, including two for City Center Encores! — Can-Can and Pal Joey — and several Sondheim works: Sweeney Todd, Passion, A Little Night Music and, most recently, the Ravinia's staging of Sunday in the Park with George. She was also part of the recent Candide concerts at Avery Fisher Hall, co-starring Kristin Chenoweth.

George Hearn, who is currently starring in Wicked, won Tony Awards for his performances in La Cage aux Folles and Sunset Boulevard and was also nominated for his work in Watch on the Rhine, A Doll's Life and Putting It Together. Hearn's other Broadway credits include Meet Me in St. Louis; Ghetto; Ah, Wilderness!; Whodunnit; I Remember Mama; Sweeney Todd: An Almost Perfect Person; Hamlet; The Changing Room; 1776; and A Time for Singing.

Neil Patrick Harris, most recently on Broadway in Assassins, also portrayed the Emcee in the Tony-winning revival of Cabaret. His other stage appearances include the New York company of Proof, the L.A. company of Rent and the Reprise! production of Sweeney Todd. His screen credits include "Undercover Brother," "Doogie Howser, M.D.," "Stark Raving Mad" and "Joan of Arc."

Regina, with music and libretto by Marc Blitzstein, is based on Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. The original production played the 46th Street Theatre Oct. 1949-Dec. 1949. The company included Lillyn Brown as Addie, Donald Clarke as Marshall, Clarise Crawford as Belle, Priscilla Gillette as Alexandra Giddens, Brenda Lewis as Birdie Hubbard, George Lipton as Ben Hubbard, Russell Nype as Leo Hubbard, Jane Pickens as Regina Giddens, Lee Sweetland as Manders, David Thomas as Oscar Hubbard, Peggy Turnley as Ethelinda, William Warfield as Cal and William Wilderman as Horace Giddens.

Tickets for Regina will go on sale Dec. 1. Visit www.kennedy center.org for more information.

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A Tony Award winner for her work in Evita, Patti LuPone also earned an Olivier Award for her performances in the West End productions of Lés Misérables and The Cradle Will Rock. Her other theatrical credits include Sunset Boulevard, Anything Goes, Oliver!, Working, The Old Neighborhood, Master Class and Pal Joey. LuPone also headlined two solo Broadway concerts, Patti LuPone On Broadway and Matters of the Heart, and received glowing notices for her performance as Mrs. Lovett in the Lincoln Center concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. For the past four summers she has appeared in concert versions of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Passion, A Little Night Music and Sunday in the Park with George at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, IL.

The Nov. 5 "Diva Talk" column will feature a full interview with LuPone, who begins her second engagement at New York's Feinstein's at the Regency Nov. 8.