Broadway biggest hitters and brightest players are expected to step up the plate -- the $500 per-plate plate -- to attend the annual Actors’ Fund of America Gala honoring Shubert Organization chairman Gerald Schoenfeld Nov. 2.

Singing for the theatre-industry crowd at one of Broadway’s most lavish social nights of the year will be Judy Kuhn, Betty Buckley and Donna McKechnie, according to Sara Meehan of the Actors’ Fund.

Individual tickets for the benefit, which includes awards, dinner, music and dancing, begin at $500, with tables ranging $5,000-$25,000. Proceeds go to the 115-year-old Actors’ Fund of America, the only national nonprofit group providing for the social welfare of all entertainment professionals in need.

Also honored at the black-tie event will be Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of the "New York Times," receiving the Corporate Citizen Award.

A 6:30 PM reception begins at the Imperial Ballroom of the Sheraton New York, 811 Seventh Ave. The event is chaired by John Kluge, president of Metromedia Company, with co-chairs Rocco Landesman, James M. Nederlander, Fredric D. Rosen, Peter Schneider and Philip J. Smith. For more information, call (212) 221-7300, extension 129, or (212) 245 6570.

-- By Kenneth Jones