On Nov. 12, the West Bank Cafe rechristened its downstairs theatre the Laurie Beechman Theater, in honor of the actress and cabaret performer who died earlier this year. The newly-renovated space, located at 407 W. 42nd St. in Manhattan, reopened with the musical revue Jim Wann & Company, which ends Nov. 26. Wann's "Company" includes guitarist John Foley, who appeared with Wann in the original Pump Boys and Dinettes; Rusty Magee, recently of The Irish...and How They Got That Way; Patricia Miller and John Miller. The group will perform songs by Wann, as well as James Taylor, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Randy Newman; they will also recite poetry concerning the spiritual aspect of everyday existence.

Beechman, who starred in such Broadway productions as Cats and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, died of ovarian cancer Mar. 8.

-- By Robert Simonson