The 7 PM evening to benefit the Manhattan Jewish Community Center will celebrate the Purim holiday via the songs of Funny Girl. Those expected to take part in the evening include several actors who shared the stage at the fall concert: Lillias White, Julia Murney and Peter Gallagher, who will once again play Nick Arnstein opposite the throng of Fanny Brices. New additions include Hairspray's Shoshana Bean, Little Shop of Horror's Billy Porter and Paper Mill's Funny Girl, Leslie Kritzer. Seth Rudetsky, who was responsible for both the Funny Girl and the Dreamgirls Actors' Fund benefits, will serve as musical director and host for the Purim Cabaret concert, which “imagines Esther’s tale through the legendary tale of Funny Girl and other Broadway classics.” Largely improvised, the one-night-only event “will put the story of Purim in a hysterical new perspective.”

Funny Girl opened at Broadway's Winter Garden Theatre on March 26, 1964, starring Barbra Streisand. Its Jule Styne-Bob Merrill score includes such tunes as "Sadie, Sadie," "Don't Rain on My Parade," "I'm the Greatest Star," "The Music That Makes Me Dance," "Who Are You Now?" and the show's anthem, "People." Isobel Lennart wrote the book for the musical.

The all-star concert will be held at the JCC, located in New York City at 334 Amsterdam Avenue at 76th Street. Tickets are priced at $15 for JCC members and $20 for non-members. Call (646) 505-5708 for reservations.