This week in the life of Seth Rudetsky, Seth spills how parts were assigned, solos were sung, tracks were pieced together and more for the “Broadway for Orlando” recording.

Plus: Playwright Larry Powell receives Cornelia Street Award, and Donja R. Love curates a new playwriting fellowship.

Happy birthday, Idina Menzel.

Betty Buckley, Matthew Broderick, André De Shields, Jane Krakowski, Bernadette Peters, and Lillias White are also part of The York Theatre Company benefit.

The production will run June 26–29.

Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus is doing double duty as the ringmaster of two major New York productions this season. The Tony-winning circus-inspired revival of Pippin is entering its second year on Broadway, while her Cirque du Soleil show Amaluna, a riff on The Tempest, has put up stakes at Citi Field in Queens for a run through May 20.

Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus is doing double duty as the ringmaster of two major New York productions this season. The Tony-winning circus-inspired revival of Pippin is entering its second year on Broadway, while her Cirque du Soleil show Amaluna, a riff on The Tempest, has put up stakes at Citi Field in Queens for a run through May 20.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

Here is a survey of recent cast album releases (and significant Broadway related releases), and a schedule of those announced for 2002.

PATTI LuPONE
Our Tony-winning Evita gal, Patti LuPone, has been very busy lately. While performing her Matters of the Heart concert act at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater — to rave reviews, mind you — La LuPone filmed a role opposite Robert De Niro in the new Michael Caton-Jones film, City By the Sea, in which she plays De Niro’s ex-wife. In January she filmed an episode of “Touched By An Angel,” which just aired this past Sunday night, and she is currently starring in a new TNT movie, Monday Night Mayhem, with John Turturro. Turturro portrays the late Howard Cosell in this TV-film, which tells the story of the creation of ABC’s Monday Night Football, and LuPone stars as Cosell’s wife. And, earlier in the fall LuPone filmed a role in David Mamet’s Heist opposite Gene Hackman . . . For those of you who can’t wait for these screen appearances, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress has also just released a whole new slew of concert dates, which follow:

PATTI LuPONE
Our Tony-winning Evita gal, Patti LuPone, has been very busy lately. While performing her Matters of the Heart concert act at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater — to rave reviews, mind you — La LuPone filmed a role opposite Robert De Niro in the new Michael Caton-Jones film, City By the Sea, in which she plays De Niro’s ex-wife. In January she filmed an episode of “Touched By An Angel,” which just aired this past Sunday night, and she is currently starring in a new TNT movie, Monday Night Mayhem, with John Turturro. Turturro portrays the late Howard Cosell in this TV-film, which tells the story of the creation of ABC’s Monday Night Football, and LuPone stars as Cosell’s wife. And, earlier in the fall LuPone filmed a role in David Mamet’s Heist opposite Gene Hackman . . . For those of you who can’t wait for these screen appearances, the Tony and Olivier Award-winning actress has also just released a whole new slew of concert dates, which follow:

Hello, diva lovers. I’d like to dedicate this week’s column to the memory of Gwen Verdon, who passed away earlier this week in Vermont. A four-time Tony winner for her work in Can-Can, Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town and Redhead, Verdon also appeared on Broadway in Alive and Kicking, Sweet Charity and Chicago and will be forever linked with one of Broadway’s greatest director/choreographers, her husband, the late Bob Fosse. A triple-threat star of both the stage and screen, Verdon was a legend if there ever was one, and, thankfully, some of that legendary work was preserved on film. If you’ve never seen her wonderful turn as Lola in Damn Yankees, do yourself a favor and rent the movie this weekend. Several of Verdon’s other film and TV appearances follow:

Hello, diva lovers. I’d like to dedicate this week’s column to the memory of Gwen Verdon, who passed away earlier this week in Vermont. A four-time Tony winner for her work in Can-Can, Damn Yankees, New Girl in Town and Redhead, Verdon also appeared on Broadway in Alive and Kicking, Sweet Charity and Chicago and will be forever linked with one of Broadway’s greatest director/choreographers, her husband, the late Bob Fosse. A triple-threat star of both the stage and screen, Verdon was a legend if there ever was one, and, thankfully, some of that legendary work was preserved on film. If you’ve never seen her wonderful turn as Lola in Damn Yankees, do yourself a favor and rent the movie this weekend. Several of Verdon’s other film and TV appearances follow:

BETTY BUCKLEY
In the next two months Olivier Award nominee Betty Buckley will film appearances in two productions, Noon Blue Apples and No Expectations. Stay tuned for more info on each. In the meantime, I recently received an updated concert/performance schedule for Ms. B, which follows:

BETTY BUCKLEY
In the next two months Olivier Award nominee Betty Buckley will film appearances in two productions, Noon Blue Apples and No Expectations. Stay tuned for more info on each. In the meantime, I recently received an updated concert/performance schedule for Ms. B, which follows: