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NOTE: This is an archived version of this newsletter. Not all shows and offers still apply. Some links may no longer be accessible.

Ladies Night Out on Broadway

Show your theatre ticket to get into a free party from 5:00-7:30 p.m. at Spotlight Live (1604 Broadway). There will be food and drinks, karaoke, Women-In-Theatre discussion panels, gift bags, and more. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a raffle will benefit the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative of the Actors Fund.

In addition, you can chat about your favorite Broadway shows, and enter to win a Weekend on Broadway at broadway.ivillage.com.

Visit LadiesNightOutOnBroadway today for tickets and info.

*see website for details and restrictions.

Kids' Night on Broadway®

The 2008 edition of Kids' Night on Broadway - the night when theatregoers age 18 and younger get to see a Broadway show for free - will take place during the upcoming winter months. Tickets for New York shows will go on sale in November. Stay tuned for details. Shows in other cities will hold Kids' Night events throughout the winter and spring.

Judy Kaye won a Tony Award® in 1988 as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for originating the role of Carlotta Guidicelli in The Phantom of the Opera. Most recently she starred on Broadway as Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir. Now Ms. Kaye takes to the road as Mrs. Lovett in the national tour of John Doyle's critically-acclaimed production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd. This unique production features an ensemble of multi-talented actors who double as the orchestra. We caught up with Ms. Kaye by phone to discuss the upcoming tour.

Tell us about John Doyle's unusual approach to staging musicals.

Judy Kaye: It was born out of necessity. He was directing something for a friend in a small theater in Britain, and he didn't have a budget, so he devised this staging [using actors as musicians] to accommodate the budget. This gave birth to a whole new way of doing things, and he's come to refine this new way of telling a story. He's extremely supportive of his actors, and guides you through the process very lovingly. He's a keen observer, a very bright man, and a very loving person, and because of that it's a really fun experience working for him.

Had you played an instrument before?

You mentioned stepping in for Patti LuPone in the role of Mrs. Lovett on Broadway. What was that experience like?

That first moment that I was standing there with my little triangle next to the coffin and the show was beginning was something I had never in my life experienced. I had a wave of fear that I didn't know was possible. I got so scared I thought, "Is there a way I can run off the stage and get out of here? Would anybody notice?" But the evening progressed and the fear slowly leeched out of me, and in about three days I started really having a good time and enjoying it. I was still screwing up every now and then but I started not to take it so hard when I'd make a mistake, and lo, here I am, having a ball.

What is it that makes the role of Mrs. Lovett so much fun to play?

She's a wonderfully drawn character. She's got a viewpoint of life that is at once humorous and realistic. She's passionately in love with this guy, and in her mind, he's hers. It's fun to play a woman in love, especially one who's got a couple of screws loose. And then there's the music. The score is just rhapsodic. It's some of the most beautiful music written.

And here you are back on the road with Sweeney Todd. Could you have imagined twenty years ago that this is what you'd be doing now?

Life as an actor has been full of surprises. I have been constantly surprised by the opportunities that have come my way. I probably would have shrugged and said, "Who knows? Everything else seems to be happening, so why not that?"

View a list of Judy Kaye's Broadway credits.

Visit Sweeney Todd on-line to find out when the tour will be playing near you.

Read our June 2006 feature on Sweeney Todd to learn more about the show.

The 2007-2008 Broadway season got underway with a bang on Sunday, September 16 as more than 200 performers gathered on a gigantic outdoor stage in Times Square for Broadway on Broadway®, hosted by former 'N Sync member Lance Bass (Hairspray). The free concert, produced by the League and the Times Square Alliance, was presented by Continental Airlines. Below are some photos from the event by Emile Wamsteker. For more photos, visit BroadwayonBroadway.com.

What's Playing Where

The League has unveiled a new website, TouringBroadway.com, that gives you all the info on the Broadway shows playing in as many as 240 cities across North America. The official website for touring Broadway shows gives you the tools to create the perfect theatregoing experience no matter what city you live near, or plan to visit in the next three months. TouringBroadway.com lets you search for information by show, by state/province/city, or by a specific theatre. If you’re not sure what you're looking for, there’s an extensive search function as well. Visit the site today, and enjoy the show!

Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the renowned London-based producer currently represented on Broadway by Mary Poppins (with Disney), Les Misérables, and The Phantom of the Opera, is joining forces with the preeminent performing arts agency in China, China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG), to bring Western musicals to China and nurture the extraordinary artistic talent in the country.

Under a groundbreaking joint-venture agreement, the partners will stage Chinese-language versions of classic western musicals in China for the first time. The inaugural production, Les Misérables, will open in Beijing in November 2008, followed in 2009 by Mamma Mia!. Sir Cameron and CAEG, which is affiliated to the Chinese Ministry of Culture, will develop Chinese writers, performers and production specialists who will create original Chinese musicals. Mackintosh will also provide comprehensive training programs in China and the UK for Chinese performing artists, and offer them opportunities to work professionally in musical theatre.

Purple Casting

Noted vocalist Chaka Kahn, R&B/gospel artist BeBe Winans, and “American Idol” finalist LaKisha Jones are all set to join the Broadway production of The Color Purple this winter. “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino is starring as Miss Celie through the end of the year. Presented by Oprah Winfrey, this long-running show based on the Alice Walker novel and Stephen Spielberg film is also out on North American tour.

When The Sound of Music opens in Toronto in 2008, producers Andrew Lloyd Webber (he moonlights as the composer of The Phantom of the Opera and other hits) and David Ian will repeat the on-air casting process they used in London. A CBC program called “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria” will offer aspiring actresses a chance to follow in the footsteps of Mary Martin (on Broadway) and Julie Andrews (in Hollywood) to land to role of the young novice Maria, who leaves her convent to serve as a governess for the von Trapp children in pre-WWII Austria in this Rodgers & Hammerstein musical favorite. TV casting has already come to Broadway: The current stars of Grease, who were selected via a reality program called “You're the One That I Want,” continue to draw enthusiastic crowds.

The pop group Duran Duran will play a two-week concert engagement at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre next month... Judy Kuhn, the original Cosette when Les Misérables first opened on Broadway in 1987, will play Fantine (Cosette's mother) in the current revival of the long-running musical. She takes over the role from Lea Salonga on October 23...Actor/comedian Bob Saget will make his Broadway debut as The Drowsy Chaperone 's Man in Chair beginning October 19. Saget is the host of the hit NBC game show “1 vs. 100,” having previously starred in "Full House" and hosted "America's Funniest Home Videos."...The Broadway-bound production of Lone Star Love starring Randy Quaid has been canceled.