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Tickets go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, November 3 for the 2007 edition of Kids’ Night on Broadway in NYC, which takes place on January 30 and 31. On Kids’ Night, young people age 6-18 can see a Broadway show for free when accompanied by a full-paying adult. Visit KidsNightonBroadway.com for tickets and more information.

Broadway legend Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton are the 2007 KNOB ambassadors. They are the authors of a number of children’s books, including most recently The Great American Mousical.

With 22 Broadway shows and three Off Broadway productions participating, there is a full menu of choices for children of all ages. Kids’ Night also includes family-friendly restaurant and parking discounts, and a free pre-theatre party at Madame Tussauds. This year’s Kids’ Night will also help shine a spotlight on the growing prevalence of autism and the work of Autism Speaks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of this disorder and raising money to fund autism research.

Kids’ Night on Broadway is a national audience development program of the League of American Theatres and Producers. The New York edition of KNOB 2007 is presented by Madame Tussauds New York. The New York Times is the official sponsor, with additional support from Theatre Development Fund and NBC4.

Kids’ Night also takes place in cities throughout the U.S. all year long with touring Broadway shows creating Kids’ Night festivities for various cities they visit. For more information on Kids’ Night on Broadway in New York and around the U.S., visit KidsNightonBroadway.com.

Tickets subject to availability. Some shows may not be appropriate for children of all ages. See website for details.

Broadway's long-running hit production of Chicago will celebrate its 10-year anniversary on November 14th with a star-studded gala performance featuring many of the show's past stars, including some of the original cast members. Then, on December 31, original cast member Bebe Neuwirth returns to the show, not in the Velma Kelly role that won her a Tony Award®, but as Velma's rival, Roxie Hart. Our correspondent Ben Pesner caught up with Ms. Neuwirth by phone to ask about her return to the show and her perspective on the production's continued success.

Ben Pesner: What made you want come back to Chicago ?

Bebe Neuwirth: I had a hip replacement 5 months ago. I had been in so much pain and I was limping around and it was so depressing. Not only could I not jog across the street to dodge a taxi, but I couldn't do much dancing. I finally had to have the hip replaced. After that, I thought that I had to get back on stage and dance some more because I love it. And of course, I love Chicago. I actually chose New Year's Eve as my first performance back because that's my birthday. I just couldn't bear the thought of another birthday without performing. I thought returning to Chicago on New Year's Eve would be a great present I could give myself.

What made you choose the role of Roxie Hart this time around?

I'm very interested in the role of Roxie. I do her monologue and song in my concerts, and the role is very intriguing to me. It's one thing to watch a role and another to get inside of it and start saying the words and investigating it on a more intimate level. I also think her dancing is beautiful and I look forward to learning every step of it.

What is it about Chicago and this production in particular that has kept it running for so long?

Bob Fosse was always ahead of his time. Anything that he created has always been appreciated a little bit more as time goes by. That's just evidence of him being very forward-thinking, and a genius. Also, this production is all about the performers and the material. The only special effects are the brilliance of the score and the script and the performers, and I think that audiences have really appreciated that focus on the story. And it's a beautifully crafted production. It's very sexy in the Fosse way, which is very ironic and sophisticated and sensual.

You've had so much success in television and other genres, but you have frequently returned to the stage over the years. Why is performing live, and on Broadway, so special to you?

Performing on the stage is where I'd rather be than anywhere else, unless you're talking about going to the beach or something! (laughs) I've been on the stage since I was seven and it's the place that feels most comfortable to me. I love theatres and being in them. I love the buildings and the old architecture. I love the ghosts. And I love Broadway. I did a show in [London's] West End, playing Aurora in Kiss of the Spider Woman after Chita Rivera. The West End is lovely. But I would say that while the West End glows, Broadway sparkles.

Get information and tickets to Chicago.

View a list of Bebe Neuwirth's Broadway credits.

David Yazbek wrote the music and lyrics of the currently touring Broadway musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was nominated for a Tony Award® for his work on The Full Monty in 2000, and again last year for Scoundrels. Ben Pesner recently spoke with Mr. Yazbek by phone.

Ben Pesner: You've written rock music, commercial jingles, and children's music, as well as having worked as a comedy writer and a screenwriter. How did you end up writing Broadway musicals?

David Yazbek: I've got to give a lot of credit to my parents. They took me to see Miles Davis and to the Philharmonic and the Met. My mom even went with me to a Yes concert. Even though they didn't like the loud rock music that I would play in my room, there was a sense that anything was okay. And they took me to a lot of theatre, so I grew up knowing good show music. I never thought I'd wind up doing it! But one day I called my friend Adam Guettel [The Light in the Piazza] and I was complaining to him about the music business. I asked him if he thought I should take a musical theatre workshop or something. He told me I didn't need to do that, that I already knew enough about it. About 6 weeks later, a producer on The Full Monty called Adam and said they were looking for a composer and that they didn't want any of the usual suspects. He thought it wasn't the right project for him, but he very generously led them over to me.

And after the success of The Full Monty came Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Is it true that you have written a new song for the tour?

Yes. I wrote a new opening number right before the tour rehearsals started. We, the creative team, had never felt like the opening number in the Broadway version landed right. I couldn't put my finger on why. I thought maybe the music was too laid back, or maybe the lyrics didn't tell the story enough, or maybe the way it was staged wasn't fitting. It was very subtle. I believe that this new opening number is a lot better. I don't

know if the song itself is any better, but the experience of the opening works a lot better. It gets you in the mood in exactly the right way. I'm very happy with it.

Are you pleased with the touring production in general?

Yes. The tour cast is as good as any cast we had on Broadway. I got such a sense of delight out of watching them do the show because there's a musicality that they bring that I was very happy with and excited about. I think Tom Hewitt is great in the role [of con man Lawrence Jameson]. He's a classic Broadway star bringing every bit of his talent to this show. It's a great gift for me.

Your shows don't sound like other Broadway musicals. Is there a David Yazbek sound?

I'm not entirely aware of it, but I keep hearing that there is. When I'm writing a certain type of song, I sometimes get afraid that I'm [doing] some type of pastiche, whereas I'd like to think that what I'm doing is my own thing within a particular style. According to outside sources, that IS what I'm doing! (laughs) So that's good.

What is your composing process like?

I'm very flexible. With the songs that I write for my albums, usually the music comes first. I feel like music is more important than lyrics as an art. It's more immediately expressive of deep emotions. But for theatre, it really all depends. If it's a comic song, you may start with a joke or you may start with a sort of a structural concept that works for jokes, or you may start with music that just feels like a good bicycle to ride your jokes on. At other times, especially in emotional moments, maybe the music comes first. For me it's like there's a separate lyricist and a separate composer in my head and they negotiate on who's going to start on which song.

Get information and tickets to the Dirty Rotten Scoundrels National Tour.

View a list of David Yazbek's Broadway credits.

On October 24, members of the theatre community gathered at a luncheon reception to salute the recipients of the 2006 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre. Cynthia Nixon, who won the 2006 Tony Award® as Best Actress in a Play, hosted the event. The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards are presented and administered by the League and the Wing.

The honorees were:

BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop - For more than 45 years of nurturing composers, lyricists and librettists by facilitating the development of their craft under the guidance of master writers. Pictured: Two-time Tony-winning composer & lyricist Maury Yeston accepting a Tony Honor on behalf of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

Forbidden Broadway and its creator, Gerard Alessandrini - For keeping theatergoers in stitches for nearly 25 years by affectionately lampooning Broadway productions and personalities. Pictured: Gerard Alessandrini and presenter Angela Lansbury.

Samuel "Biff" Liff - For his manifold contributions to the vitality of the theatre community over many decades as a manager, producer, and artists' representative. Pictured: Samuel "Biff" Liff with his client Chita Rivera.

Ellen Stewart - For supporting theatre artists of all nations and cultures in the development, production and presentation of new work as the founder and director the world-renowned cultural organization known as La MaMa E.T.C. Pictured: Ellen Stewart with presenter André De Shields.

For full coverage of the event and additional pictures, visit TonyAwards.com.

Continental Airlines, the Official Airline of Live Broadway, has a special offer this month for its OnePass members. Through the OnePass Online Auction, OnePass members can bid on theatre tickets, concerts, and other cultural events using their frequent flyer miles.

You can bid on two opening night tickets on November 9 to the brand new revival of Les Misérables, which is returning to Broadway for a special limited six-month engagement featuring a dazzling new cast, including such Broadway favorites as Alexander Gemignani, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Norm Lewis, and Gary Beach. In addition to two tickets to the performance, you get to mingle with the cast at the opening night party at Tavern on the Green in Central Park.

For more information, click here.

For information on becoming a Continental OnePass member, click here.

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