2/20/05 - 2/26/05

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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20
BC/EFA BEAR PARTY
It's that time once again as Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS presents the Eighth Annual Broadway Bears tonight at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill. La Cage aux Folles standby Bryan Batt will be leading the 8PM auction alongside auctioneer Lorna Kelly. What's on the block, you ask? Why teddy bear creations inspired by all of your favorite Broadway characters and stars. And no, nobody's getting naked. Broadway BARES takes place in June!
The Broadway Bears 8 will be held at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 West 42nd Street. Private reception at 6PM, general admission at 7PM, auction at 8PM.

ALSO:
—The songs of Elvis take center stage as All Shook Up starts previews at Broadway's Palace Theatre.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21
BRAXTON'S BACK
Fresh off the well-received tour (which recently won raves in Los Angeles), Brenda Braxton is back at the Ambassador, headlining the Broadway production of Chicago. When Broadway.com editor Paul Wontorek caught her performance as Velma Kelly last year, he declared her to be one of the best in the revival's nine year history. Check her out for yourself!
Chicago plays at the Ambassador Theatre, 219 West 49th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.

ALSO:
—Yet another chance to catch lovable Avenue Q original cast member John Tartaglia in his solo show, AD-Liberty at Joe's Pub at 9:30PM.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22
WOPAT SALUTES ARLEN
Things are on the up for Top Wopat who smoothly stepped into the role of Broadway leading man back in 1999 in Annie Get Your Gun. This year, he's finishing up a six-week Harold Arlen concert salute (opposite Faith Prince), gearing up for his dramatic New York stage debut in Glengarry Glen Ross and releasing a new CD today. Titled Tom Wopat Sings Harold Arlen: Dissertation on the State of Bliss, the new recording finds the crooner tackling classics like “That Old Black Magic,” “If I Only Had a Brain,” “One For My Baby,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and “Over the Rainbow” as well as some other lesser-known Arlen tunes. Get it.
Tom Wopat Sings Harold Arlen: Dissertation on the State of Bliss is available in stores everywhere and at the Hyena Records website.

ALSO:
—Shockheaded Peter opens at the Little Shubert Theatre, 422 West 42nd Street. .
—Dance legend Chita Rivera tries not to kick up her heels in her new cabaret act And Now I Sing, opening tonight at Feinstein's at the Regency. .
—In stores today: CD reissues of The Gay Life and The Mad Show and DVDs of the classic musicals My Sister Eileen and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16
LUNCHTIME LADY
To kick off its 2005 season, the all-star lunchtime reading series Food For Thought presents Tennessee Williams' The Lady of Larkspur Lotion, an early study of Blance DuBois. Golden gal Rue McClanahan and Tammy Grimes will star in the one-act. Also on the bill is Me, Vashya, a political satire by a college-aged Williams, featuring Grimes and Kent Broadhurst.
Food For Thought is held at the National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24
GLASS MENAGERIE BOWS
Despite the cast shake-up earlier this week (with Christian Slater announced as a last-minute replacement for original male lead Dallas Roberts), previews are set to start tonight for Broadway's latest revival of The Glass Menagerie. Understudy Joey Roberts, who received rave reviews for playing Tom Wingfield in a production at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, will step in until Slater is ready to join the cast. However, stage and screen goddess Jessica Lange as well as Sarah Paulson and Josh Lucas will take to the stage tonight as scheduled.
The Glass Menagerie plays at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street, Opening night is set for March 15.

ALSO:
—Samuel Beckett's Endgame, starring Alvin Epstein, Kathryn Grody, Adam Heller and Tony Roberts, opens at the Irish Repertory Theatre.
—The Roundabout Theatre production of Stephen Belber's McReele opens at the Laura Pels Theatre off-Broadway.
—Daniel McDonald stars in the premiere of Anthony Minghella's Cigarettes and Chocolate at Food For Thought.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26
FIDDLER BREAKS TRADITION
The current Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof, controversial for being the least authentic of any previous production, reaches a milestone tonight. Not only is David Leveaux's staging celebrating the start of its second year on Broadway, but it also can now boast of being the longest-running revival of the show ever. That's right—this is the fourth return for the beloved show and also the most successful. New leads Harvey Fierstein (left) and Andrea Martin as well as the entire Fiddler cast have a lot to smile about tonight.
Fiddler on the Roof plays at the Minskoff Theatre, 200 West 45th Street.

ALSO:
—Neil LaBute's Fat Pig plays its final performance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre off-Broadway. .
—Tonya Pinkins appears in a Harold Arlen tribute at Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. .
—Elizabeth Swados (Runaways) opens her new musical Jabu at the Flea Theatre downtown.