Chenoweth, McDonald & Neuwirth to Headline 2009 Nothing Like a Dame

A trio of Tony Award winners—Kristin Chenoweth, Audra McDonald and Bebe Neuwirth—will headline the 2009 Nothing Like a Dame concert on June 15 at New World Stages. Hosted by Seth Rudetsky, the evening will benefit the Actors Fund’s Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative.

This year’s Nothing Like a Dame concert will feature a new format of songs and stories from the women of Broadway, as well as rare video clips from earlier days in each of their remarkable careers, accompanied by commentary from Rudetsky and the women themselves. Additional “dames” will be announced soon.

Chenoweth won a Tony for You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown and received a Tony nomination for creating the role of Glinda in Wicked. After ending her run as a star of the TV series Pushing Daisies, she most recently appeared onstage in in the Encores! production of Music in the Air. Her memoir A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love and Faith In Stages has just been published.

McDonald, who is currently starring in the TV series Private Practice, is a Tony winner for A Raisin in the Sun, Ragtime, Master Class and Carousel and was nominated for Tonys for 110 in the Shade and Marie Christine.

Neuwirth won a Tony for playing Velma Kelly in the Broadway revival of Chicago and was nominated for a Tony for Sweet Charity. She will be featured in the upcoming feature film remake of Fame.

Rudetsky has served as Artistic Producer and Music Director for Actors Fund benefit concerts of Dreamgirls, Funny Girl, Chess, On the Twentieth Century, Hair and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Since the mid-nineties, through the auspices of the Actors Fund, PNWHI has provided millions of dollars in emergency financial assistance to women in crisis in the entertainment industry, helping them cope with critical health concerns including breast, cervical and ovarian cancers, as well as domestic violence, chemical dependency and mental health issues.