Hodge-podge

Andrea McArdle, Broadway's original Annie, will host Broadway Idol at the NY Musical Theatre Festival on the 21st and 28th of September, and 05 October. Anthony Rapp, Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Marc Shaiman and Manoel Felciano are among the judges. Andrea also recently joined Carol Burnett, Kathie Lee Gifford and Gary Beach in recording the 30th anniversary CD of Annie. She was Belle when I watched "Beauty and the Beast". Dawn, Pinky and I saw her at Seth's Broadway 101 show and she's a fierce belter. I hope she stars in a new show sometime in the near future.

On Monday 17 September, a portion of 53rd st. at 8th Avenue will be christened Jerry Orbach Way. The renowned star of stage and screen passed away in December 2004.

Jerry Springer the Opera is coming to New York by way of Carnegie Hall. The performances are scheduled for 29 and 30 January 2008. The show won the 2004 Olivier Award for Best Musical.

The 59th annual Emmy Awards will be telecast on FOX at 8 PM ET on 16 September. Elaine Stritch was already announced as the Outstanding guest actress in a comedy series for her hilarious appearance on "30 Rock". Lots of other theatre folk are nominated. The national touring company of the 2006 Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys, currently playing at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, will sing songs as part of a tribute to HBO's "The Sopranos," which ended this past season.

Also in downtown LA on the afternoon of 16 September, "Asian Americans On Broadway: Heart and Music" at the Aratani/Japan America Theatre. Scheduled to perform: Grease's Christine Toy Johnson, Rent's Telly Leung, Beauty and the Beast's Deborah Lew, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee's Jose Llana and Avenue Q's Hazel Anne Raymundo.