The summer lineup in Massachusetts includes Nikki M. James, Andy Grotelueschen, Jeannette Bayardelle, and Micaela Diamond.

The outdoor summer lineup in Massachusetts begins July 6.

The musical, featuring a 20-foot-high, 2,000-pound, puppeteer-operated gorilla as its star, opened last fall.

After conquering Australia, the mega-musical makes its anticipated New York debut October 5 at the Broadway Theatre.

Kinky Boots and The Motherf**ker with the Hat, both by American authors and previously seen on Broadway, were among the top winners Nov. 22 of the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

BETTY BUCKLEY
Betty Buckley fans will be thrilled with the just-released cast recording of Triumph of Love, the Susan Birkenhead/Jeffrey Stock/James Magruder musical loosely based on the Marivaux play. Buckley sounds terrific on the CD, whether she's belting the opening lines of "This Day of Days," tenderly caressing the notes in the quartet of "Teach Me Not to Love You" or bringing an emotional intensity to her duets with Susan Egan ("You May Call Me Phocion") and F. Murray Abraham ("The Tree"). And, her two solo pieces, "Serenity" and "If I Cannot Love," are masterfully crafted and delivered. Just listen to the way she builds "Serenity" from a quiet remembrance of her youth to a full-voiced declaration of love's surprise arrival. She is also equally effective on "If I Cannot Love," which was unfortunately cut during previews but is thankfully preserved on this JAY Records release.

BETTY BUCKLEY
Betty Buckley fans will be thrilled with the just-released cast recording of Triumph of Love, the Susan Birkenhead/Jeffrey Stock/James Magruder musical loosely based on the Marivaux play. Buckley sounds terrific on the CD, whether she's belting the opening lines of "This Day of Days," tenderly caressing the notes in the quartet of "Teach Me Not to Love You" or bringing an emotional intensity to her duets with Susan Egan ("You May Call Me Phocion") and F. Murray Abraham ("The Tree"). And, her two solo pieces, "Serenity" and "If I Cannot Love," are masterfully crafted and delivered. Just listen to the way she builds "Serenity" from a quiet remembrance of her youth to a full-voiced declaration of love's surprise arrival. She is also equally effective on "If I Cannot Love," which was unfortunately cut during previews but is thankfully preserved on this JAY Records release.

Want a reminder of every show that opened on Broadway in the Tony season that just finished? We've got it.

Here is a survey of recent cast album releases (and significant Broadway-related releases), and a schedule of those announced for the balance of 1999.

Hello diva lovers. I thought I would devote this week's column to a few multi-talented women I don't have the chance to cover as frequently as I'd wish. Enjoy. . .

Hello diva lovers. I thought I would devote this week's column to a few multi-talented women I don't have the chance to cover as frequently as I'd wish. Enjoy. . .

The West End is sending Broadway King Charles III and returning The Color Purple to sender as well (with the transfer of the Menier Chocolate Factory's production of the 2005 Broadway musical, just as they previously bequeathed Broadway its revivals of Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music and La Cage Aux Folles).

On the eve of Andrew Lloyd Webber's birthday, we look at recordings of one of his most well-known musicals, the tragic drama Sunset Boulevard.

Tony nominee Patrick Wilson has become the leading man of Hollywood horror blockbusters, so Playbill.com writer Richard Patterson put together a collection of horror plays and musicals for the leading man to star in on Broadway.

The producers of Rebecca, the new musical based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, announced on Jan. 24 that the show's Broadway run is being postponed until the 2012-13 season. It turns out, it costs a lot to conjure the estate called Manderley, which is central to the classic tale.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of diva watching, I think, is hearing (or seeing) the same song performed by two or more of our favorite divas. It's always interesting to hear how a great performer can make a song her (or his) own.