The Innovative Theatre Foundation celebrated the 11th annual New York Innovative Theatre Awards Sept. 21, honoring the best of the 2015 Off-Off-Broadway season. The Astoria Performing Arts Center was a recipient in three categories.

This week's look into the life of Seth Rudetsky uncovers new details on Disaster! coming to Broadway, why the Playbill cruise to Asia had to host an impromptu cabaret and what you never knew about Lindsay Mendez.

Gabriel Barre will direct the invitation-only reading of Temple.

BETTY BUCKLEY
The latest recording by Betty Buckley is a spoken one, one that the actress calls "a work of the heart," and it is now available from amazon.com and should soon be available from The Borders chain of bookstores. The Fair Oaks Audio recording -- on two tapes or two CDs -- is titled "The Diaries of Adam & Eve: Translated by Mark Twain" and features Mark Twain's most personal writings, imagined diaries of Adam and Eve. The recording also boasts a performance from Mandy Patinkin, and this marks the first occasion the two Tony winners have worked opposite each other. Luckily for listeners, both are innately musical and find the 'music' in Twain's lyrical work, which mirrors his and his wife's personalities. Former newsman Walter Cronkite can also be heard on the two discs/cassettes; in fact, producer Don Roberts says Cronkite "has that 'voice of God,' which is perfect for the narration of this sort of story. [Buckley, Patinkin and Cronkite] were our first (and only) choices, and their readings exceeded our expectations in every way." Original music by Lester Seigel provides a sense of time and place and is performed by members of the San Francisco Symphony. For more information, contact Fair Oaks Audio at (415) 252-0977.

BETTY BUCKLEY
The latest recording by Betty Buckley is a spoken one, one that the actress calls "a work of the heart," and it is now available from amazon.com and should soon be available from The Borders chain of bookstores. The Fair Oaks Audio recording -- on two tapes or two CDs -- is titled "The Diaries of Adam & Eve: Translated by Mark Twain" and features Mark Twain's most personal writings, imagined diaries of Adam and Eve. The recording also boasts a performance from Mandy Patinkin, and this marks the first occasion the two Tony winners have worked opposite each other. Luckily for listeners, both are innately musical and find the 'music' in Twain's lyrical work, which mirrors his and his wife's personalities. Former newsman Walter Cronkite can also be heard on the two discs/cassettes; in fact, producer Don Roberts says Cronkite "has that 'voice of God,' which is perfect for the narration of this sort of story. [Buckley, Patinkin and Cronkite] were our first (and only) choices, and their readings exceeded our expectations in every way." Original music by Lester Seigel provides a sense of time and place and is performed by members of the San Francisco Symphony. For more information, contact Fair Oaks Audio at (415) 252-0977.

Hello, diva lovers! . . . Okay, so it had nothing to do with musical theatre or fabulous singing, but wasn't "All My Children" star Susan Lucci's acceptance speech this past Friday night at the "Daytime Emmy Awards" one of the most exciting, stirring diva moments of the year? I watched "AMC" from second grade through high school and, like most of the soap-viewing public, have waited years to see the always engaging Lucci nab the Emmy for Best Actress. It may have taken her 19 years, but it was certainly worth the wait to watch both Lucci's reaction and the Madison Square Garden audience's response: a standing, cheering ovation that erupted as soon as Lucci's name was announced bringing many in the audience, particularly Broadway cheerleader Rosie O'Donnell, to tears. After struggling to fight back her own tears, Lucci delivered a heartfelt and extremely moving speech that began with a somewhat humorous nod to her 18 years of watching other people win the coveted award: "I truly never believed that this would happen . . . I want to thank each and every one of you in this room. This is a room full of such talented, hard-working people, and the fact that you have thought that my work was worthy of notice 19 times is something that I will treasure always." Lucci then went on to thank "God for the many, many blessings in my life," including her parents ("who have been in every audience of my entire life, including tonight"), "AMC" creator Agnes Nixon ("for changing the face of the medium we work in. . .thank you so much for creating the part of Erica Kane and for allowing me to be part of your writing full of such humanity, passion and vision"), the company of "AMC" ("who I have the privilege to play these scenes every day -- you inspire me), her children ("I wasn't meant to get this award before tonight because if I had I wouldn't have that collection of poems and letters and drawings and chocolate cakes you made me all this time to make me feel better") and her husband ("who has been with me every step of the way"). But, I must admit, my favorite part of Lucci's speech was a somewhat over-the-top, yet sincere nod to her fans: "I was only supposed to be on every other Tuesday, but thanks to you I'm here, and I promise I will try my best never to let you down. I'm going back to that studio on Monday, and I'm going to play Erica Kane for all she's worth! Thank you so much." . . . Congratulations, Ms. Lucci. Now that you've nabbed the Emmy, how about a stint on Broadway? . . .

Hello, diva lovers! . . . Okay, so it had nothing to do with musical theatre or fabulous singing, but wasn't "All My Children" star Susan Lucci's acceptance speech this past Friday night at the "Daytime Emmy Awards" one of the most exciting, stirring diva moments of the year? I watched "AMC" from second grade through high school and, like most of the soap-viewing public, have waited years to see the always engaging Lucci nab the Emmy for Best Actress. It may have taken her 19 years, but it was certainly worth the wait to watch both Lucci's reaction and the Madison Square Garden audience's response: a standing, cheering ovation that erupted as soon as Lucci's name was announced bringing many in the audience, particularly Broadway cheerleader Rosie O'Donnell, to tears. After struggling to fight back her own tears, Lucci delivered a heartfelt and extremely moving speech that began with a somewhat humorous nod to her 18 years of watching other people win the coveted award: "I truly never believed that this would happen . . . I want to thank each and every one of you in this room. This is a room full of such talented, hard-working people, and the fact that you have thought that my work was worthy of notice 19 times is something that I will treasure always." Lucci then went on to thank "God for the many, many blessings in my life," including her parents ("who have been in every audience of my entire life, including tonight"), "AMC" creator Agnes Nixon ("for changing the face of the medium we work in. . .thank you so much for creating the part of Erica Kane and for allowing me to be part of your writing full of such humanity, passion and vision"), the company of "AMC" ("who I have the privilege to play these scenes every day -- you inspire me), her children ("I wasn't meant to get this award before tonight because if I had I wouldn't have that collection of poems and letters and drawings and chocolate cakes you made me all this time to make me feel better") and her husband ("who has been with me every step of the way"). But, I must admit, my favorite part of Lucci's speech was a somewhat over-the-top, yet sincere nod to her fans: "I was only supposed to be on every other Tuesday, but thanks to you I'm here, and I promise I will try my best never to let you down. I'm going back to that studio on Monday, and I'm going to play Erica Kane for all she's worth! Thank you so much." . . . Congratulations, Ms. Lucci. Now that you've nabbed the Emmy, how about a stint on Broadway? . . .

Tony nominee Ramin Karimloo stars in the U.K. concert premiere of the Broadway musical Doctor Zhivago on this date in 2019.

The Scottsdale Musical Theater Company production will begin performances September 27.

There's no one hotter in London theatre right now than Cynthia Erivo, a diminutive firebrand of an actress who sings and acts with an astonishing ferocity, veracity and vitality. Her credits have stretched from the all-female Donmar Henry IV opposite Harriet Walter to The Color Purple at the Menier Chocolate Factory that she will reprise later this year to make her Broadway debut opposite Jennifer Hudson. The RADA-trained star in the making is popping up here, there and everywhere before she departs for New York.

The staff of Playbill.com shares its casting ideas for a musical adaption of the Disney film "Hocus Pocus."

The staff of Playbill.com shares its casting ideas for a musical adaption of the Disney film "Hocus Pocus."