Two eras came to an end over the Labor Day weekend, and, by coincidence, they were related to each other. Firstly, when Lionel Hampton died at age 94, it marked a finality to the swing-era generation. Benny Goodman was the King of Swing, and Hampton was the last surviving member of the landmark Goodman quartet that not only set new standards in jazz but also integrated the pop music industry.

Ed Harris' popularity in such movie blockbusters as last summer's "The Rock" and 1995's "Apollo 13" (Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor) has kept him busy in front of and, as producer, behind the camera.  But he yearned to return to the stage, where he had triumphs on and off Broadway.  However, on his first read of Taking Sides by Ronald Harwood (1982 Tony-nomination for The Dresser), Harris felt his character, American army Major Steve Arnold, was too cut and dried.  Arnold is assigned to the American sector of 1946 occupied Berlin to investigate symphony conductor Wi

The place is Afghanistan 1934, the northwest frontier territory, what was once a part of India. Upon a makeshift, stage a family-staged theatrical is in progress. The seductive "Dance of the Seven Veils" is reaching its climax (i.e., Princess Salome's seventh veil is about to drop). Standing in the wings, Queen Herodias gets her cue. In high dudgeon, she makes her grand entrance. "I had no words to speak, but I put my nose in the air, kicked my train and made my way slowly across the stage, looking with disgust at the King and Salome, and made my exit.

A lot of memories have surfaced in the last two days about the incredible life of Kitty Carlisle Hart.

If she was nervous on the eve of making her debut in what may have been the biggest musical of all time on the West End, Lea Salonga didn't show it. Nor did she quake when it came to Broadway. In fact, a semi-old pro at theater from the Philippines, Lea seemed unfazed by all the pre-production hype and technical activity swirling around her.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson is laughing. He's calling himself a "doting father," referring to the fact that he's directing August Wilson's Seven Guitars, the revival of which is kicking off the Signature Theater Company's season of Wilson plays.

When thinking of the music of Kurt Weill during his centennial year of 2000, the name of Helen Schneider naturally comes to mind. The American singer-actress has performed even more frequently in Weill's country of birth, Germany, than in the USA, and she is closely identified with Weill's work. In fact, she headlined at the Dessau Festival in Weill's home town during the centennial celebration in August 2000. In October and November she's starring in a double bill of Weill's Mahagonny Songspiel and Seven Deadly Sinsin Vienna.

In a note in the program of his play, Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams, Terrence McNally writes that the work was completed in 2002. The other night, following a preview performance, he said he didn't write the role of wealthy matron Annabelle Willard with a particular actress in mind. "But now that I've seen Marian Seldes in the part," he said, "I can't imagine anyone else in the role." He went on to say that he wasn't smart enough to see her in the role until director Scott Ellis suggested the part had her name written all over it.

When you see Movin' Out, Broadway's dance musical built around Billy Joel tunes that enters its third year Tuesday, you might think John Selya is superhuman. He soars through the air faster than a speeding bullet and does dizzying, whirling-dervish spins, suspending audiences in a state of disbelief.

The Playbill note on the cast page at the Broadway revival of The Sound of Musicreads: "Michael Siberry is appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association pursuant to an exchange program between American Equity and British Equity." That statement usually means quite a fuss went on between producers and American Equity to get a leading man from the U.K. because they feel he's best for the job. And it usually means that actor isn't a star or known by Broadway theatergoers. In the case of Siberry, nothing could be further from the truth. But there's a catch.

EVERY WEEK A NEW STAR! bragged Singular Sensations, composer/music director Glen Roven's series of intimate conversations and songs from "legendary" Broadway stars at the Village Theater [158 Bleecker between Sullivan and Thompson]. Dancer extraordinaire Donna McKechnie, Tony-winner for A Chorus Line, was be in the catbird seat this week [November 10-16, 2003]. She follows the unstoppable Carol Channing, appearing through Sunday. [Miss Channing is preparing to hit the road again -- No!

Move over, Barbara Cook. Here comes another lady in her 70s with a voice that sounds decades younger. This is Keely Smith, who is appearing in cabaret at Feinstein's on Park Avenue in Manhattan in May 2003. If her dreams come true, she'll someday appear a few blocks from there on Broadway in her own show.

The Sound of Music has pleased viewers of its many stage revivals and of the film version. It also has spawned a series of specialized tours in the city of Salzburg, Austria.

This is the town where the von Trapp family lived and where most of the 1965 movie was shot. The lure of these locations is so appealing that several different companies run daily bus tours of SOM-related sites. The fact that Mozart was born here is an afterthought for many visitors! Rodgers & Hammerstein are the heroes, inspiring these folks to find out how alive these hills really are.

The movie "The Spitfire Grill," winner of the audience award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival, went on to commercial and critical mainstream success. The story about a young woman who, when released from prison, begins a new life working for the proprietress of a small-town greasy spoon, impressed Wisconsin-native composer James Valcq enough to want to set it to music. Although his introduction was by way of a review in the New Yorker magazine, it would be months later that Valcq finally saw the film and knew what he was going to do.

It's reassuring to report that Jean Stapleton, one of the most recognized names in the entertainment world, is unpretentious, charming and astute. Observing the ovation she gets at the curtain of Horton Foote's The Carpetbagger's Children, that also stars Hallie Foote (the author/playwright's daughter) and Roberta Maxwell, and the affection with which she's greeted as she exits the stage door of Lincoln Center Theater, it's obvious that she made an impact on many lives.

Maureen Stapleton, who always could be believed when she said something, was true to her word.

After attending the memorial for Colleen Dewhurst in 1991, "Mo," as she was affectionately called by her friends, was heard to say, "I'm not coming to one of these things ever - except my own!" *

The old adage that 'laughter is the best medicine' has never seemed truer than now as a way to lift America from the gloom of its recent tragedy, and Randy Bennett and his Lone Star Comedy troupe are doing their part at "Upstaged, Smart Comedy, Smart Cocktails."

Dallas will get a heaping dose of laughter on October 5 and 6, 2001 as Upstaged presents headliner Mindy Sterling, Bennett's former Groundlings colleague and comedienne from Los Angeles. Sterling will be reprising Frau Farbissina, a role written for her by Mike Myers of "Saturday Night Live" and Austin Powers notoriety.

After 32 years, Isabelle Stevenson stepped down as president of the American Theater Wing, the organization co-founded by Antoinette Perry, a leading 30s and 40s actress, producer and director. Stevenson is now chair of the Wing board, the first time since Perry's death in 1946 that this position has been filled. (Perry's nickname was Tony, and she is the namesake of the annual Broadway honors.)

What were the television heros of your childhood like in real life? And what ever became of them?

Those are the questions explored by three guys in their late 30s in the play, Music From a Sparkling Planet, that was an Off-Broadway hit during its limited run by The Drama Dept. in 2001. Frustrated by problems in their personal and professional lives, the characters decide to search for Tamara Tomorrow, the host of an afternoon kids' TV show of their youth. (One of them says he has to thank Tamara for giving him his first erection.)