Julie Andrews and seven other theatre greats will be inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in New York in a gala ceremony Feb. 3.

Andrews, who started 1996 in a hit Victor/Victoria, and got herself into a battle-royal over Tony nominations for it, ended the year named to the Hall of Fame, along with fellow performers Brian Timon of Athens) Bedford, Nancy (On the Town) Walker and others.

As announced by the Hall of Fame's board of directors and the American Theate Critics Association, other inductees will be actors Earle (The Lady From Dubuque) Hyman, Eileen (Indiscretions) Atkins; designers Florence (Show Boat) Klotz and Irene (West Side Story) Sharaff; and critic Richard L. Coe of the Washington Post.

Inductees to the Hall must have at least 25 years of theatre experience and five major credits. Their names will be engraved in one of two halls at the Gershwin Theatre, and unveiled in a Feb. 3, 1997 ceremony.

-- By Robert Viagas