Playbill looks back at the actors, directors, choreographers, and other theatremakers who died in the past year.

A YEAR BETWEEN MUSICALS
Many have noted that this spring will bring to Broadway an unusually large number of new musicals. Six appear to be absolutely set: In order of opening date, they are Play On!, Dream, Titanic, Steel Pier, Jekyll & Hyde, and The Life.

A YEAR BETWEEN MUSICALS
Many have noted that this spring will bring to Broadway an unusually large number of new musicals. Six appear to be absolutely set: In order of opening date, they are Play On!, Dream, Titanic, Steel Pier, Jekyll & Hyde, and The Life.

Playbill.com's weekly planner reminds you to spend a night in medieval Scotland with Kenneth Branagh… Go Bare for Broadway's hottest night of the year… Lin-Manuel Miranda goes BOOM!... and Norm Lewis, Andre De Shields, Berry Gordy and more take to Carnegie Hall to honor pioneering black men on the Great White Way.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

News, views and reviews about the multi-talented women of the musical theatre and the concert/cabaret stage.

Hello, diva lovers! Well, I must admit it was a bit daunting to open a blank Word Perfect document this past Tuesday morning to attempt to write a millennium-based diva column while finishing our January subscription issue and starting our February theatre edition. At one point I decided I would just write a regular weekly column and not deal with the approaching 2000 mark, but then I thought I would simply list many of the women of the musical theatre/cabaret worlds who have brightened our lives throughout the past few decades. So, in alphabetical order, here they are. (I’m sure I’ve left out many of your favorites, so please excuse any omission!) Following this grand diva list are more detailed thoughts and musings about some (but not all) 25 of my very favorite gals (alphabetically, of course). I hope you enjoy reading this column, and may the New Year bring every diva lover out there much joy and happiness, and may it also be diva-filled!

Hello, diva lovers! Well, I must admit it was a bit daunting to open a blank Word Perfect document this past Tuesday morning to attempt to write a millennium-based diva column while finishing our January subscription issue and starting our February theatre edition. At one point I decided I would just write a regular weekly column and not deal with the approaching 2000 mark, but then I thought I would simply list many of the women of the musical theatre/cabaret worlds who have brightened our lives throughout the past few decades. So, in alphabetical order, here they are. (I’m sure I’ve left out many of your favorites, so please excuse any omission!) Following this grand diva list are more detailed thoughts and musings about some (but not all) 25 of my very favorite gals (alphabetically, of course). I hope you enjoy reading this column, and may the New Year bring every diva lover out there much joy and happiness, and may it also be diva-filled!

We take a look at performers who keep coming back to Broadway—at the same theatres.

BETTY BUCKLEY
It's the power of love, both loving and being loved, both physical and emotional, that is explored in Nicky Silver's latest offering, The Eros Trilogy, currently at the Vineyard Theatre and starring the always inspiring Betty Buckley. When love and/or sex is present -- gay, straight, mother to son, son to mother, in or outside of marriage -- anything is possible, but when it's absent, life is at best -- according to Silver -- bearable, and, at worst, perhaps not worth living. The work is divided into three parts: two wrenching monologues, the first by Buckley as Claire and the second by Zak Orth as her son, Philip. The final and most enjoyable section is a series of letters -- written over nearly three decades between another son and mother -- read and illuminated by Buckley (as Miriam) and T. Scott Cunningham (as Miriam's son, Roger).

BETTY BUCKLEY
It's the power of love, both loving and being loved, both physical and emotional, that is explored in Nicky Silver's latest offering, The Eros Trilogy, currently at the Vineyard Theatre and starring the always inspiring Betty Buckley. When love and/or sex is present -- gay, straight, mother to son, son to mother, in or outside of marriage -- anything is possible, but when it's absent, life is at best -- according to Silver -- bearable, and, at worst, perhaps not worth living. The work is divided into three parts: two wrenching monologues, the first by Buckley as Claire and the second by Zak Orth as her son, Philip. The final and most enjoyable section is a series of letters -- written over nearly three decades between another son and mother -- read and illuminated by Buckley (as Miriam) and T. Scott Cunningham (as Miriam's son, Roger).

BETTY BUCKLEY
I had the pleasure of attending the screening of "Betty Buckley: In Performance & In Person" this past Tuesday evening at the The Players Club in Gramercy Park. The documentary, which includes footage from Buckley's most recent Bottom Line gig, will delight BB's fans, both new and old. The 84-minute film -- to be aired some time next year on American television -- also features interviews with Buckley and many of her strongest advocates: writer Peter Stone; actor F. Murray Abraham; producers Roger Hess and Kevin Duncan; actress Ellen Burstyn, who became a fan and friend of Buckley's after seeing her in Sunset Boulevard (she subsequently returned to catch her performance in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical three more times); composer Stephen Schwartz (who changed the sheet music to "Meadowlark" after hearing Buckley's wonderful interpretation of that Baker's Wife tune); pianist/musical conductor Kenny Werner; as well as her mom, Betty Bob Buckley, and brother Norman.

BETTY BUCKLEY
I had the pleasure of attending the screening of "Betty Buckley: In Performance & In Person" this past Tuesday evening at the The Players Club in Gramercy Park. The documentary, which includes footage from Buckley's most recent Bottom Line gig, will delight BB's fans, both new and old. The 84-minute film -- to be aired some time next year on American television -- also features interviews with Buckley and many of her strongest advocates: writer Peter Stone; actor F. Murray Abraham; producers Roger Hess and Kevin Duncan; actress Ellen Burstyn, who became a fan and friend of Buckley's after seeing her in Sunset Boulevard (she subsequently returned to catch her performance in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical three more times); composer Stephen Schwartz (who changed the sheet music to "Meadowlark" after hearing Buckley's wonderful interpretation of that Baker's Wife tune); pianist/musical conductor Kenny Werner; as well as her mom, Betty Bob Buckley, and brother Norman.