As everyone knows by now Dame Edna Everage begins previews at the Booth Theatre in her Broadway show Dame Edna: The Royal Tour on September 15th. In an unprecedented move the show is going to open a day earlier with a Special $20 Pauper Possum Preview.

Theater fans will be able to purchase tickets for the Tuesday, September 14th 8 PM show by heading over to Shubert Alley this Wednesday, Sept. 8th. Box office at the Booth opens at noon. I hear the Grand Dame herself will be making an appearance as adoring fans queue up with their crisp twenty-dollar bills.

If you're not a regular reader of our All That Chat message board then you should know that Dame Edna is arguably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today. She is a housewife, megastar, social anthropoligist, investigative journalist, chanteuse, swami, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin-doctor, children's book illustrator and icon! In her show you'll get to see her sing, dance, tour the stage and trawl the auditorium.

Head on over to the Booth for tickets on Wednesday and make sure you catch the photo out front of the Dame with her skirt blowing in the breeze. Surely, there is nothing like this dame!

Tidbits:

• Beauty and the Beast will be departing the Palace Theater after today's matinee. It's moving to the Lunt-Fontanne, a smaller house, and will re-open November 12th. The Disney musical stars Andrea McArdle. The Palace will be prepping for the forthcoming Disney production of Aida.

• Swing begins previews November 2nd. The big band and dancing revue stars Ann Hampton Callaway, Caitlin Carter and Scott Fowler. The musical will feature music of the 1930's and 1940's big bands and celebrates the dance craze of that era. St. James Theatre.

• Little Ousted Annie, Joanna Pacitti, is appealing her lawsuit with Macy's. She's the actress who was fired from Annie a little over 2 years ago. She had won the leading role in a contest sponsored by Macy's, but was fired while on the road. She won the prize but they failed to deliver. That's the basis of the lawsuit anyway.

• Cats opens Tuesday in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand for those of you who haven't seen the granddaddy of spectacle. (702) 891-7777 for tickets.

• Angel company of Rent closes today in San Francisco. Benny company continues to tour into the Millenium, making a stop in Las Vegas next month. With Chicago, EFX with Tommy Tune, Maurice Hines & the Rockettes, 2 new musicals next year, Vegas is becoming a happening place for theater, but I've said that before.

• Finally, Peter Pan will be videotaped. The musical starring Cathy Rigby will be taped in early 2000 and probably sold at your local Blockbuster. Years ago the Sandy Duncan version was almost saved on film but at the last moment it was cancelled. Seems like another "Peter Pan" at that time didn't like the idea.

• I just love those Pimpernel P.R. people. In their listing for The Scarlet Pimpernel in today's Times they bill the show as "In our Scandalous 3rd Year." The show re-opens for the third time on Broadway, this time at the Neil Simon Theatre on Friday. Stars Carolee Carmello, Ron Bohmer and Marc Kudisch lead the cast in the popular musical that refuses to die! And why should it? Fans love this Wildhorn/Knighton tuner and see it repeatedly.

• eBay, the Internet auction site, just launched its premiere issue of eBay Magazine. Their Website takes over 1 billion hits a month so let's hope their magazine has as much success. Why? Seems their editors surf the Web and look for excellence and Talkin' Broadway got a nice blurb. Thanks eBay. The $18.05 that I owed you was mailed on Friday.

See you Thursday!

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