On Monday night, the Dramatists Guild Fund honored Rosie O’Donnell and Rosie’s Broadway Kids at their benefit, STAR TURNS: Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars, held at the Hudson Theatre.
Among the evening’s highlights was watching four-time Tony Award nominee Angela Lansbury perform a scene from Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy.
Lansbury’s scene partner was the extraordinary James Earl Jones, who portrayed chauffeur Hoke.
Jones’ erstwhile Great White Hope co-star Jane Alexander was on hand to perform an excerpt from Tina Howe’s Chasing Manet, now at Primary Stages.
The fabulous Lynn Cohen, best known for her work on Sex and the City, plays Alexander’s roommate in Howe’s play.
Pulitzer Prize winner Doug Wright and Tony winner Jefferson Mays did a little role-switching in a hilarious take on I Am My Own Wife.
Former In the Heights stars Lin-Manuel Miranda and Karen Olivo reunited for a stunning rendition of that show’s “It Won’t Be Long Now.”
Stephen Schwartz and a visibly pregnant Idina Menzel collaborated on a soaring rendition of Wicked‘s first-act closer “Defying Gravity.”
Christine Ebersole wowed the crowd with a beautiful version of “Will You” from the musical Grey Gardens.
B.D. Wong played all the roles in a four-minute condensed version of David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly.
Terrence McNally introduced his “muse,” Nathan Lane, who brilliantly recreated a scene from The Lisbon Traviata.
Composer John Kander introduced stars David Hyde Pierce and Jill Paice, who performed a number from the musical Curtains.
The multi-talented James Lapine introduced Bernadette Peters, who performed a stunning version of Stephen Sondheim’s “No One Is Alone” from Into the Woods.
Librettist Marsha Norman introduced her Color Purple star LaChanze, who sang “Something For Me,” a number that was eventually cut from the musical.
The superb songwriting team of Lynn Ahrens and Steven Flaherty closed the evening on a high note by having Brian Stokes Mitchell come out and thrill the audience with “Wheels of a Dream” from Ragtime.
