Nothing Like a Dame: Betty Buckley & Andrea McArdle join line-up, Kristin Chenoweth withdraws

The Actors Fund has announced that Tony Award winner Betty Buckley and Tony Award nominee Andrea McArdle have joined the line-up for the all new Nothing Like a Dame benefit concert on 15 June 2009 at New World Stages.

Betty Buckley won a Tony Award for her performance as 'Grizabella' in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Cats.' She received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance as 'Hesione' in 'Triumph of Love.' She also appeared on Broadway in 'Sunset Boulevard,' reprising her Olivier-nominated performance as 'Norma Desmond.'

Andrea McArdle, who created the title role in the original Broadway production of 'Annie,' has also appeared in the Broadway productions of 'Les Miserables,' 'State Fair' and 'Beauty and the Beast.'

Buckley and McArdle will appear alongside previously announced "dames" Audra McDonald (Ragtime), Bebe Neuwirth (Chicago) and Kelli O'Hara (South Pacific) for this one-night-only concert event.

Kristin Chenoweth, whose participation in Nothing Like a Dame was announced previously, had to withdraw from the concert, due to a film scheduling conflict.

Hosted and re-constructed by Seth Rudetsky, the all-new Nothing Like a Dame concert will feature a new format of songs and stories from the women of Broadway, as well as rare video clips from earlier days in each of their remarkable careers, accompanied by commentary from Rudetsky and the women themselves.

A longtime Actors Fund collaborator, Seth Rudetsky was the Artistic Producer and Music Director for all six annual Actors Fund Fall Benefit Concerts, including the acclaimed productions of 'Dreamgirls' with Audra McDonald (recorded on Nonesuch Records), 'Funny Girl' with Whoopi Goldberg and Sutton Foster, 'Chess' with Josh Groban, 'On the Twentieth Century' with Douglas Sills and Marin Mazzie, 'Hair' with Jennifer Hudson (recorded on Ghostlight Records, Grammy nomination) and 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas' with Emily Skinner and Terrence Mann.

For has last 14 years, The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative has assisted more than 2,000 women coping with critical health concerns including breast, cervical and ovarian cancers, as well as domestic violence, chemical dependency and mental health issues.

Since the mid-nineties, through the auspices of The Actors Fund, PNWHI has provided millions of dollars in emergency financial assistance to women in crisis in the entertainment industry.

"Year after year, the 'Nothing Like a Dame' concert has been an absolutely wonderful experience for all concerned" said Phyllis Newman. "I'm thrilled we've been able to be of such help to so many women in our industry while also providing such a magnificent evening of entertainment for so many people."

The Actors Fund is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund - which supports those on stage and screen and everyone behind the scenes who works in theatre, film, television, music, dance, radio and opera - is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services and health insurance information, employment and training programs and housing resources for those who are in need, crisis or transition.