Broadway Friday

- AMFAR will honor Julian Schnabel, Carine Roitfeld (Editor in Chief, French Vogue) and Bobby Shriver (Chairman, PRODUCT (RED)) at its 10th Annual New York Gala on Thursday, January 31 at Cipriani.
Appearing: Marc Jacobs, Lou Reed, Natasha Richardson, amfAR Chairman Kenneth Cole, Cheyenne Jackson, Maggie Rizer, Miss Universe Riyo Mori, Ben Gazzara plus a special performance by Barry Manilow. The black-tie gala benefit honors those who have made outstanding efforts to raise awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to raise dollars for AIDS research.

- Rent closes on June 1st after almost 12 years on Broadway. The show will have grossed $280M during its run and leaves as the seventh longest-running show in Broadway history. How many minutes is that?

-Try to remember: The Off Broadway revival of The Fantastiks closes on Feb.24th after almost 700 performances at the Snapple (ick) Theater.

- Inevitable: Shrek, The Musical opens on Broadway in November after its world premiere in Seattle in August. Casting to be announced. I could see Meat Loaf as the Ogre.

- Replacing Elle: A reality show about the next casting for the lead of Legally Blonde: The Musical will run on MTV.

- Will chain-mail panties be tossed onstage? Clay Aiken joins the cast of Spamalot today. Middle-aged Claymates are already lined up.

- Fascinating series: Jeffry Denman, Eddie Korbich, Marc Kudisch, and Emily Skinner will appear in The Broadway Musicals of 1947, the kickoff of the eighth season of Broadway by the Year, at 8pm on Monday, March 3 at The Town Hall. The evening will feature selections from Brigadoon, Finian's Rainbow, High Button Shoes, Allegro, and Street Scene, among other shows. The series will continue with The Broadway Musicals of 1954 (April 7), The Broadway Musicals of 1965 (May 12), and The Broadway Musicals of 1979 (June 16).