Beth Leavel Featured on 'Bway's Biggest Hits' This Weekend

Tony Award-winner Beth Leavel, who stars in the title role of the Tony Award-winning musical The Drowsy Chaperone, will sit down with "Broadway's Biggest Hits" radio host Bud Wilkinson this weekend to discuss both her own plans for New Years Eve and what she speculates her tipsy alter ego "Beatrice Stockwell" might do to toast a highball to 2007.

Wilkinson will feature songs from the Grammy Award nominated original cast recording of The Drowsy Chaperone, including "I Do, I Do in the Sky," "Love Is Always Lovely in the End," "Show Off" and Leavel's new Broadway anthem "As We Stumble Along," and discuss the Tony winning star's whirlwind year bringing the hit musical to Broadway.

"Broadway's Biggest Hits," the syndicated radio show devoted to the best of Broadway, can be heard on New Haven's WQUN (AM 1220) at 7 a.m. and Poughkeepsie's WKIP (AM 1450) at 1 p.m. Sunday, December 31.It will also air on two-dozen stations across the country, including Seattle's KIXI (AM 880) at 6 p.m. Sunday, Phoenix's KOY (AM 1230) at 9 a.m. Sunday, Denver's KEZW (AM 1430) at noon Sunday, Toronto's CHWO (AM 740) at 3 p.m. Sunday, Milwaukee's WOKY (AM 920) at 5 p.m. Sunday and Syracuse's WTLA (AM 1200) at noon Saturday.

The Drowsy Chaperone began previews at The Marquis Theater on April 3, and opened on Monday, May 1. The show won the New York Drama Critics' Circle and Drama Desk Awards for Best Musical and received five Tony Awards, including Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical.

The Drowsy Chaperone is a completely original new musical comedy directed and choreographed by Tony Award-nominee Casey Nicholaw (Spamalot), with music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison and a book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar.

The show also stars Sutton Foster, Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Troy Britton Johnson, Eddie Korbich, Garth Kravits, Jason Kravits, Kecia Lewis-Evans, Bob Martin, Jennifer Smith, Noble Shropshire and Lenny Wolpe.

"To chase his blues away, a modern day musical theatre addict known simply as 'Man in Chair' drops the needle on his favorite LP – the 1928 musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone.  From the crackle of his hi-fi, the uproariously funny musical magically bursts to life on stage. Man in Chair's infectious love of The Drowsy Chaperone speaks to anyone who has ever been transported by the theater," according to press notes. The show  is produced by Kevin McCollum, Roy Miller, Boyett Ostar, Barbara Freitag, Jill Furman and Stephanie McClelland.