The eighth annual Nothing Like A Dame performance brought a star-studded cast to the St. James Theater including: Lauren Bacall, Bebe Neuwirth, Hilary Swank, Liz Smith, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez, Rita Moreno, Cady Huffman, Phyllis Newman, Cynthia Nixon, Joan Hamburg, Sutton Foster, Edie Falco, and Ann Richards, along with Hairspray’s cross-dressing Harvey Fierstein, Marissa Jaret Winokur, and the wow-worthy young dance group, “The Dynamites.” Joining the gals, comedian and “Honorary Dame” Mario Cantone had folks rolling in the aisles with his razor-sharp, acerbic wit: “Yellow alert! Orange alert! Who designed the terror warning—the Gay Men’s Chorus?” WOR radio host Joan Hamburg kept up the laughs with, “I used to get questions about where to buy discount theater tickets, now listeners ask, ‘How many hours after you’ve had Botox can you put on your gas mask?’”

The one-night-gig benefited Broadway legend Phyllis Newman’s Women’s Health Initiative of the Actor’s Fund of America, which provides healthcare to women in the entertainment industry. Highlights included a special tribute to Newman’s late husband, playwright and songwriter Adolph Green, as well as hot numbers from La Bohème, The Producers and a hilarious duo between gossip queen Liz Smith and fiery former Texas Governor Ann Richards, who crooned I’m an Old Cowhand (a la Lucy and Ethel). And for the finale, Bebe Neuwirth blew the audience away with her richly va-va-voom “Velma” in All That Jazz for the finale—showcasing her chords, not to mention those legs. Oh Bebe!