Left: (1) Kim Cattrall / Right: (2) Bethany Moore

(3) Adam Zelasko

(3) Continental Airlines - Lisa, Nancy, Tom, and Patti

(5) Jane Russell

1. Now you see her, now you don’t! Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall returned to Broadway last November to star in the revival of Noël Coward’s Private Lives. The limited engagement was originally scheduled to run through February 5, but despite Cattrall’s fabulous turn as Amanda, the show will now close on December 31. Fellow Sex and the City co-star Cynthia Nixon returns to Broadway in January in the Pulitzer-winning Wit.

2. UB Department of Theater & Dance alum Bethany Moore made her Broadway debut over the summer in the much talked-about musical Spider-Man Turn off the Dark. Moore, who was featured prominently in the Macy’s Day Parade in a group number from the show, is scheduled to stay with the production through the spring. In a meeting held in November, the Tony Awards Administration Committee decided that Spider Man’s creator and director, Julie Taymor, will be eligible for a nomination in the director category even though she was fired before the show’s official opening.

3. And another UB alum, Adam Zelasko joined the national tour of Jersey Boys this past year. The show is currently at the National Theatre in Washington, DC. The tour also features Buffalo’s Denise Payne, who was in the show when the tour came to Shea’s a couple of years ago. Jersey Boys just launched a second national tour, which opened last week in Philadelphia. Fall 2012 will see the launching of several national touring musicals including Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Sister Act, Book of Mormon, and Anything Goes. They would all look lovely at Shea’s.

4. The end of an era! Continental Airlines, now in the process of merging with United Airlines, became the official airline of the Broadway League and of several Broadway organizations. Continental’s counter at Buffalo airport will soon be gone to become United. Thank you Lisa, Nancy, Tom, and Patti for all those wonderful years at CO! Have a wonderful 2012!

5. Movie star Jane Russell passed away this past February, a few months before her 90th birthday. Best known for such movies as The Outlaw, and Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, Russell did appear on Broadway once. She replaced Elaine Stritch in the original production of Company (1971).