Herman Honored

Bruised, bandaged and with one arm in a cast, Carol Channing was still looking swell when she joined Angela Lansbury for the finale of “Tap Your Troubles Away, the Words and Music of Jerry Herman,” at Cal State L.A.’s Luckman Theatre last weekend.

Channing took a tumble during Friday’s rehearsal, ending up in the emergency room until 2 a.m., but was right back on stage for the Saturday performance to benefit the Actors’ Fund of America. The two veteran troupers brought down the sold-out house with a duet of their signature songs from the Herman musicals “Hello, Dolly!” and “Mame.”

Following the final curtain call, with the cast singing “The Best of Times” and “I’ll Be Here Tomorrow,” Lansbury presented Herman with the fund’s highest honor, the Nedda Harrigan Logan Award. The show drew a dazzling cast, many members of which were adorned with the $8 million in Harry Winston jewels loaned for the occasion.

Afterward, guests partied alfresco on the terrace of the campus art gallery until sprinkles fell and there was a brief power outage. Taking it all in stride, Herman said, “This night will be in my heart for the rest of my life.” The event raised more than $150,000 to aid needy professionals in the entertainment community.

At the Opera

“Aida” producer Tom Schumacher was looking tres impresario in his Dolce & Gabbana cut-velvet jacket as he worked the wall-to-wall crowd at a cast party following the opening of the L.A. production at the Ahmanson last Sunday. “This is a real thrill for me,” he said with a sigh. “I used to sweep the rehearsal hall and run the coffee machine at the Taper.” The head of Disney’s theatrical productions, who began his career as a Center Theatre Group production assistant, wasn’t the only one bursting with pride. So was Shirley Jones, mother of the show’s co-star, Patrick Cassidy, who plays Radames in the Elton John/Tim Rice spin on the Verdi opera. “I’m a very proud mom,” she said.

Of his buff role (he appears shirtless in many scenes), Cassidy said he has to spend “a lot of time in gyms across the country. We’ve been on the road for seven months!”

First nighters included Simone, Kelli Fournier, Billy Campbell, Lucy Lawless, Kimberly Williams, Melissa George, Patrika Darbo, Kirsten Storm, Swoosie Kurtz, Tom Bosley, Bob Saget, Cheryl Ladd, Robert Guillaume, Suzanne Pleshette, Marisa Ramirez and Scott Hamilton.

P.D.