Liz Smith would have been pleased to share the stage today with the Phantom, and it’s safe to say there were at least two ghosts at the packed Majestic Theatre, where a crowd comprising many of the folks who’d made bold-face appearances in her columns gathered to salute the late gossipeuse under the raised chandelier…

Ticket sales for Broadway productions soared last week as more shows entered the fall fray and star-powered vehicles gave even some of the big musicals a run for the money, or glory, or something. The box office gained almost 20 percent over the week before. More significant – especially for elite producers, theater…

Liz Smith, the premiere gossip columnist of her generation, died in New York today. She was 94. Her death was first reported by the Associated Press, with confirmation from literary agent Joni Evans, who claimed she died of natural causes. Smith’s self-titled column began in 1976 in the New York Daily News, and was…

UPDATE Tuesday morning with a few more details and photos. The roster of stars and other bold-face names who took the stage at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on Monday afternoon to remember Elaine Stritch was almost as brilliant as the audience that negotiated a chilly November rain to bid farewell to the stage legend, who…