Charlotte Rae

Fifty years ago, Charlotte Rae made a sweet, silly and very funny recording called "Songs I Taught My Mother." The humor was witty -- impish and literate at the same time -- and the melodies tuneful, the work of such masters as Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, Marc Blitzstein and Vernon Duke. The album, something of a legend among musical-theater buffs, has been out of print for decades.

Fifty years ago, Charlotte Rae made a sweet, silly and very funny recording called "Songs I Taught My Mother." The humor was witty -- impish and literate at the same time -- and the melodies tuneful, the work of such masters as Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter, Marc Blitzstein and Vernon Duke. The album, something of a legend among musical-theater buffs, has been out of print for decades.

Feel free to speak to Charlotte Rae when you see her on the street. "I get recognized a lot," the actress acknowledged, "and most of the time I love it. I enjoy all the privileges, the little kindnesses. When I come along, people's faces light up--or the garbage man waves and gives me a thumbs up. I have to be very careful or I'll get addicted to it." She smiled contentedly. "I just enjoy making people feel good. It's like you're using what you've got the way you're supposed to."

Hit it, girls! Charlotte Rae, Jane Kean and Marni Nixon just met the day before. But you wouldn't know it. The three have bonded like lifelong friends. The veterans of Broadway, nightclubs, television and movies are gabbing up a storm around a small table in an otherwise empty room at El Portal Theatre. It's their lunch break from rehearsals for the concert revival of the 1971 John Kander-Fred Ebb musical, "70, Girls, 70," opening Thursday at the North Hollywood theater.

Hit it, girls! Charlotte Rae, Jane Kean and Marni Nixon just met the day before. But you wouldn't know it. The three have bonded like lifelong friends. The veterans of Broadway, nightclubs, television and movies are gabbing up a storm around a small table in an otherwise empty room at El Portal Theatre. It's their lunch break from rehearsals for the concert revival of the 1971 John Kander-Fred Ebb musical, "70, Girls, 70," opening Thursday at the North Hollywood theater.

Playing Cat and Mouse: Composer Henry Mancini will write the score to go alongside the capers of Tom and Jerry in the upcoming animated film, "Tom and Jerry--The Movie," from Turner Entertainment. Actors who will lend voices to the cartoon critters are Richard Kind, Dana Hill and Charlotte Rae.

Celebrities and their pets are slated to appear in "Aardvarks to Zebras," the fifth annual musical tribute to animals benefiting PAWS/LA, at the Pasadena Playhouse on Oct. 7. Jo Anne Worley, Dale Kristien, Charlotte Rae, Kirby Tepper and Gretchen Wyler are among the performers. PAWS/LA is a nonprofit organization that helps people with HIV and AIDS with the care and feeding of their pets. Tickets are $40. Reservations: (310) 657-2929.

A star-studded, seven-hour telethon on Sunday raised nearly $4.8 million for social services and drug rehabilitation programs run by a national organization of Hasidic Jews. Telethon spokesman Ron Solomon said Monday that donors pledged $4,786,237 during the eighth annual "L'Chaim/To Life!" telethon held from 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday.

Cable's USA Network will add two new shows to its "Cartoon Express" this fall: "Problem Child," a half-hour animated series loosely based on the movie of the same name, and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," a series based on the adventures of the nursery rhyme's spider as he avenges injustice. Frank Welker, who portrayed Itsy in a seven-minute theatrical short based on the rhyme, will provide the voice of the title character in the latter show.

Carole Cook, Dale Kristien, Linda Purl, Charlotte Rae, Kirby Tepper, the cast of "Forever Plaid," members of the L.A. Gay Men's Chorus and many more will pay tribute to the animal kingdom in "Aardvarks to Zebras 6," a musical benefit for PAWS/LA, a pet support organization for people living with HIV/AIDS, at the Pasadena Playhouse on Monday. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show and post-show gala are $50 to $100; tickets for show, gala and a 6:30 p.m. cocktail reception are $150.

Feel free to speak to Charlotte Rae when you see her on the street. "I get recognized a lot," the actress acknowledged, "and most of the time I love it. I enjoy all the privileges, the little kindnesses. When I come along, people's faces light up--or the garbage man waves and gives me a thumbs up. I have to be very careful or I'll get addicted to it." She smiled contentedly. "I just enjoy making people feel good. It's like you're using what you've got the way you're supposed to."

Carol Channing, Robert Morse, Rita Moreno and Tyne Daly are among the Broadway veterans who'll be belting out show tunes in "Original Cast 2," a benefit on April 2 to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles. Others who'll be reprising numbers from such productions as "Company," "Hello Dolly," "Showboat," "Three Penny Opera" and "Miss Saigon" include Philip Casnoff, Constance Towers, Patrick Cassidy, Jonelle Allen, Carole Cook, Charlotte Rae, Vicki Lewis and Bill Hutton. The 27th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles.

Spring Street Bash: Los Angeles Theatre Center celebrates its sixth anniversary Monday, serving up a buffet at 6 p.m. and featuring cabaret entertainment at 8 p.m. on LATC stages by Charles Dutton, Harry Shearer, Georgia Brown, Charlotte Rae, Charles Nelson Reilly, Karen Morrow, Freda Payne, Banzai and others. . . . Meanwhile, the show that became a New York hit as "Oil City Symphony" will be retitled "Oil City Reunion" when it opens at LATC on Oct. 29.