The Post-Gazette's 92nd ShowPlane, "A Season of Stars," heads to Broadway in just over two months, Nov. 17-21. It features three musicals and one comedy -- two all-new, one classic revival and one in-between.

Stars include Mark Rylance (who played Shakespeare three times at the Public Theater), David Hyde Pierce, Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.

• Stephen Sondheim's classic comedy, "A Little Night Music," based on Ingmar Bergman's only comedy, "Smiles of a Summer Night," in turn based on "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The stars of this include Ms. Peters and Ms. Stritch.

• "La Bete," a modern comedy in the style of Moliere, which provides a tour-de-force comic role for Rylance ("an antic Laurence Olivier," says the N.Y. Times), supported by Hyde Pierce ("Frasier") and Joanna Lumley ("Absolutely Fabulous").

• "Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson" is a slam-bang mix of historical fact and fiction, wild theatricality and comedy, redefining America's controversial seventh president who drove the Indians west and doubled the size of our nation. Politics and historical travesty are married to a rock score full of catchy pop tunes.

• "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," a new take on the young man with the extraordinary powers, fighting evil through the dizzying canyons of Manhattan. Directed by Julie Taymor ("The Lion King"), it's the most expensive Broadway musical extravaganza to date -- and we'll see it in its first week.

The ShowPlane group stays at the handsome Millennium Broadway Hotel, just off Times Square. The weekend starts with a welcoming dinner in the theater district and ends with an optional farewell dinner. Included for all is a discussion about the plays and the Broadway theater scene over post-show drinks with Post-Gazette senior theater critic Christopher Rawson, who is available to help with other theater plans.

There is also an optional private tour complete with lunch -- this year, "The High Line," a professionally guided tour of New York's only elevated park, built on top of an old rail system that winds through lower Manhattan. This elevated urban park is an eye-opener for both New Yorkers and visitors escaping the hubbub of the city below.

Experienced escorts from Pittsburgh accompany the trip, and staff a hospitality desk at the hotel to offer guidance for additional theater, dining and touring.

Included in the package are the four shows, four nights at the hotel, dinner, discussion, round-trip airfare from Pittsburgh, transfers between the New York airport and hotel, gratuities and taxes. The basic tour price is $1,989 per person based on two people sharing a double room. The single supplement is $739.

A deposit of $500 per person is required to hold your reservation; status of your request will be sent upon receipt of deposit and completed Reservation Request Form. All payments are to be made to Gulliver's Travels Inc., 460 S. Graham St., Pittsburgh PA 15232-1210.

For information on the trip, call Gulliver's Travels at 412-441-3131. For information on the plays, call Mr. Rawson at 412-216-1944.

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