Theater economics making only marginally more sense than the West Virginia steel business, soon everything will be one-man shows. Right now it just feels that way. By the time it’s literally true, it may be that some far-sighted and bargain-minded producers will be cutting costs and offering us the no-man show—An Evening Without Rosie O’Donnell, Ian McKellen Stays Home, etc. But for now one can be reasonably sure that the advertised attraction—Bea Arthur, Kevin Bacon, Steven Berkoff, Alan King, Elaine Stritch—will show up.

With the exception of Kevin Bacon, I’m not sure any of the above is a star. And Bacon, with his long list of appealingly trashy movies, isn’t a Broadway star. But then there aren’t any Broadway stars any more. Inheriting by default are a select group of indestructible old broads who’ve been around, or at least nearby. They’re growly and gravelly, smoky an ...

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