Luke Yankee Presents 'Diva Dish!' at White Plains Nov.16

Luke Yankee, son of Broadway and Hollywood actress Eileen Heckart, presents "Diva Dish!" his one-man show playing at White Plain Performing Arts Center on Friday, November 16 at 8PM.

Luke Yankee, a masterful performer and storyteller, invites you into a world you've only dreamed about – full of showbiz gossip and behind-the-scenes tales of all your favorite celebrities. This multimedia theatrical event includes never-before-seen photos of stars like Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Bob Fosse, rare video clips and scores of humorous stories. 

Yankee, an actor and director who resides in Los Angeles, Palm Springs and New York, compiled Diva Dish!" after his mother, Oscar, Tony, Emmy winner and member of the Theatre Hall of Fame Eileen Heckart, passed away.

In the first half of the evening, Luke "dishes" about the major divas in his life and his mother's – Marlene Dietrich, George Cukor, Marilyn Monroe, Ethel Merman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Bette Davis and Ellen DeGeneres, to name a few, accompanied by video clips, photographs and even a rare audio tape of Joan Crawford. In the second half, the audience shouts out names in the program as he rattles off hilarious anecdotes about Carol Channing, Paul Newman, Martha Stewart, Lucille Ball, Arthur Miller, Debbie Reynolds and many more. 

Yankee has performed "Diva Dish!" at theatres coast-to-coast including the Supper Club in New York City, the Los Angeles Theatre Center, Maine State Music Theatre, Long Beach Playhouse, for Celebrity Cruise Lines and at the William Inge Theatre Festival.  Rex Reed says, "'Diva Dish!' is touching, hilarious and completely enthralling. Luke Yankee is such a marvelous storyteller that you'll want to hear the stories he tells again and again!" Following the performance, Luke will be signing copies of his recent memoir, Just Outside the Spotlight, acclaimed as "one of the most compassionate and illuminating showbiz books ever written," which will be on sale in the lobby of the theatre. 

An accomplished director as well, Luke Yankee will be directing Man of La Mancha, the inaugural production of the Broadway Classics' series at White Plains Performing Arts Center. The show plays November 29-December 16, 2007 at the theatre.

Tickets for "Diva Dish!" are $35/$30. White Plains Performing Arts Center is located on the third level of City Center at the corner of Main and Mamaroneck in downtown White Plains, just 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan, and there is plenty of convenient parking. For tickets please call 914.328.1600 or buy them online at www.wppac.com.  

White Plains Performing Arts Center brings innovative and eclectic entertainment and classic Broadway musicals to appreciative audiences who live throughout the county and beyond. It is Westchester's only professional regional theatre. With a new management team in place under the direction of Executive Producer Jack W. Batman, upgraded facilities and improved signage, the 410-seat, $6 million theatre also hosts local, national and international performing artists whose work reflects Westchester's diverse population. The 2007-2008 Season is sponsored by the Louis R. Cappelli Foundation, and made possible, in part, by grants from the City of White Plains and the Westchester Arts Council with funds from Westchester County Government.