Happy birthday to the ever fabulous Golden Girl Betty White (pictured above), who turned 85 this week. Always keeping busy, White has recently made guest appearances on TV’s Boston Legal and The Bold and the Beautiful. A well known animal lover and advocate for animal rights, White is also the new spokesperson for PetMed Express. For Golden Girls and trivia fans, Rue McClanahan turns 73 in February. Estelle Getty and Bea Arthur (who played mother and daughter) both turn 84 later this year.

After finishing her run in Paul Rudnick’s Regrets Only, Christine Baranski will play Carlotta Campion in the New York Encores production of Follies, which runs February 8-12. The part was originated in the 1971 production by Yvonne De Carlo, who died this past January 8.

On January 27 at 8pm, the BPO will present Buffalo Legends with David Shire and Friends. Buffalo’s own David Shire will conduct and perform selections from the music he has written for the stage and screen. He will be joined by Lynne Wintersteller, Bobby Militello, Pamela Rose Mangus and Mary Kate O’Connell. Wintersteller starred in the original New York production of Shire and Richard Maltby’s revue Closer Than Ever. By the way, O’Connell & Company is now presenting (through February 11) a 30th anniversary production of Shire and Maltby’s Starting Here, Starting Now.

Speaking of Maltby and Shire, their new song cycle A Time for Love will have its world premiere in February at the Rubico Theatre Company in Ventura, California. The two-character musical, conceived and directed by Maltby, uses old and new songs by the renowned team. A Time for Love will also be presented in this season’s final slot at Studio Arena, replacing the previously announced Pump Boys and Dinettes.

Stage, movie and TV star Betsy Palmer is the first to sign on to Studio Arena’s 2007-08 season, a season that will include A. R. Gurney’s enchanting Indian Blood. A regular at Studio in the Neal DuBrock days, Palmer will be returning for one night to do a special performance as a fund raiser. Palmer was last seen on Broadway in 1976 in a production that transferred from Studio Arena, Tennessee Williams’s The Eccentricities of a Nightingale.

What good timing for Musicalfare to present Familiar Strangers, the musical conceived by Michael Walline, featuring the songs of Joni Mitchell. The acclaimed singer-songwriter will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame at a gala on January 28 in Toronto. Also this spring, Nonesuch Records will release the CD A Tribute to Joni Mitchell, with 11 of her songs sung by different artists. Familiar Strangers runs through February 11.

Randy Kramer will direct the pop musical Aida for Artpark this coming summer. The Elton John/Tim Rice musical will play August 9-19.

Add one more movie-to-stage musical adaptation in the works. Desperately Seeking Susan is on its way to London’s West End and is scheduled to open next fall. The stage version was conceived and written by playwright/actor/director and Buffalo State alum Peter Michael Marino. The musical will feature the hits of Blondie, and a new song by Deborah Harry.

Theatre Plus will present the area premiere of Air Heart, written and performed by Mara Neimanis. Described as “a solo aerial theatre performance” that explores the life of Amelia Earhart, the show will play for eight performances, February 8-17 at the Alleyway Theatre. This production replaces the previously announced I Swear I Can Fly.

Tim Kennedy will be directing James Weldon Johnson’s classic God’s Trombones, which will be performed one night only on February 23 at 7pm at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Also, for one night only, to kick off its 15th Anniversary Celebration, BUA will present The Alice Reunion on Sunday, January 28 at 7pm at Alleyway Theatre. Directed once again by Kelli Bocock Natale with musical direction by Theresa Quinn, the performance will reunite the original cast from BUA’s first production, A…My Name is Alice: Loraine O’Donnell, Mary Craig, Sheila McCarthy, Gail Golden and Jeanmarie Lally (pictured below when the show opened in January 1992).