Can't find a ticket to the Tony Awards on eBay? Cheer on Playhouse in the Park (although no promises how much you'll see on the telecast) among friends at Ensemble Theatre's annual Tony Awards live broadcast party and fund-raising bash June 6 at Paul Brown Stadium.

Dinner and entertainment ($150) start at 6 p.m., or you can arrive at 7:30 p.m. and $25 buys two drinks and New York-themed appetizers.

The dinner nosh always includes buffet stops themed to nominated shows (green things for Oz-based Wicked?). Van Ackerman of the party-planning team is busy putting together a food station honoring Playhouse. (Skyline, perhaps? Or something Mediterranean as a nod to Metamorphoses? Or soul food for Sing Hallelujah?)

For reservations and information, call Ensemble at 421-3555.

Cabaret awards: From the big New York stage to the small, the 2004 Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs (MAC) Awards will be announced Monday.

Among the artists you'll want to root for are these CCM alums: Brandon Cutrell is nominated as best male vocalist; Scott Coulter is competing in the vocal duo/group category with Audrey Lavine for Goin' Home: Songs of the South; and Kristi Cates, who was here in late April belting in a fund-raiser for New Voice Theatre, starred in Boobs! The Musical, nominated for best revue.

Kudo for Steiner: Despite a shut-out at this year's Tony nominations for the Broadway debut of Little Shop of Horrors, Rick Steiner won't be empty-handed in the awards department.

He'll receive University of Chicago's Distinguished Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship in November.

And a nod to Finnegan: Congratulations to Cincinnati native Rebecca Finnegan, nominated for Chicago's Jefferson Award for best supporting actress in the Kurt Weill revue Songs of Darkness and Light. Winners will be named in autumn.

Jackie Demaline