Drew Lachey will play host to some 50,000 fans expected flock into Times Square on Sept. 14 to kick off the new Broadway season that will find Katie Holmes, Daniel Radcliffe and Haley Joel Osment coming to the Great White Way.

The second-season Dancing with the Stars champ, currently appearing in the Tony-winning musical spoof Monty Python’s Spamalot, will be joined by other stars for the free Broadway on Broadway 2008 concert, according to the event’s organizers, the Broadway League and the Times Square Alliance, and its presenter, Continental Airlines.

“I am delighted to be a part of the Broadway community and I love this great city,” Lachey, who previously costarred in the New York production of Rent, said in a statement. “I look forward to showing the Broadway fans from New York and around the world just what we have to offer.”

Besides numbers from his own show, Lachey will introduce performances from the upcoming productions A Tale of Two Cities, Elton John’s Billy Elliott and 13, about a New York teen forced to move to Indiana when his parents divorce.

Cast members from such established shows as Avenue Q, Grease, Gypsy, Hairspray, Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia! and Wicked will also strut their stuff – all in anticipation of the gala’s grand finale: a “shower” of confetti, stretching from 43rd to 47th Streets, which will be closed to traffic.

“It is an honor to be hosting this year’s “Broadway on Broadway”],” says Lachey.

Source

WENN