TWO BIG musical hits with even bigger names are currently captivating audiences and competing against each other at the 64th Annual Tony Awards this month. One should be around for a while and the other is scheduled to close in mid-June, but rumors have surfaced indicating otherwise. Tickets are still available if you’re planning a weekend getaway to New York.

“Promises, Promises” stars Tony-nominated Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace’s” Jack) and Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth (“Wicked”), a revival of the Burt Bacharach/Hal David-penned musical based on the 1960 film “The Apartment.” With a TV’s “Mad Men” feel, Chuck Baxter (Hayes) is an unremarkable young man whose rise up the corporate ladder is unexpectedly due to loaning his apartment to married co-workers needing a place for their trysts, including the head of the company (Tony Goldwyn) who’s having an affair with Fran Kubelik (Chenoweth), the woman about whom Baxter fantasizes. When Fran loses the man she really never had, she finds the man she deserves.

Hayes imbues his performance with the same physical, manic energy he gave his famous TV character, and his fans will love it. Chenoweth’s voice is both tender and powerful, especially in the numbers “I Say a Little Prayer” and “A House Is Not a Home,” reportedly added to enlarge her role. While Fran and Chuck may not have the hottest chemistry, things get hot and funny in the early second act when Baxter meets a very intoxicated Marge (the hilarious Katie Finnerman) at a singles bar. Marge refuses to be seduced by him as she allows him to seduce her while seducing him all at the same time.

Despite its mixed reviews and perhaps the “Newsweek” brouhaha, but definitely because of Hayes and Chenoweth’s combined popularity, tickets sales have been very strong. Finnerman leads the pack for her show-stealing performance at this year’s Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in a Musical.

And finally, last call (or is it?) for “A Little Night Music,” the starry revival of the Stephen Sondheim/Hugh Wheeler 1973 hit now with Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones and five-time Tony winner, the legendary Angela Lansbury. The show charts the tangled web of romances, mainly that of Desiree Armfeldt (Zeta-Jones), an actress too tired to tour and ready to fall in love again with an old flame, Fredrik (Alexander Hanson) whose new bride is only 18 years old. Lansbury plays Desiree’s mother, the spirited matriarch who raises her granddaughter while Desiree tours. She grounds the show as she dispenses her wisdom and spills about her own sorted love life. The score is memorable for its cerebral and emotional takes on all things love, especially the unforgettable Desiree’s “Send In the Clowns.”

Zeta-Jones does well in a role that doesn’t fully exploit her talents. It feels as if she wants to (or should) burst out a bit further. Aaron Lazar (Desiree’s current flame, Count Carl-Magnus Malcom) and Erin Davie (the count’s wife) shine, while Lansbury is simply divine. The show is scheduled to officially close on June 20, 2010, however, Broadway is abuzz with rumors that two other stage legends may take on the roles: Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch.