Usually only the musicals nominated for the top tuner trophies get a performance slot, which comes with the marketing benefits of a segment on national network television.

This year, however, �The Little Mermaid,� �Young Frankenstein� and �A Catered Affair� -- all of which received Tony nods, but not in the best musical category -- will join the lineup of nominated new tuners (�In the Heights,� �Passing Strange�) and revivals (�South Pacific,� �Gypsy�) doing numbers during the ceremony.

Only musical offering from the 2007-08 season to go missing is �Glory Days,� the short-lived flop that closed last month on the same day it opened.

Big-budget productions �Mermaid� and �Frankenstein� received just a handful of Tony noms between them, but they were the two highest-profile offerings of the year, thanks in part to the well-known movie properties on which they were based.

By including segs from those shows -- plus excerpts from branded long-runners �The Lion King� and �Rent� -- the producers of the ceremony hope to draw eyes to a telecast that has suffered in the ratings in recent years.

�When you�re trying to appeal across America, you want to get as many familiar names up there as possible,� said Ricky Kirshner, one of the kudocast�s exec producers.

�Little Mermaid� star Sierra Boggess will perform �Part of Your World,� and Megan Mullally, the �Will & Grace� alum who co-stars in �Frankenstein,� will sing �Deep Love.� From �A Catered Affair,� Faith Prince will sing �Vision,� the tune about her character�s dreams for her daughter�s wedding day.