STAGE

Vereen Bows: Ben Vereen did not break a leg but he did stop the show with cheers as he took the Broadway stage in “Jelly’s Last Jam” 10 months after he was nearly killed in a highway accident. Vereen’s doctors and therapists were in the audience Thursday night, as were Mayor David Dinkins and a celebrity support group. Vereen plays the role of Chimney Man, a death figure who has an opening monologue, sings and performs various stylized movements. The 46-year-old performer was hit by a car last June as he walked along a dark highway near his home in Malibu. He suffered head and internal injuries and a leg fracture.