WATCH: 5 Great Performances by Elaine Stritch

Elaine Stritch fans were dismayed to hear that the legendary singer-actress's upcoming show at Manhattan's Cafe Carlyle will be her farewell appearance in New York. The 88-year-old Tony- and Emmy-winner hesitates to say she's retiring, but she is definitely giving up her apartment at the Carlyle Hotel and moving back to her native Michigan.

Stritch, the hotel's most famous resident and a frequent performer at the cafe, will say goodbye to the venue and the city this week with Elaine Stritch at the Carlyle: Movin' Over and Out, a free-form evening of story and song, in which she'll be accompanied by longtime collaborator Rob Bowman on piano. Performances are scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday.

Stritch has many LGBT admirers and has always returned the love, and she has gay connections too numerous to list -- to name just a few, she's one of the greatest interpreters of the work of Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim, and she even dated Rock Hudson. For those who can't get to one of this week's performances, and even for those who can, we've compiled video of some highlights of Stritch's storied career. Everybody rise!

"The Ladies Who Lunch": Stritch's signature song from the Broadway musical Company by Stephen Sondheim

Elaine Stritch performs "Broadway Baby" (by Stephen Sondheim, from the musical Follies) at In Performance at the White House: A Broadway Celebration, an event held in the East Room to honor the arts and celebrate the importance of arts education, July 19, 2010.

Stritch performs "I'm Still Here" (by Stephen Sondheim, from the musical Follies) at In Performance at the White House: A Broadway Celebration.

Elaine Stritch in her one-woman show At Liberty, on choosing Rock Hudson over Ben Gazzara

The Noel Coward Trilogy: Sail Away, starring Elaine Stritch