Broadway's Christmas comes early this WEEK AHEAD!
Saturday, December 6
GO→ Rosie O'Donnell and Laverne Cox host Cyndi Lauper's Home for the Holidays, a benefit concert for the Tony-winning composer's True Colors Fund, which helps LGBTQ homeless youth. On the list of performers are Lauper, rapper 50 Cent, Lea Delaria, Patty Griffin and more. (8 PM, Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway, btwn. 74th & 75th Sts. Info/tickets.)
GO→ Playbill's own Michael Gioia, whose byline you may recognize from features on Anna Kendrick's star turn in "Into the Woods" to what Broadway scene-stealers do on their nights off, moonlights as producer and performer in Gioia to the World: My Holiday Hell. Gioia welcomes Broadway performers Ariana DeBose, Tommy Bracco and two-time Tony nominee Robin De Jesus to his "hell" — a sassy, belty, bitch-fest about the draining holiday season. Sounds more like Michael's heaven if you ask me! (54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)
Sunday, December 7
OPENING→ Bradley Cooper makes a transformative turn on Broadway, from Hollywood hunk to the disfigured freak show attraction, John Merrick, in Bernard Pomerance's classic drama The Elephant Man. (Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)
Monday, December 8
GO→ 'Tis the season for giving and being entertained! Do both at the 26th annual Gypsy of the Year competition, which features Broadway's biggest stars and hardest-working chorus kids (aka "gypsies") coming together to raise money for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS. The list of performers/presenters include: host Seth Rudetsky, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Michael C. Hall, James Monroe Iglehart, Anika Larsen, Judith Light and original cast members of The Wiz! Twenty-five years of gypsys have raised more than $57.2 million for the vital services provided by BC/EFA. (Dec. 8 at 4:30 PM & Dec. 9 at 2 PM, New Amsterdam Theatre, 214 W. 42nd St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Aves. Info/tickets.) OPENING→ Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced author debuts a new play, The Invisible Hand, at New York Theatre Workshop. Justin Kirk of "Weeds" and "Modern Family" fame stars as an American banker kidnapped and held for ransom in Pakistan. (Through Jan. 4, NYTW, 79 E. 4th St., btwn. 2nd & 3rd Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Tuesday, December 9
CASTING→ Sting steps into his semi-autobiographical musical The Last Ship for a limited run. It's no secret that the show about the blue-collar denizens of a struggling shipyard town in England has been struggling to find its audience. With the appearance of an actual rock star, can this Ship be saved? (Neil Simon Theatre, 250 W. 52nd St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Aves. Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets.)
Wednesday, December 10
GO→ Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell star in "Miss Julie," a film adaptation of August Strindberg's classic about the daughter of a powerful count who enters into a dangerous relationship with her father's spoken-for valet. Oscar and Tony nominee Liv Ullmann directs. (In theatres near you)
Thursday, December 11
PREVIEWS→ Neil Pepe directs the American premiere of the dark comedy Dying For It, based on Nikolai Erdman's 1928 play The Suicide. Joey Slotnick stars as a man fed up with life who decides to end it all. But before he does, a deluge of sympathetic visitors descends upon him, determined to make his suicide count for something. Officially opens January 8. (Linda Gross Theater, 336 W. 20th St., btwn. 8th & 9th Aves. Info/tickets.)
Friday, December 12
GO→ Broadway's girl next-door Laura Osnes returns to the nightclub circuit with a new show, Paths Not Taken. The two-time Tony-nominated star of Grease, South Pacific, Anything Goes, Bonnie & Clyde and Cinderella promises Osnes' gorgeous soprano on songs she's never gotten to sing before. (Dec. 9-15, 54 Below, 254 W. 54th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave. Info/tickets.)
