Steve Kazee Croons, Krysta Rodriguez Swoons & Broadway Gets Ruff in This Week’s Datebook

With all of the fantastic events that are happening in the Broadway community, it’s hard to keep track of them all! Lucky for you, we’ve got you covered with our handy dandy Datebook, which this week includes everything from a Tony winner’s return to 54 Below to a pair of red-hot hoofers burning up the floor with a Tango. Check out the list of events for the week of July 8!


MONDAY, JULY 8
KAZEE WHAT YOU WANNA KAZEE
Tony winner Steve Kazee is bringing back his show to hotspot 54 Below, where he played a popular debut engagement earlier this year. Joining Kazee in the July 8-13 run are his band, The Shiny Liars, and a handful of special guest musicians. Embrace this Broadway hunk in the only place more intimate than Once’s onstage bar: 54 Below!

ALSO: Brian Stokes Mitchell kicks off the Starry Summer Nights concert series at Town Hall; two-time Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz reprises Girls, Girls, Girls at 54 Below; Stephanie J. Block sings the roof off at Birdland.


TUESDAY, JULY 9
FIRST DATE’S FIRST DATE
Zachary Levi (TV’s Chuck) and Broadway favorite Krysta Rodriguez go on a blind date for the ages in the new musical comedy First Date, which begins preview performances July 9 at the Longacre Theatre. Everything from Google background checks to woebegone Jewish grandmothers pop up, and preview audiences will be the first to see it all!

ALSO: Forever Tango starts previews at the Walter Kerr Theatre; Remy Auberjonois replaces Jeremy Shamos in The Assembled Parties; David Abeles becomes Pierre in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812; Jinkx Monsoon lights up the Laurie Beechman; Alcestis Ascending: A Rock Myth starts at the Clurman Theatre; Hands on a Hardbody’s cast album gets a digital release; Pippin’s new cast album hits stores.


WEDNESDAY, JULY 10
ROCK OUT WITH RAUL
A super-talented cast has assembled for Encores! limited-run staging of Marc Blitzstein’s The Cradle Will Rock, a musical about fat-cat capitalists and at least one kind-hearted prostitute. Raul Esparza leads a talented ensemble that lincudes Matthew Saldivar, Danny Burstein, Anika Noni Rose and Da’Vine Joy Randolph. Catch this rockin’ Cradle through July 13.

ALSO: Agatha Christie gets the musical comedy treatment as Murder for Two begins previews off-Broadway; Norbert Leo Butz croons again at 54 Below.


THURSDAY, JULY 11
GONG WITH THE WIND
The live stage version of the 1970s talent competition The Gong Show performs its third of six pre-off-Broadway tryouts at the Cutting Room, wherein over a dozen acts will take the stage to perform for a rotating panel of “celebrity” judges. It’s the folks in the audiences who are the real winners, though—14 crazy acts for the price of one!

ALSO: Rising Broadway stars take the stage in Women & Men on the Verge at 54 Below; Alcestis Ascending opens at Clurman Theatre.


FRIDAY, JULY 12
PIANOS GET PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE
NYC’s fabulous Dueling Pianos have swapped downtown’s swanky Webster Hall for uptown’s new nightclub The Wall, where the crowd favorite piano players will continue their popular show every Friday at 8PM. The audience is in control of the music, so you only have yourself to blame during the eighth reprise of “I Will Survive.”


SATURDAY, JULY 13
76 MILKBONES LEAD THE BIG PARADE
Broadway is going to the dogs for the 15th annual Broadway Barks! dog and cat adoption event, wherein a slew of stage favorites will go off-leash to raise money and awareness for the ASPCA. Prepare for a cavalcade of puppies!

ALSO: Wanda’s Monster begins performances off-Broadway; The Awesome ‘80s Prom starts performances at The Wall; Glee fave Matthew Morrison hits 54 Below.


SUNDAY, JULY 14
TAKE UP THE TANGO
Dancing with the Stars hotties Karina Smirnoff and Maksim Chmerkovskiy will burn the floor in the return Broadway engagement of Luis Bravo’s Forever Tango, which officially opens on July 14 at the Walter Kerr Theatre. Sixteen world-class dancers, one vocalist and a pitch-perfect orchestra will keep this Tango going…well, forever! (Just kidding…the limited run ends September 15.)

ALSO: Jane Lynch plays her final Annie performance; A Kid Like Jake ends; Macbeth, starring Tony winner Alan Cumming, finishes its extended engagement at the Barrymore Theatre; The Broadway-star-populated Newsroom’s second season begins on HBO; Jackie Hoffman brings Old Woman, New Material to 54 Below.