This Week’s Picks! Catch an Animated Elf, Get Von Trapped at 54 Below & See a Thoroughly Modern Annie

Hey, you, standing in line to buy some high-priced item that will be forgotten by your friend—and thrown in the trash—in two months. Get out of the queue and hit the streets, where entertaining options abound! There’s Jake Gyllenhaal’s Broadway debut, the Von Trapp kids’ evening show, new arrivals to Wicked and more. Check out this week’s picks!


Spread Christmas Cheer with Jim Parsons
December 16, check local listings
As much as we love Elf, the 2003 holiday movie classic, we’ve seen it more times than our parents. And despite letters to our elected representatives, the musical is not returning to Broadway anytime soon. Thankfully, NBC has a perfect solution. The animated Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas, which includes elements of the movie and the musical, features Jim Parsons as the voice of our overgrown, overzealous Christmas hero. Hooray!


See Jake Gyllenhaal Survey the Stars
Beginning December 16 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
In recent months, Broadway has become Hollywood East, not that we’re complaining. Especially when we can see Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson in Constellations, Nick Payne’s play about a physicist and a bee keeper who meet at a barbecue...and then again and again and again. Yes, the play involves quantum physics, but you won’t be tested on it. We think. Wait, should we form a study group? Click for tickets!


Behold Wicked’s New Witches
Beginning December 16 at the Gershwin Theatre
It’s a new, exciting day in Oz! Caroline Bowman, fresh from the national tour of Evita, succeeds Christine Dwyer as Elphaba, and fellow Broadway veteran Kara Lindsay (Newsies) is now Glinda. Another layer of cool to this news: Bowman, a former Wicked ensemble member, understudied Elphaba. Wow, that sounds like the happy sequel to A Chorus Line! Someone grab some magic markers and construction paper—we’ve got dialogue to write. Click for tickets!


Stay up Late with the Von Trapps
December 17 at 54 Below
The highlight of The Sound of Music Live! (aside from Laura Benanti tweeting “Elsa OUT!”) had to be those super-talented Von Trapp kids. Well, lucky for us, five of them (and three of their standbys) are ignoring their bedtimes and performing for one night only at 54 Below. Just be sure to holster your Twitter fingers and stay silent. You’ll need both for ABC’s The Sound of Music: Sing-a-long on Dec. 21. Click for tickets!


Get (Hard) Knocked Out at Annie
December 19 in movie theaters
The sun comes out today as Annie, the latest big-screen adaptation of the cherished musical, opens nationwide. This one puts a modern-day spin on the Depression-era story of an adorable orphan (Quvenzhané Wallis) and the grumpy gazillionaire (Jamie Foxx) who loves her. Your inner eight-year-old, however, can rest easy. Director Will Gluck (Easy A) is known for having a deft comic touch and the terrific cast also includes Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, and Bobby Cannavale.