Annie, Anne Hathaway, Al Pacino and Abraham Lincoln Get Their Big Moments in This Week's Datebook

Welcome to November! With a ton of shows beginning performances this month, plus the first batch of holiday concerts, we’ve got a full, festive month ahead of us! Two Broadway openings, a magical gala, Abraham Lincoln and Anne Hathaway—what more could your calendar want?


MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5
THEATER STARS MAKE BELIEVE ON BROADWAY
The 13th annual Make Believe on Broadway gala has more stars than we know what to do with! Hosted by former Law & Order: SVU star Chris Meloni, this year’s event will honor Ian McKellen (among others) and feature performances by Matthew Broderick, Norm Lewis, Ashley Brown, Adrienne Warren and more. The only bad news about this high-profile affair? No lottery rush!

ALSO: Dead Accounts starts previews at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre; Kristin Chenoweth brings her popular concert to Costa Mesa, CA; Tony winner Debbie Gravitte lights up the stage at 54 Below; Billy Ray Cyrus starts a razzle-dazzle turn in Chicago.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6
SIT DOWN, YOU’RE ROCKIN’ THE BLU-RAY
Since July, Warner Brothers has been prepping the dapper digital release of the slick 1955 musical Guys and Dolls, which will make its way onto Blu-Ray in time for the holiday season. The classic musical stars Frank Sinatra as compulsive gambler Nathan Detroit and a crooning Marlon Brando (in the only musical of his career) as the fast-talking Sky Masterson, plus Broadway star Vivian Blaine as Adelaide. Not a Guys and Dolls fan? Sue us.

ALSO: The Election Day-themed Sorry opens off-Broadway on Election Day at the Public Theater; Glee debuts the soundtrack for its upcoming tribute to Grease (titled, of course, Glease); 12-CD set Rodgers & Hammerstein: The Complete Broadway Musicals hits stores; Broadway's Jersey Boys celebrates its seventh anniversary.


WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7
A CHRISTMAS STORY PREVIEWS ITS PRESENTS
Broadway audiences will finally get their first peek at what’s inside the big gift-wrapped surprise that is A Christmas Story, The Musical when the splashy stage adaptation of the 1983 holiday movie begins previews. Newcomer Johnny Rabe stars as Ralphie Parker, the bespectacled, bunny-suited Christmas fanatic who sings his soul out for a Red Ryder BB Gun. Careful, Ralphie… you’ll shoot your eye out!

ALSO: The Twenty-Seventh Man begins previews at the Public Theater; Brian Stokes Mitchell’s benefit concert Simply Broadway goes on (rescheduled from October 31); Liz Callaway begins her five-day stint at 54 Below.


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8
THE SUN COMES OUT (TODAY!) FOR ANNIE
Broadway’s most optimistic orphan is always singing about the sun coming out tomorrow, but it’s the stars that will come out tonight when the newest revival of Annie opens at the Palace Theatre. Lilla Crawford dons the signature red wig, with Katie Finneran as the lasciviously liquefied Miss Hannigan. Plus, there’s Sandy, the dog, who is a decidedly more welcome presence in New York than Sandy, the superstorm.

ALSO: Golden Boy begins Broadway previews at the Belasco Theatre; My Name is Asher Lev starts performances off-Broadway; Marvin Makes Music, a children’s book based on the life of late composer Marvin Hamlisch, is available in stores; Glee returns from its fall hiatus.


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 9
BROADWAY ABOUNDS IN STARRY LINCOLN
A slew of Broadway stars pop up in Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s historical drama, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as America’s most embattled president. Broadway alums Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, Lee Pace, James Spader, David Strathairn and Elizabeth Marvel join Tony winners Hal Holbrook, Julie White and Stephen Spinella, as well as Tony nominees S. Epatha Merkerson, Michael Stuhlbarg, Colman Domingo and Gregory Itzin in this sweeping cinematic event. Better start engraving those Oscars now!

ALSO: Elf starts Broadway previews; Radio City Christmas Spectacular begins performances; Coming Up Roses, starring Bernadette Peters, opens in movie theaters.


SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
FANTINE GETS FUNNY ON SNL
Hats off to Anne Hathaway for her third hosting stint on Saturday Night Live. This time around, Hathaway will promote her role as Fantine in the upcoming mega-movie Les Miserables, which means we should look forward to at least one sketch devoted to the epic musical. And maybe, just maybe, we’ll dream a dream of Hugh Jackman making a cameo.

ALSO: Jill Paice joins James Barbour’s fifth annual holiday concert at Sardi’s; Inner Voices (three one-act musicals with Hunter Foster, Arielle Jacobs and Alexandra Silber) starts at 30th Street Theater.


SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11
GLENGARRY OPENS ON BROADWAY, DOES NOT GET COFFEE
Coffee is for closers after all, and the new star-studded revival of David Mamet’s biting drama Glengarry Glen Ross is only just opening. Al Pacino and Bobby Cannavale star in the Daniel Sullivan-directed production, which will have its glossy debut at the Schoenfeld Theatre. We’ve been to plenty of opening nights on Broadway, but we have a feeling this one is going to be motherf**king fantastic.

ALSO: Laura Osnes, Kerry Butler and Andrea McArdle sing out at the TRU Love Benefit; Forever Dusty begins off-Broadway previews; The Other Josh Cohen and Wild With Happy close off-Broadway.

To have your NYC-area event considered, send us an e-mail at datebook@broadway.com.