Sex, Movies and Big Gay Weddings! Take Note of Highlights From the Week Ahead in Our Broadway Datebook
There’s still plenty of time to kill before getting started on that Thanksgiving turkey, so make sure to clear your calendar for the best Broadway events from the week ahead, including three starry opening nights and a legendary concert debut.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12
MMM, MMM, GOOD...FOR A GOOD CAUSE
If you're in the Times Square area with a rumble in your tummy, stop by the Broadway.com offices (729 7th Avenue, 7th Floor) and feed the need at our one-day-only bake sale, benefitting victims of Hurricane Sandy. Broadway.com staffers are baking up a storm, creating countless delicious goodies that you won't want to miss out on. Diet? What diet?!
ALSO: David Hyde Pierce and Sigourney Weaver open in Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre; Eve Ensler’s Emotional Creature brings girl power to opening night; Sherie Rene Scott sings George Michael in I’m Your Man concert at SOB’s; Bebe Neuwirth, Judy Kaye, Raul Esparza and more lend their voices to Encores! 20th Anniversary Gala; Jersey Boys alums sing oldies in The Doo Wop Project at Feinstein’s; Sam Salmond’s Stand Alone: Songs About and Written By Losers plays the Laurie Beechman; a gaggle of stars take on the challenge of the 24 Hour Plays on Broadway. Fully Committed receives a special benefit reading at the Vineyard.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13
AUDIENCES CRACK THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD
The madcap mania of Victorian music halls comes to Broadway in Roundabout’s revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a musical whodunit based on Charles Dickens’ famously unfinished final novel. The audience votes on the ending each night, which means that you’ll rarely see the same show twice. Ever wanted to see Chita Rivera confess to murder? Here’s your chance!
ALSO: The Lion King still roars after 15 years on Broadway; the cast of Newsies performs on Dancing with the Stars; Patti LuPone and Debra Winger stir up trouble in The Anarchist’s first preview; David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child opens off-Broadway; Susan Boyle, George Chakiris, John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John release new albums; Leslie Uggams begins a run at 54 Below; Peter Gallagher plays Feinstein’s; Marni Raab returns to The Phantom of the Opera.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14
THE PERFORMERS SEX UP BROADWAY
Take a dose of porn, a few scantily clad Broadway stars and add in some Henry Winkler and you get The Performers, a brand new comedy that will be stripping Broadway of its innocence nightly. The lighthearted Cheyenne Jackson and Alicia Silverstone-led farce opens tonight, and the red carpet will no doubt get a healthy helping of star power from Winkler’s famous friends. All together now: Aaaaay!
ALSO: Andrea McArdle makes headlines in Newsical; Chicago celebrates its 16th anniversary; Cotton Club Parade, starring Glee’s Amber Riley, starts at New York City Center; Primary Stages' annual gala honors Tyne Daly, Jamie deRoy and Ted Snowdon.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15
SCANDALOUS OPENS UP TO THE HEAVENS
Aimee Semple McPherson’s fantastic life story is ripped from the headlines and thrown onto the Broadway stage in Scandalous, a new musical that marks Kathie Lee Gifford’s Main Stem writing debut. Carolee Carmello stars as the divine diva at the center of the show, which combines church gospel with 1920s jazz style for a holy tale of Hollywood proportions. Preach it, Carolee!
ALSO: It's opening night for Giant at the Public Theater and The Good Mother at the Acorn on Theatre Row; Christopher Plummer stars in the movie Barrymore, in limited release in Los Angeles and New York.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16
ANNA KARENINA WALTZES INTO THEATERS
Tony-winning playwright Tom Stoppard has adapted Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel Anna Karenina into a visually stunning film starring stage veterans Keira Knightley and two-time Tony nominee Jude Law. You can dance your way to the multiplex to catch this high society Russian romance. Probably best not to take the train, though.
ALSO: Zelda Fitzgerald biographical play Zelda at the Oasis starts at St. Luke’s Theatre; Mary Poppins reaches a magical six year milestone; The Velveteen Rabbit starts previews at the DR2 Theatre.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17
A MOB WIFE HAS A BIG GAY ITALIAN WEDDING
Mob Wives personality Ramona Rizzo will be the first celebrity guest to attend My Big Gay Italian Wedding, stepping into the ever-changing role of wedding officiator for the show’s starring couple (played by Daniel Robinson and playwright Anthony J. Wilkinson). If you don’t catch Rizzo, don’t fret—you’ll get another shot at gangster glory when Karen Gravano appears on December 1.
ALSO: Blue Man Group deserves a drum roll for an astounding 21-year anniversary.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18
FEINSTEIN’S GETS A TUNE-UP
What’s cooler than one Tony Award? Nine of them! Just ask Tommy Tune, the legendary, record-setting stage vet who will make his New York solo debut in Taps, Tunes and Tall Tales at Feinstein’s. Tune kicks off his first of six shows on November 18, when he’ll tap, sing and share personal stories about his 50 years in the Broadway industry.
ALSO: Opening nights for The Piano Lesson, Forever Dusty, The Twenty-Seventh Man and The Velveteen Rabbit; closing night for Enemy of the People, Wild With Happy, Sorry, Son of a Gun and Cabaret Emigre; David Hyde Pierce and Kelli O’Hara pay tribute to Abe Burrows at the Williamstown Theatre Festival benefit.