Broadway Gets Scarlett Fever, Jake Gyllenhaal Says Goodbye & Jessica Chastain Hunts Terrorists in This Week’s Datebook

The holiday season is in full force, and this week’s Broadway.com Datebook is packed with tons of fun things to see and do all around NYC. Take a break from Christmas shopping to experience a few of these exciting theater-centric events!


MONDAY, DECEMBER 17
LINDSAY MENDEZ & JULIA MURNEY GO BACKSTAGE FOR X-MAS
Get into the holiday spirit with Falling star Julia Murney, Dogfight alums Lindsay Mendez and Derek Klena, Broadway vet Tituss Burgess and more in Backstage For Christmas: A Holiday Cabaret at Broadway’s Foxwoods Theatre Performance Space. The cabaret isn't only jolly holiday fun—the one-night-only performance will benefit ASTEP, an organization that connects at-risk youth with performing and visual artists.

ALSO: David Hyde Pierce leads American Song at Jerome L. Greene Performance Space; The PigPen Theatre Co. takes over Joe’s Pub; Karen Mason and Mx. Justin Vivian Bond croon at 54 Below; Olympia Dukakis and more star in Shakespeare With Benefits Presents Sandy Relief at the West End Theatre; Hugh Jackman chats Les Miz on Jimmy Kimmel Live; Joey Calveri takes over the role of Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages.


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 18
BROADWAY MEETS SCARLETT THE CAT
Stage and screen star Scarlett Johansson took the Broadway world by storm in 2010 with her dazzling, Tony-winning debut as Catherine in A View From the Bridge. Now she’s returning to Broadway to take on Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams’ classic drama Cat on a Hot Tin Roof alongside Benjamin Walker as Brick. Things are about to get steamy in the Richard Rodgers Theatre!

ALSO: Blythe Danner joins Nice Work If You Can Get It; Now. Here. This. cast album hits stores; Pitch Perfect is released on DVD and Blu-Ray; Marc Kudisch and Jeffry Denman begin performances in Happy Merry Hanu-Mas off-Broadway; Darius de Haas sings at swanky 54 Below; Eden Espinosa’s solo album Look Around released; Grace star Paul Rudd gets silly on Letterman.


WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19
THE HEIRESS HUNTS BIN LADEN
Jessica Chastain may play shy, awkward daughter Catherine Sloper in The Heiress on Broadway, but she’s kicking some serious Bin Laden butt in the much-buzzed-about new film Zero Dark Thirty. Even before opening in select theaters, Zero Dark Thirty snagged awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review and New York Film Critics Online. Here’s hoping an Academy Award nod for the Broadway beauty is next!

ALSO: Maureen McGovern takes on 54 Below; John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John bring the Christmas spirit to Live With Kelly & Michael; Eddie Redmayne talks Les Miz on Ellen.


THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20
DECK THE HALLS WITH DEE SNIDER
Rock around the Christmas tree with Dee Snider on December 20, when the Twisted Sister frontman combines his love for showtunes and Christmas hits at 54 Below. After starring in Rock of Ages, Snider caught the Broadway bug and released Dee Does Broadway, a solo album featuring rock mash-ups of his favorite theatrical hits. Hear him belt out Broadway and Christmas songs with a rock twist live at 54 Below!

ALSO: Joan Rivers makes ‘em laugh for charity at the Laurie Beechman Theatre.


FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21
KILLER JOE GETS FREAKY ON DVD
Matthew McConaughey scared the living crap out of movie audiences this year in Killer Joe, based on the off-Broadway thriller by Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? star Tracy Letts. In the creepy, suspenseful and downright twisted film, McConaughey stars as a sadistic hitman who is hired to kill a debtor’s (Emile Hirsch) evil mother. Pick up a copy of the newly released DVD for your Naughty Santa party.

ALSO: Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away and This is 40 starring Grace’s Paul Rudd hit movie theaters.


SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22
GRETCHEN MOL WRAPS UP THE GOOD MOTHER
TV audiences know her best as seriously damaged mom Gillian on Boardwalk Empire, but Gretchen Mol is taking on a different kind of broken mom in off-Broadway’s The Good Mother, which ends its run at the New Group. In the world premiere drama by Francine Volpe, Mol tries to get answers when a mysterious event happens to her disabled daughter.

ALSO: Klea Blackhurst, Jim Caruso and Billy Stritch team up for A Swinging Birdland Christmas.


SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23
LAST CALL FOR JAKE GYLLENHAAL’S STAGE DEBUT
Screen hunk Jake Gyllenhaal made our dreams come true this season when he made his off-Broadway debut in the dark drama If There Is I Haven’t Found It Yet. It’s your last chance to catch Gyllenhaal (or see him again!) in his funny and touching performance as erratic Uncle Terry, who struggles to help his overweight niece fit in at school.

ALSO: Billy Ray Cyrus razzle dazzles ‘em one last time in Chicago; Disgraced and #ReganCross play their final performances off-Broadway; Michael Feinstein and Christine Ebersole bring holiday cheer to Feinstein’s.