Ben Vereen Is Aladdin's Holiday Genie, Drag Divas Channel Liza With a Z & More Cross-Country Highlights

Broadway.com is your go-to source for the latest on the Great White Way, but what about the hundreds of exciting shows being presented on stages all over the country? We've got the perfect alternative to last-minute Christmas shopping: Head to a theater near you to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, a "panto" version of Aladdin, The Mousetrap the Rat Pack and a triple treat of Lizas in drag. It's a rip-roaring week of theater across the USA!


PROVIDENCE, RI
Savor Durang’s Wonderfully Wicked Words
Whether we like it or not, the holiday season offers the chance to reconnect with family members, so the timing is perfect for Trinity Repertory Company’s production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Christopher Durang’s Tony-winning Chekhov-inspired comedy centers on three ornery siblings who refuse to acknowledge how much they actually depend on one another. If you’re convinced no family is as crazy as yours, this Curt Columbus-directed play, running through December 22, will offer reassurance that you are not alone.


PITTSBURGH, PA
Sleigh Bells Ring and the Rat Pack Swings
Raise a holiday toast to Frank, Sammy and Dean as they serve up seasonal favorites in Christmas with the Rat Pack at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Heinz Hall, December 24 through 29. Accompanied by a 12-piece orchestra, the talented cast transports audiences to the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas with "I'll Be Home for Christmas," "Baby It's Cold Outside," "Silent Night" and many more. Christmas with the Rat Pack is a nostalgic trip back to the glamorous, glitzy late 1950s, with holiday hits performed in a jazzy style perfected by Sinatra and his pals.


PASADENA, CA
Ben Vereen Lights Up a Panto-Style Aladdin
It’s Aladdin as you’ve never seen it! Pasadena Playhouse's production of Aladdin and His Winter Wish is told in the style of a traditional British Yuletide "panto" with pop music from One Direction, Katy Perry, Billy Joel, Bruno Mars and more.Tony winner Ben Vereen plays the Genie, with Disney's Jordan Fisher as Aladdin, Nickelodeon's Ashley Argota as the Princess, Emmy winner Bruce Vilanch as Widow Twankey and Home Improvement's Richard Karn as the Sultan. Dancing? Magic? And a live pony?! Catch this one-of-a-kind show through December 29.


ST. LOUIS, MO
Take the Bait in Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Mousetrap
The Mousetrap is celebrating its 61st anniversary in London, making it the world’s longest running production. Though the play has spawned imitators, nothing surpasses Agatha Christie's original whodunit for intricate plotting and murderous good fun. In a guesthouse in the English countryside, a group of snowbound travelers must discover who among them is a murderer...and who the next victim might be. The Mousetrap is running at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis's Mainstage in the Loretto-Hilton Center through December 29.


CHICAGO, IL
Christmas Carol Meets Cross-Dressing in We Three Lizas
For those in search of a little holiday irreverence, the revamped vamps of We Three Lizas could be singing your favorite new carol. Scott Bradley and Alan Schmuckler's Yuletide offering, playing at About Face Theatre's Stage 773 through January 5, centers on fading fashion icon Conrad Ticklebottom. Three magical Liza Minnellis appear, and through song and humor, they set Conrad back on the right path. Starring Andrew Swan, Danielle Plisz and John Francisco, We Three Lizas is chockful of campy seasonal fun.