This Week’s Picks: Spend Christmas with Into the Woods, Charlie Brown, Annie & More!

Hey, you, anguishing over whether you should bring your five pairs of yoga pants or the The West Wing box set for your trip home. Step away from the overflowing suitcase, and step outside! There’s fun stuff aplenty, including exciting new stars at Cabaret and Aladdin, a Charlie Brown Christmas at 54 Below, and Into the Woods—the movie! Take a deep breath. Here come this week’s picks!


Celebrate Christmas with Charlie Brown
December 22 at 54 Below
Amidst the 24-hour onslaught of X-mas tunes, the jazzy music from A Charlie Brown Christmas remains a yuletide treat. What’s even better is hearing that great music performed live by the Snoopy Trio: Don “Schroeder” Rebic on piano, David “Linus” Finck on bass, and Mike “Charlie Brown” Berkowitz on drums. Even betterest, the band is joined by Broadway vets Haven Burton and Clarke Thorell on other holiday classics. So ho, ho, go! Click for tickets!


Chill with Aladdin’s New Sidekick
Starts December 22 at the New Amsterdam Theatre
There are two great things about Broadway this time of year: tourist spotting (look for fanny packs and bewildered stares) and new stars in old favorites. The latter includes Steel Burkhardt (Hair, Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing), who steps in as Kassim in Aladdin. That makes us wonder—what’s a more kick-ass name: Kassim or Steel Burkhardt? Take your time and show your work. Click for tickets!


Willkommen Cabaret’s New Fraulein
Beginning December 22 at Studio 54
Cabaret embraces another actress with film chops as Hani Furstenberg (The Loneliest Planet) joins the revival for her Broadway debut. The redheaded Furstenberg, who succeeds Gayle Rankin as Fraulein Kost, was born in New York City and moved to Israel as a teen, where she became an acclaimed TV and stage actress. Plus, she’s a Book of Mormon fan! We like her already. Click for tickets!


See Annie Meet Ellen
December 23, check local listings
If you’re lucky, you’re resting before you run the emotional-eating-travel triathlon that is the holiday season. So settle on the couch, pour a coup of cheer, and enjoy Annie’s Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, and Quvenzhane Wallis on Ellen. Whatever this talented trio does, it will be a fun distraction from the seven-hour bus ride that awaits you tomorrow. Wait, why is this is the most wonderful time of the year again?


Go Into the Woods (Finally!)
Opens in theaters December 25
Remember as a kid when you had to wait forever to get that awesome gift on Christmas morning? Here’s the Broadway buff’s version, as the star-packed adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s classic musical hits the big screen with Anna Kendrick, Meryl Streep, James Corden, and Johnny Depp. And the best part is you don’t have to wake up your parents to enjoy this Rob Marshall-directed treat!