Today’s Highlights:
* A Christmas Carol – The Musical Staged Concert, adapted by Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens & Mike Ockrent, directed by Shaun Kerrison, featuring Brian Conley (Ebenezer Scrooge), Jacqueline Jossa (Emily/Ghost of Christmas Future), Matt Jay-Willis (Bob Cratchit), Lucie Jones (The Ghost of Christmas Past), Sandra Marvin (Mrs. Fezziwig), Martyn Ellis (Mr. Fezziwig), Cedric Neal (The Ghost of Christmas Present, Jeremy Secomb (Jacob Marley), Rebecca Lock (Mrs. Cratchit), and Sam Oladeinde (Fred Anderson/Young Scrooge), begins previews at London’s Dominion Theatre.
* “Wake the Body” virtual presentation, by Matt Ackels, directed by Christopher James Raymond, featuring Wes McGee, David Meyers, and Adam J. Smith, streams at 8 PM PT at Hollywood’s Blank Theatre.
* “York Musicals in Mufti: Bar Mitzvah Boy” (2018) FREE discussion, by Jule Styne, Don Black & Jack Rosenthal, featuring director Annette Jolles, music director Darren R. Cohen. and cast members Ben Fankhauser, Timothy Jerome, Neal Benari, Lori Wilner, and more, livestreams at 7 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s York Theatre.
* “You Have Done That You Should Be Sorry For,” a conversation focusing on the “Tent Scene” from Julius Caesar (Act 4: Scene 3), with Daniel Sullivan & Nathan Winkelstein, livestreams at 7:30 PM ET at Off-Broadway’s Red Bull Theater.
* Jule Styne and His Many Lyricists: Distant Melody concert & discussion, featuring Nikki Renée Daniels, Julia Murney, Jeff Kready, and more, streams at 7 PM ET at NYC’s 92Y (available through Dec. 31).
* Broadway Close Up: Stephen Schwartz concert, featuring Sean Harley, Nikki Renee Daniels, and Gabrielle Stravelli, streams at 7 PM ET here.
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GRACE NOTES Quiz Did You Know Them When? by Jim Bernhard
Match these movie stars with the roles in which they made their first and their last (or latest) Broadway appearances.
| 1. Gene Wilder | A. Charles Widgin Rochambeau in Children from Their Games (1963) – and Roberto Miranda in Death and the Maiden (1992) |
| 2. Clark Gable | B. Performer in New Faces of 1936 – and Georges in La Cage aux Folles (1985) |
| 3. Joan Crawford | C. Performer in a 1922 musical spectacle called Better Times – and Cary Lockwood in Nikki, a 1931 musical comedy |
| 4. Cary Grant | D. Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes (1981) – and Amanda Prynne in Private Lives (1983) |
| 5. Gene Hackman | E. Hotel Valet in The Complaisant Lover (1961) – and Harry Berlin in Luv (1966) |
| 6. June Allyson | F. A Man (Dick Roe, the lover) in Machinal (1928) – and The Lover in Love, Honor and Betray (1930) |
| 7. Van Johnson | G. Floy Jennings in The Earth Between (1929) – and Maxine Faulk in The Night of the Iguana (1961) |
| 8. Humphrey Bogart | H. Performer in a revue called Innocent Eyes (1924) – and Performer in The Passing Show of 1924 |
| 9. Elizabeth Taylor | I. Performer in a musical revue called Sing Out the News (1938) – and Ann Stanley in Forty Carats (1970) |
| 10. Bette Davis | J. Ernie Crockett in Drifting (1922) – and Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1935) |
Scroll down for the answers…
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Dr. Fauci discusses the return of Broadway:
When asked whether Broadway might return with full audiences and no masks, Fauci told CNBC: “We’ve got to make sure that people get vaccinated. So if 75-85 percent of the people in the country get vaccinated as the vaccine becomes available, and the general public, not speaking of the people of the highest priority who have underlying conditions – the young men and women,” he explained.
“If they get vaccinated through April, May and June, and really do a full-court press to get everybody vaccinated, you can get back to normal or at least approaching close to normal, as you get into the late summer and early fall.”
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SAY (the Stuttering Association for the Young) presents its Livestream Winter Fundraising Event Under One Moon: Voices United on Tues. Dec, 8 at 7 PM ET.
Everett Bradley, Brandon Victor Dixon, James Monroe Iglehart, Helen Mirren, and Kelli O’Hara.
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Video: “Christmas Wish,” by Adryan Russ & Luara
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To celebrate National Cookie Day, NYC’s Schmackary’s has shared its top secret recipe for its famous Chocolate Explosion cookies with Chocolate Frosting here.
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& 
Billie Holliday: Reaching for the Moon — An Exploration and Conversation will take place Sun. Jan. 10 at 3 PM ET at NYC’s 92Y.
Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, and Cassandra Wilson.
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Jack and the Beanstalk: A Musical Adventure, a 55-minute original musical by Julia Riew, directed by Rebecca Aparicio, with music direction by Ian Chan, is now streaming on-demand here ($20 or pay-what-you-can, which provides 7 days from the time of purchase, through Jan. 4).
(all Harvard University undergraduates) Nikita Nair (Jack), Caitlin Beirne (Grand Storyteller), Sophie Bauder (Jack’s Mother), Odessa Deng (Buttercup), Louis Zekowski (King Giant), Jonathan Castillo (Stuart), Laura Frustaci (Minnie), James Caven (Itsy), and Olympia Hatzilambrou (Fiddler Cat).
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Matthew Lombardo’s Who’s Holiday!, in support of BC/EFA, will premiere Fri. Dec. 11 at 8 PM ET here, and will be available through Dec. 15. The show was filmed during the show’s 2017 Off-Broadway run.
Lesli Margherita (Cindy Lou Who).
Cindy Lou Who is now residing in a beaten-down trailer in the snowy hills of Mount Crumpit. As she prepares to host a Christmas Eve party for her friends, she recalls her own perspective of that fateful night when she first met the Grinch, and the strange turn of events her life has taken for the past 40 years.
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Video: Trailer for “Blithe Spirit,” directed by Edward Hall, starring Judi Dench, Dan Stevens, Isla Fisher, and Leslie Mann.
The film will open in theaters and VOD on Feb. 19.
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RIP: Peg Murray died on Nov. 29 at the age of 96.
She won a Tony Award for her performance as Fräulein Kost in the original Broadway cast of Cabaret. Peg originally understudied the role, then eventually took over the role when Lotte Lenya left the production.
Murray later worked in daytime television, playing the roles of Carrie Johnson Lovett on “Love of Life” and agent Olga Swenson on “All My Children.” In addition, she substituted for Constance Ford for several weeks as Ada Hobson on “Another World,” and starred in the short-live NBC sitcom “Me & Mrs. C.”
Film credits include “My Best Friends Are…” (1991), as well as the “Dixie Dancekings” (1975) and “Act of Vengeance” (1986).
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1993, written, performed, scored & designed by finkle, directed by Jonathan Silverstein, is now streaming at Off-Broadway Keen Company.
An immersive audio drama with original songs set in Alphabet City, offering a series of interconnected episodes that utilize true events from 1993, refracted events from finkle’s own life, and a liberal dash of pulp fiction, 1993 creates a queer kaleidoscopic journey that examines the power of one’s voice to reclaim the past and speak out.
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Off-Broadway’s York Theatre continues it’s Great American Songbook with a concert by Robert Creighton on Wed. Dec. 9 at 7 PM (and available through Dec. 12), directed by Barry Kleinbort, with music direction by Doug Oberhamer.
Richard Kind
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It’s never too late to add some Broadway flair to your holiday tree — and this season the BC/EFA has plenty of ornaments to choose from. No matter what you’re looking for, there’s something to please the theatre fan in your life.
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Off-Broadway’s MCC Theater presents “This Is Where We Go,” a 6-part radio play, directed by Tamilla Woodard, which is available now on Spotify.
Amara Brady, Garcia, Teresa Avia Lim, Bunny Michael, Lindsay Rico, and Danny Wolohan.
Episode 1: “Up Next, Dogs,” by Jessie Rivera Debruin & Gina Femia. The year is 2199. Earth has got it all — Artificial Intelligence to meet all of our needs, a brand new festival on the moon, politics and posturing on 24 hour news cycles… and a doomsday prophecy that the sun will disappear, forever changing life as we know it.
Episode 2: “in the flames of My Rise, you are but ashes and dirt,” by Nina Ki. Trapped on Earth, where aliens are denied rights, Illi is a Trk determined to escape an abusive home. With cer life and freedom at stake, will Illi find cer place in the universe?
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GRACE NOTES Quiz answers –Did You Know Them When?
1-E. Gene Wilder was a Hotel Valet in Graham Greene’s The Complaisant Lover – and a replacement for Alan Arkin as Harry Berlin in Murray Schisgal’s Luv.
2-F. Clark Gable was A Man in Machinal – and The Lover in Love, Honor and Betray.
3-H. Joan Crawford (as Lucille LeSueur) was a Performer in Innocent Eyes – and The Passing Show of 1924.
4-C. Cary Grant (as Archie Leach) was a Performer in Better Times – and Cary Lockwood (a character from whom he took part of his movie name) in Nikki.
5-A. Gene Hackman was Charles Widgin Rochambeau in Irwin Shaw’s Children from Their Games – and Robert Miranda in Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden.
6-I. June Allyson was a Performer in Sing Out the News – and a replacement for Julie Harris as Ann Stanley in Forty Carats.
7-B. Van Johnson was a Performer in New Faces of 1936 – and a replacement for Gene Barry as Georges in La Cage aux Folles.
8-J. Humphrey Bogart (as H. D. Bogart) was Ernie Crockett in Drifting – and Duke Mantee in Robert E. Sherwood’s The Petrified Forest
9-D. Elizabeth Taylor was Regina Giddens in Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes – and Amanda Prynne in Noël Coward’s Private Lives.
10-G. Bette Davis was Floy Jennings in The Earth Between – and Maxine Faulk in Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana.