Today’s Highlights:
* Ben Vereen and Klea Blackhurst in concert, with music direction by Gary Adler & Deniz Cordell, begins streaming at Off-Broadway’s York Theatre.
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GRACE NOTES Quote of the Week: “Scratch an actor and underneath you’ll find another actor.” ~ Laurence Olivier
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Video: “Stars in the House” presents a Sweeny Todd reunion, with Victor Garber, Sarah Rice, Ken Jennings, and Len Cariou. (1:23:30).
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National Theater at Home has announced available productions. Click here to subscribe (these streams are no longer free).
* Coriolanus, starring Tom Hiddleston
* Medea, starring Helen McCrory
* Mosquitos, starring Olive Colman
* Amadeus, starring Adam Gillen and Lucian Msamati
* Othello, starring Adrian Lester
* Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, Dominic Cooper, and Ruth Negga
* The Cherry Orchard, starring Zoë Wanamaker.
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Lee Hall’s Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical will begin previews May 28, 2021 and open June 16 at the Lyric Theatre, directed by Clint Dyer, with choreography by Shelley Maxwell, and music supervision by Phil Bateman.
Arinzé Kene (Bob Marley) and more TBA.
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Wednesday, December 2:
* Revelations Reimagined (7:30 PM ET), a digital benefit for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, featuring excerpts recently filmed with AAADT company members and other special guests. 
here.
* Hamilton Virtual Tour, Part 1 (8 PM ET). Explore Hamilton‘s NYC in this 2-part virtual HamilTour (Part 2 will be on Dec. 9), In additional to exploring the historical sites from the musical, audiences will hear first-hand accounts about the making of the musical. here.
Thursday, December 3:
* Broadway Salutes Erie Playhouse (7 PM ET), featuring a FREE benefit performance of I Miss the Music, hosted by Brian Stokes Mitchell, with special guests Beth Leavel, Alice Rilpley, and cast members from Hamilton, Wicked, Hadestwon, Come From Away, and more. Watch here.
* Time Stands Still FREE reading (8 PM ET), by Donald Margulies, featuring Eric Bogosian, Brian d’Arcy James, Laura Linney, and Alicia Silverstone. A benefit for The Actors Fund. here.
Friday, December 4:
* Ars Nova Forever Telethon (6 PM ET), which will spotlight some of the theatre’s most beloved shows, including The Great Comet and KPOP), hosted by Chavkin, Sakina Jaffrey, Dave Malloy, Isaac Oliver, Larry Owens, and Natalie Walker. FREE. Watch here.
* John Lloyd Young’s Vegas Holiday (9 PM ET).
Amazon Prime Video:
* “Sylvie’s Love” (Dec. 23), written & directed by Eugene Ashe, starring Nnamdi Asomugha and Tessa Thompson, with Wendi Mclendon-Covey, Eva Longoria, Aja Naomi King, Jemima Kirke, Tone Bell, and Alono Miller. 
Set in the hot New York summer of 1957, saxophonist Robert meets aspiring TV star Sylvie while working at a record store. As the two begin a friendship, something spars a deep passion in each of them unlike anything they have felt before.
Disney+
* “Anastasia” (Dec. 4) animated musical, featuring Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Hank Azaria, and Kelsey Grammer.
* “High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special” (Dec. 11), featuring Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Matt Cornett, Sofia Wylie, Larry Saperstein, Julia Lester, Dara Reneé, Frankie Rodriguez, Joe Serafini, Mark St. Cyr, and Kate Reinders,
* “Into the Woods” (Dec. 18), film adaptation, featuring Meryl Streep (Witch), James Corden (Baker), Anna Kendrick (Cinderella), Lilla Crawford (Little Red Riding Hood), and many more.
* “On Pointe” (Dec. 18), a 6-part docuseries offering an inside look at a season with NYC’s School of American Ballet, following students aged 8-18.
HBO Max:
* “The Man Who Came to Dinner” 1942 film (already available), starring Bette Davis, Ann Sheridan, and Monty Woolley.
* “Meet Me In St. Louis” film (already available), starring Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, and Lucille Bremer.
* “Rock of Ages: Extended Edition” (already available), starring Julianne Hough and Diego Boneta lead an all-star cast—including Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Bryan Cranston, and Tom Cruise.
* The Shop Around the Corner” 1937 film (already available), starring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan.
* “Homeschool Musical Class of 2020” documentary (Dec. 17), inspired by Laura Benanti’s social media movement #SunshineSongs, the film focuses on the theatre kids of the class of 2020, all of whom had their spring musicals canceled due to COVID-19.
Netflix:
* “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” film (Dec. 18), starring Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, and Jeremy Shamos.
* “Giving Voice” documentary (Dec. 18), which follows several teenage finalists for the 2018 August Wilson Monologues Competition.
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Video: “Let it Go,” performed by Broadway’s Frozen cast — Caroline Bowman and Aisha Jackson, with Tracee Beazer, Austin Colby, Lindiwe Dlamini, Olivia Donaldson, Bongi Duma, Nicholas Edwards, April Holloway, Ben Jeffrey, Nina Lafarga, Telly Leung, Isabelle McCalla, Paul HeeSand Miller, Kyle Mitchel, Nteliseng Nkhela, Amber Owens, Adam Perry, John Riddle, Ann Sanders, Dennis Stowe, L. Steven Taylor, and Nicholas Ward.
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Gary Adler & Phoebe Kreutz’s The Nice List , directed by Alan Muraoka, with choreography by Michael Midlin, is now available here.
James Monroe Iglehart, Telly Leung, Julia Mattison, Ann Harada, Jennifer Barnhart, Nick Kohn, and Don Darry Rivera.
A look inside Santa’s workshop as he puts his elves in charge of Christmas while he checks in on his mall ambassadors. The elves set out to show they are up to the task, but find themselves “in over their candy canes” until Santa returns and puts everything in order just in time for the big holiday.
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New York City Ballet will stream its 2019 holiday season production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker Dec 11 – Jan. 3 on Marquee TV. This marks the first season since its debut that it has not been performed. The production was filmed live at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, with footage also used in the upcoming Disney Plus series “On Pointe.”
Maria Kowroski (Sugarplum Fairy), Tyler Angle (Her Cavalier), and Megan Fairchild (Dewdrop), with Sophie Thomopoulos (Marie), Adam Hendrickson (Herr Drosselmeier), Kai Misra-Stone (the Nutcracker), Lauren King (Marzipan), Ashley Hod & Peter Walker (Hot Chocolate), Georgina Pazcoguin (Coffee), Spartak Hoxha (Tea), Daniel Ulbricht as Candy Cane, Preston Chamblee as Mother Ginger, Mira Nadon), Unity Phelan (Flowers), India Bradley & Rachel Hutsell (Harlequin & Columbine), Roman Mejia (Soldier), Silas Farley (Mouse King), Ask la Cour (Dr. Stahlbaum), and Marika Anderson (Frau Stalbaum).
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The 100th anniversary of S. Ansky’s The Dybbuk will premiere Dec. 14 at 7 PM ET here, adapted & directed by Allen Lewish Rickman (who will also provide the English narration).
(international): Mike Burstyn, Shane Baker, Mendy Cahan, Refoyel Gladwasser, Daniel Kahn, Amitai Kedar, Yelena Shmulenson, Suzanne Toren, and Michal Wex.
Based on years of research by S. Ansky, who traveled between Jewish Shtetls in Russia and Ukraine, documenting folk beliefs and stories of the Hassidic Jews. The play relates the story of a young bride possessed by a dybbuk (a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person) on the eve of her wedding.
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Netflix has ordered “God’s Favorite Idiot,” a new 16-episode comedy series from Melissa McCarthy & Ben Falcone.
Premiere date, casting, and additional details TBA.
Mid-level Tech support employee Clark Thompson finds live with co-worker Amily Luck at exactly the same time he becomes the unwitting messenger of God. Also, there’s roller skating, a lake of fire, and an impending apocalypse.
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Video: Bill Russell & Janet Hood’s Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens, in support of BC/EFA, featuring Brooks Ashmanskas, Laura Bell Bundy, Paul Castree, Richard Chamberlain, Charity Angél Dawson, Robin de Jesús, Fran Drescher, J. Harrison Ghee, Gideon Glick, Stephanie Gibson, Lana Gordon, Alan H. Green, Lena Hall, Jayne Houdyshell, Lisa Howard, James Monroe Iglehart, Famke Janssen, Jay Armstrong Johnson, Cherry Jones, Francis Jue, Joaquina Kalukango, Tari Kelly, Nathan Lane, Norm Lewis, Vicki Lewis, Telly Leung, Alyse Alan Louis, Andrea Macasaet, Stanley Wayne Mathis, Kevin MvHale, Eric William Morris, Jessie Mueller, Cynthia Nixon, Michael Notartdonato, Okierete Onaodowan, Royina Patel, Anthony Rapp, Jeffrey Roberson, Krysta Rodriguez, Seth Rudetsky, Kirsten Scott, Matthew Scott, Michael James Scott, JK Simmons, Robin Lord Taylor, Evan Todd, Mariand Torres, Alysha Umphress, Anna Uzele, Marisha Wallace, and Michael Xavier. (2:02:54)
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NYC’s 54 Below has announced its new streaming series, 54 Below Premieres, which will feature newly filmed concerts, each captured on HD cameras with strick COVID-19 protocols in place. All concerts begin at 8 PM ET.
Dec. 12: Broadway Princess Holiday Party, featuring Laura Osnes, Susan Egan, Courtney Reed, Aisha Jackson, Adam J. Levy, with music director Benjamin Rauhala. Details.
Dec. 17: Norm Lewis, with special guests Sierra Boggess, and Pastor Bobby Lewis. Details.
Dec. 26: Sondheim Unplugged, featuring Darius DeHaas, Natalie Douglas, Telly Leung, T. Oliver Reid, Nicholas Rodriguez, and Lucia Spina. Details.