In anticipation of Christmas and New Year’s, I have prepared for you the Best Bets in various categories for the holidays. I’ll start with Musicals/Cabaret Best Bets for the Holidays.
So if you love musicals, Broadway vocalists and cabaret shows, this list is for you! First up are those with specific dates, followed by programming that is already available and has a specific end date.
Here are my Musicals/Cabaret Best Bets for the Holidays:
A Catalina Christmas – December 24th – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST
Los Angeles’ Catalina Jazz Club is holding a holiday concert to help raise money to keep the club alive. In addition to their many jazz concerts, the venue features many stars of stage and screen performing their cabaret acts.
This concert will feature Rogelio Douglas, Jr., Chad Doreck, Anthony Fedorov, Joely Fisher, Jason Graae, David Hernandez, Niki Haris, Aaron Lazar, Jennifer Paz, Alisan Porter, Joan Ryan, Jake Simpson, Tyrone Mr. SuperFantastic, plus Thelma Houston and many more! Bruce Vilanch serves as host.
There is no charge to watch the concert on Catalina Jazz Club’s Facebook Page. Donations to its Go Fund Me campaign are encouraged.
Two by Two: The 50th Anniversary Virtual Concert – December 25th – December 28th
While we’re all familiar with the story of Noah and his ark, fewer of us are familiar with this 1970 musical from Richard Rodgers (Pal Joey), Martin Charnin (Annie) and Peter Stone (1776). The musical was not only based on the biblical story, but on a play called The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets.
Celebrating this Golden anniversary are Karen Ziemba (Contact); Nikita Burshteyn (Mark Saltzman’s Romeo & Bernadette); Frank Calamaro (Man of La Mancha); Marcy DeGonge Manfredi (Phantom of the Opera), N’Kenge (Motown the Musical); Michael Notardonato (Mark Saltzman’s Romeo & Bernadette), and Sophia Tzougros.
Walter Willison, who played Japeth in the original production, plays Noah and also directs the virtual reading.
There’s no charge to watch Two by Two, however donations to The Actors Fund are strongly encouraged.
Sondheim Unplugged – Feinstein’s/54 Below – December 26th – January 9th
A popular series at New York’s Feinstein’s/54 Below is Sondheim Unplugged. It’s a series that examines Stephen Sondheim’s work through stories, anecdotes and performance.
The series returns online beginning at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST on December 26th. The cast for this inaugural virtual version features Darius de Haas (Shuffle Along, Or the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All that Followed), cabaret singer Natalie Douglas, Telly Leung (Aladdin), T. Oliver Reid (Once on This Island), Nicholas Rodriguez (The Sound of Music) and Lucia Spina (South Pacific). Creator Phil Geoffrey Bond is the host and Joe Goodrich is the Music Director.
The show will remain on demand through January 9th. Tickets are $25.
A Very Weimar Christmas – Club Cumming Presents – December 30th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST
Alan Cumming and his New York City Club Cumming are presenting a different holiday show.
Australian Kim David Smith is the star and creator of A Very Weimar Christmas, a show he first performed at Club Cumming last December.
Imagine Cabaret meets Christmas meets Ute Lemper meets the Scissor Sisters. Or perhaps David Bowie’s German recording era as a filter for a 1930s Christmas show.
It should be quite entertaining and provocative.
Tickets are $10. There is one-time only showing. No additional re-streaming.
John Lloyd Young NYE Show – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – December 31st – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST
Tony Award-winner John Lloyd Young (Jersey Boys) performs live from Los Angeles’ Feinstein’s at Vitello’s in this New Year’s Eve concert.
While he’s best known for his performance as Frankie Valli, I always think of him for his sublime performance of A Multitude of Amys, a song by Stephen Sondheim cut from the musical Company.
Tickets are $36.75 (which includes service charges). The show will be available on demand for 24 hours. Ticket buyers will have the ability to watch the show for seven days after purchase.
An Evening with Audra McDonald – New York City Center – Now – January 3rd
New York City Center’s Gala Concert earlier this month with Tony Award winner Audra McDonald has been extended through January 3rd. This 75-minute concert features McDonald with accompanist/music director Andy Einhorn.
Beautifully filmed and recorded you’ll hear songs that have been part of McDonald’s repertoire for quite some time and others that might surprise you.
Tickets are $35.
If you haven’t seen McDonald in her Tony Award-winning performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, that is available to stream on HBO.
Broadway Close-Up – Kaufman Music Center – Now – January 15th
For $40 you can stream three concert/lectures about significant figures in musical theatre: Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields and Stephen Schwartz.
Hammerstein is the book writer/lyricist best known for his collaborations with Richard Rodgers that yielded the musicals South Pacific, The King and I, Oklahoma! and The Sound of MUsic.
Fields is the book writer/lyricist who collaborated on the musicals Annie Get Your Gun, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Redhead and Sweet Charity.
Schwartz is the composer behind the juggernaut musical Wicked as well as the shows Pippin, Godspell and Rags.
Performing their songs in this three-part series are Broadway stars Clifton Duncan (The Play That Goes Wrong) and Nikki Renée Daniels (Company, Hamilton, Porgy and Bess) and jazz vocalist Gabrielle Stravelli.
Each show is one hour and is hosted by Sean Hartley. Videos will be available through January 15th.
Lyrics and Lyricists: Preludes – 92nd Street Y – Now – December 31st
All five episodes of the 92nd Street Y’s Lyrics and Lyricists: Preludes series are available for streaming. Each show is $15 or you can get all five for $60.
The five episodes celebrate the work of George Gershwin; Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt; Richard Rodgers, Mary Rodgers and Adam Guettel; Jule Styne and finally Music from Films.
The cast for this series includes Farah Alvin, Allison Blackwell, Nikki Renée Daniels, Katherine Henley, Jeff Kready, James T. Lane, Telly Leung, Kara Lindsay, Julia Murney, Zachary Noah Pisner, Zachary Prince, Pearl Sun and Mariand Torres. The narrator is Beth Malone.
Each show, written and music directed by Paul Masse, runs one hour. This series is available through December 31st.
Meet Me in St. Louis – Irish Rep – Now – January 2nd
I’ve previously written about this revised stage adaption of the classic 1944 film that starred Judy Garland. This version, from Irish Rep, stars Melissa Errico and Max von Essen. Not only do you get some classic songs like The Boy Next Door and The Trolley Song, you get the holiday season standard, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
Tickets are Pay What You Can with a suggested donation of $25.
American Utopia – HBO
If you have HBO and have yet to experience David Byrne’s American Utopia, you should stop reading and start watching. This exciting, thought-provoking, energetic and unique concert/Broadway show.
Spike Lee directed the film and huge acknowledgement must go to Director of Photography Ellen Kuras. She makes American Utopia feel like both a Broadway show and an intimate experience.
Encores! Archives Project YouTube Channel
Have you ever gone digging through New York City Center’s YouTube channel? It’s a treasure trove of clips from dozens of their Encores! productions of musicals with some of Broadway’s finest talent. These aren’t full shows, but there’s so much to enjoy.
What can you find? Jerry Herman’s Mack & Mabel; Renée Elise Goldsberry in a 2013 production of I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road; 2015’s production of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party; Laura Benanti in The Most Happy Fella from 2014; Kelli O’Hara in the 2010 production of Bells Are Ringing; Jake Gyllenhaal in Sunday in the Park with George; Lin Manuel-Miranda, Colin Donnell, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Betsy Wolfe in Merrily We Roll Along from 2012; Idina Menzel in Hair and so much more.
Once you get started you’ll be surprised how much time has passed. And it’s all free to view.
The Prom – Netflix
This musical didn’t last long on Broadway, but it had legions of passionate followers.
The Prom began life at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Written by Matthew Sklar with lyrics by Chad Beguelin and a book by Bob Martin and Beguelin, the musical tells the story of a group of Broadway stars facing the closure of their musical on opening night trying to find somewhere to direct their energy.
They zero in on a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom, but the school won’t let her. Enter the Broadway stars to rescue the girl and their egos.
Ryan Murphy directed the film which stars James Corden, Ariana DeBose, Keegan-Michael Key, Nicole Kidman, Jo Ellen Pellman, Andrew Rannells, Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington.
Seth Rudetsky Concert Series – Now – January 3rd
Seth Rudetsky is making available for streaming many of this fall’s concerts with Braodway’s biggest stars. The line-up features Liz Callaway, La Chanze, Melissa Errico, Cheyenne Jackson, Rachel Bay Jones, Judy Kuhn, Beth Leavel, Beth Malone, Audra McDonald, Jessie Mueller, Karen Olivo, Orfeh and Andy Karl, Keala Settle and Lillias White.
These shows feature Rudetsky on keyboards at his home while the performers are in their own homes singing. There’s plenty of storytelling and conversation mixed in with the music.
Tickets are $20 for each concert or $15/each if you purchase all of them.
If you want to watch new live performances, Kerry Butler is joining Rudetsky live on December 27th at 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST (with a re-run on December 28th at 3:00 PM EST/12:00 PM PST). On January 3rd, Alex Brightman performs live with a re-run on January 4th (same times). These tickets are $25.
Those are my Musicals/Cabaret Best Bets for the Holidays. I have additional recommendations for Classical, Dance and Jazz if you want even more choices.
Enjoy the holidays!
Photo: Music Center Holidays (Photo by Craig L. Byrd)