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Keeping the Holidays Happy & Bright: The Best of Broadway and Seasonal Surprises

Every time I turn a corner in Manhattan, there’s something to spark my holiday bliss — from department store window displays, to the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, to excited crowds piling into theaters all over the city.

Sharing a show with loved ones at this time of year means creating a memory that will be cherished long after other gifts are history. So get out your smartphones and tap in whatever strikes your holiday fancy from these select, Santa-sanctioned, something-for-every-member-of-the-family productions currently lighting up Big Apple stages!

FOR THE FAMILY

Angelina Ballerina: The Very Merry Holiday Musical

Angelina Ballerina: The Very Merry Holiday Musical - Yes, the famous little mouse has danced off the pages of her storybooks into her own holiday special costarring her literary BFFs. There’s a lesson tucked in between all the singing and dancing and a post-show photo op! (Thru 1/5)

Annie the Musical on Broadway

Annie - Of all the shows on Broadway, Annie triumphs in the “Most Christmassy” category even if it starts out in a not-so-jolly orphanage run by the mean Miss Hannigan (Faith Prince). But by the grand finale it’s all presents and garlands and holiday lights for the title redhead! (Thru 1/5)

Big Apple Circus Ringmaster John Kennedy Kane

Big Apple Circus: Luminocity - The best of the Big Tops beckons with a mind-blowing show starring circus performers from around the world — double-trapeze artists, acrobats, masters of the high wire, a bashful clown, a Guinness World Record-setting juggler, and a Flimflam Man (watch out for your watch) — as well as some staggeringly talented pups and “a cavalcade of magnificent steeds.” Ringmaster John Kennedy Kane is front and center while you’re no more than 50 feet from ringside — and totally warm (the tent is nicely heated). In short, Luminocity is an electrifying thrill ride that will send your holiday spirits soaring. (Thru 1/12)

Bolton in A Christmas Story the Musical

A Christmas Story, The Musical - A Tony nominee following its Broadway run last year, this very swell adaptation of the cult film about Ralphie Parker — a kid determined to score a Red Ryder Air Rifle for Christmas — is now playing at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. (Thru 12/29)

NYC Ballet's The Nutcracker
Photo: Paul Kolnik

George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ - This Christmas classic at Lincoln Center merges Tchaikovsky’s enchanting score with Balanchine’s iconic choreography to create a fantastical world in which toys come to life, snowflakes dance on point, and the Land of Sweets beckons. (Thru 1/4)

iLuminate Off Broadway NYC
Photo: Charles Sykes

iLuminate - Mesmerizing beyond belief, this glow-in-the-dark production is unlike any other in town with its fusion of dance, music, and techno-illusion as performers in special light suits leap, breakdance, and transform before your eyes.

The 12 Days of Christmas at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Radio City Christmas Spectacular - This annual Yuletide extravaganza starring the Rockettes is up and kicking with both traditional favorites (the Parade of the Wooden Soldiers; the Living Nativity; “Here Comes Santa Claus”) and more recent additions, including a debut: “a glistening winter wonderland” number. (Thru 12/30)

FOR ADULTS ONLY

La Soirée Off broadway
Photo: Max Gordon

La Soirée - A global phenomenon raking in critical raves and audience adulation for its uninhibited approach to a world of steamy, shocking, divinely decadent entertainment, this deliciously demented combination plate of burlesque, vaudeville, cabaret, and cirque du bizarre is as seductive as it is outrageous. Featuring a troupe of performers with talents you may or may not have seen before (assuredly never, ever in this audacious context), La Soirée is escapism for grownups; a little something we can all use during this season of jingle bells, fa-la-la, and shop til you drop. Never has so much naughty been so nicely done.

Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812
Photo: Chad Batka

Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 - A rare and sparkling gem in New York’s theatrical crown, this is not your average, well, anything. The theater/nightclub is a transformed tent: banquettes, café tables, red-velvet curtains covered with evocative paintings, photographs, and mirrors serve as an apt backdrop to this ingenious revisionary take on Tolstoy’s War and Peace, juxtaposing leading character-era-appropriate costumes against the Steampunk/rock club attire worn by the ensemble. Musicians and set pieces pop up throughout the theatre; Russian accents pepper the staff; the score (basically an operetta) is mesmerizing, as are the performers’ beautifully passionate performances. And, since the venue/format is all-encompassing, Russian delicacies flow freely, action swirls around you, and don’t get me started on the awesome lighting that defies time, space and expectations. (Thru 1/19)

About the Author

City Guide Theatre Editor Griffin Miller moved to New York to pursue an acting/writing career in the 1980s after graduating magna cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, she has written for The New York Times, For the Bride, Hotels, and a number of other publications, mostly in the areas of travel and performance arts. An active member of The New York Travel Writers Association, she is also a playwright and award-winning collage artist. In addition, she sits on the board of The Lewis Carroll Society of North America. Griffin is married to Richard Sandomir, a reporter for The New York Times.

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