Jude, Sienna, Daniel, Carrie, Hugh, Rosemary... Having read and written about them for so many weeks and months leading up to their respective Broadway openings, it feels a bit disorienting to realize that Law, Miller, Craig, Fisher, Jackman, and Harris -- who have been sprinkling their stardust along the Great White Way for quite some time now -- are scheduled to move on to other projects come December and January.  

Still, this is New York, where the beat not only goes on but also constantly reinvents itself. Sure, shows like Hamlet, After Miss Julie, and A Steady Rain may have limited runs (tick-tock re: tickets, folks!), a second wave of high-profile performers have already begun their ascent both on and off Broadway.   

For example, starting previews on November 24th (for a December 13th opening) is the highly anticipated revival of Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury. And a week earlier, David Mamet’s new play, Race, starts performances with David Alan Grier, James Spader, Richard Thomas and Kerry Washington.

Meanwhile, in the out-of-the-blue category, playwright Yasmina Reza’s celeb-heavy hit God of Carnage, which was set to close following the departures of stars Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden, has been extended indefinitely with a new cast of A-listers signing on as of November 17th: Jimmy Smits, Annie Potts, Christine Lahti, and original London God of Carnage cast member, Ken Stott.  

As for notables on the Off-Broadway grid, two-time Tony winner Judith Ivey will continue her critically acclaimed portrayal of advice maven Ann Landers in The Lady With All the Answers through November 29th at the Cherry Lane Theatre, while Willem Dafoe dominates the metaphysical limelight at the Public Theater in Richard Foreman’s comedy, Idiot Savant, through mid-December.

And speaking of Off-Broadway news, a big fat fuzzy buzz is circling Avenue Q, which closed on Broadway this past September only to re-open at the New World Stages on West 50th Street a month later. The show, an ingenious blend of human and puppet characters -- all packing an arsenal of attitude -- actually began Off-Broadway in 2003 at the Vineyard Theatre before making its move to Broadway, where it picked up a Best Musical Tony. And although the show is filled with Muppet-esque performers, this is not a show for kids (very adult humor and yes, puppet sex). But The Gazillion Bubble Show, also at New World, is an excellent alternative for those too young to appreciate a song called “Schadenfreude.”