Who loves Christmas? The Broadway opening of the musical Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas! at the Hilton Theatre on Wednesday night brought out an unusually stellar crowd, including Hollywood legend Robert Redford.
Television talk show co-host Kelly Ripa literally went to the dogs before the show — namely Bullseye, the adorable mascot of the show’s sponsor, Target, and the equally adorable actor Rusty Ross, who plays Young Max in the show.
Another TV personality, Paige Davis, was on hand to support her husband, Patrick Page, who plays the Grinch…
…while Tony Award winner Shirley Knight was there to cheer her daughter, Kaitlin Hopkins, who plays Mama Who.
Tony winner Jane Krakowski, one of the stars of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, was also among the celebrities at the opening.
On Thursday night, Les Misérables returned to Broadway after a three-year absence. Here’s Alexander Gemignani, who plays the show’s hero, Jean Valjean.
Norm Lewis plays Valjean’s lifelong nemesis, Inspector Javert.
Ali Ewoldt (far left) co-stars as the lovely Cosette; Daphne Rubin-Vega is the unlucky Fantine; and Adam Jacobs is the stalwart Marius.
Aaron Lazar, who was last seen and heard on Broadway singing in Italian in The Light in the Piazza, plays the French revolutionary Enjolras…
…and Tony winner Gary Beach goes all out in the role of the scheming Thénardier.
The opening night audience for Les Miz included Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck, the frequently warring co-hosts of TV’s The View…
..and Matthew Morrison, who preceded Lazar as Fabrizio in Piazza.
On Thursday morning, Beth Leavel and Troy Britton Johnson were among the cast members of The Drowsy Chaperone who came to Times Square to help Starbucks hand out 8,000 “random acts of kindness.” One particular act of kindness was the coffee giant’s donation of $10,000 to Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS in the name of the hit musical.
Later that morning, the cast of the upcoming national tour of Jersey Boys met the press for the first time. Erich Bergen (Bob Gaudio), Christopher Kale Jones (Frankie Valli), Deven May (Tommy DeVito), and Michael Ingersoll (Nick Massi) will first hit the stage in San Francisco in December.
Also on Thursday, Jersey Boys director Des McAnuff (center) was joined by the show’s Broadway leads — J. Robert Spencer, Daniel Reichard, Christian Hoff, and John Lloyd Young — for the unveiling of his caricature at Sardi’s.
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