Theater News

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The stars twinkle and shine in a cornucopia of holiday-themed shows and benefits.

New York City

Aside from cold weather and lots of tourists, December in NYC is always notable for an extraordinary number of holiday themed shows and benefit events. Last evening, a concert performance of A Wonderful Life, the Joe Raposo-Sheldon Harnick musical based on the classic Christmas flick It’s a Wonderful Life, was given at the Shubert Theatre as a benefit for The Actors’ Fund of America, followed by a party at John’s Pizzeria. Pictured here at John’s are two of the show’s stars, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Phylicia Rashad.

Also featured in the concert: David Hyde Pierce, who played Clarence…

…the great Marian Seldes with Chuck Cooper, who won a Tony Award for his performance in a Broadway musical about a Life that wasn’t so wonderful…

…and Broadway stalwart Karen Ziemba.

On Sunday, December 11, a concert titled Miracle on 13th Street was held at the LGBT Community Center. Directed by Jamie McGonnigal, with musical direction by Mark Hartman, the benefit for the center featured such performers as Matt Cavenaugh (a.k.a. Broadway’s Urban Cowboy) in a lovely rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”…

…Luther Creek (Rent, Hair at Encores!) in a parody version of that same song…

…Capathia Jenkins (Caroline, or Change) in a soul-stirring rendition of “Silent Night”…

…and Max von Essen and Julia Murney in a life-changing performance of the song “O Holy Night,” thrillingly arranged by John Bucchino.

Last night, a wonderful concert titled Broadway Sings for Toys was held at Prohibition on Columbus Avenue. A benefit for Toys for Tots, the event was hosted by the Broadway Boys, pictured here (left to right): Jesse Nager, Tyler Maynard, Lucas Steele, David Larsen, and Daniel Torres.

Among the Broadway Boys’ guests: Mandy Gonzalez, late of Lennon…

…Michael Longoria, who plays Joe Pesci in Jersey Boys…

…and Tituss Burgess, another member of the Jersey Boys cast.

Two performers who had generously given of their time to appear in Miracle on 13th Street the previous evening also turned up at Prohibition as singing guests of the Broadway Boys. Here’s Capathia Jenkins (far left), soaring through “O Holy Night” with Shayna Steele and Michael McElroy…

…and here again is Julia Murney, still drinking heavily in an attempt to forget Lennon. (We’re kidding; the drink was a prop that she used in her hilarious rendition of Tom Lehrer’s The Twelve Days After Christmas).


A Broadway Diva Christmas at the Julia Miles Theater (left to right): Ellen Greene, Christine Pedi, Kathy Brier, Maya Days, and Marla Schaffel.