NEW YORK, NY.- The holiday season is upon us, which means its an excellent time for theatergoers to pack into cozy venues for a feast of the eyes. Our critics have selected a handful of options for tourists and locals looking to catch up on Broadway and off-Broadway shows this holiday season. And weve included some other choices as well.
For those who prefer to be entertained from home, the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade this year will feature performances by Broadway shows like & Juliet, Back to the Future: The Musical, How to Dance in Ohio, Shucked and Spamalot, along with an appearance by Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells of Gutenberg! The Musical!
Other theater-related streaming options include Dicks: The Musical, with Nathan Lane, and the 2015 documentary that the How to Dance in Ohio musical is based on.
Here is a selection of notable shows onstage in New York City.
FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
Big Apple Circus
Straw hats thrown like Frisbees. Death-defying aerial acts. Dizzying foot juggling routines. All accompany the contortionist, trapeze and tightrope circus classics that spectators young and old have come to ooh and aah at. This year, Big Apple presents Journey to the Rainbow, a collaboration with the German troupe Circus Theater Roncalli, complete with humans dressed as polar bears and cotton candy galore. Through Jan. 1 at Damrosch Park, Lincoln Center, Manhattan.
Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes
Its a New York City classic. Its a Christmas classic. The Rockettes are back with sensational high kicks set to state-of-the-art lighting and projections. Little ones will be dazzled by animated trains, ribbons and wintry displays. Their adult companions will delight in a Nativity procession and holiday maximalism. Through Jan. 1 at Radio City Music Hall, Manhattan.
A Christmas Carol
Set in a home built in 1862, in an intimate parlor room, this telling of the timeless Christmas tale stars John Kevin Jones as Charles Dickens. Audience members, surrounded by 19th-century holiday décor and candlelight, will travel back more than a century, to when Dickens wrote the story. The production also features a streaming version. Through Dec. 24 at the Merchant House, Manhattan.
CRAVING SONG AND DANCE
Sweeney Todd
Josh Groban stars on Broadway as everyones favorite tall, dark and handsome throat slitter. Opposite the demon barber is a superbly zany Annaleigh Ashford as the murder-accomplice-baker Mrs. Lovett (our critic called her a brilliant comic for whom comedy is not the end but the means). The two stars will leave the production after the Jan. 14 performance, so be sure to catch them in full bloody glory before they go. Come for the meat pies and Stephen Sondheims gigantic score, stay for the shadowy lighting, which won Natasha Katz her eighth Tony Award. At the Lunt-Fontanne Theater, Manhattan.
Merrily We Roll Along
Jonathan Groff stars alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez in this acclaimed revival of the former Sondheim flop, directed by Maria Friedman. Our critic called the show, which sweetly and gravely warns of the dangers of great ambition, a palpable hit, with a thrillingly fierce central performance by Groff and high-wattage, laser-focused performances by Radcliffe and Mendez. Through March 24 at the Hudson Theater, Manhattan.
Here We Are
Underfed and yet very full: Will the people who have it all ever find something to eat? Inspired by two Luis Buñuel films, David Ives chic, surrealist musical was one of the most anticipated off-Broadway shows of the year, and a star-studded farewell to Sondheims final work. Through Jan. 21 at the Shed, Manhattan.
Stereophonic
Five members of a rock band try to record a studio album. Thats the premise, which hinges upon heartache, copious drug use and fragile rock star egos, of David Adjmis first New York production since 2013, set entirely in a recording studio. Its a play, not a musical, so its not squarely in the song-and-dance category, but the music, written by Will Butler (formerly of Arcade Fire), is chock-full of captivating pop songs and gripping ballads. Through Dec. 17 at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan.
FOR THE FAITHFUL
Purlie Victorious
Leslie Odom Jr. and Kara Young star in Ossie Davis raucous 1961 comedy, directed by Kenny Leon, about a charismatic preacher who must outwit a plantation owner to buy and restore the local church. The play exposes racism as laughably absurd in a Broadway revival our critic called scathingly funny. Through Feb. 4 at the Music Box, Manhattan.
Covenant
In his New York debut, playwright York Walkers Southern gothic, directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene, follows a small Georgia towns reaction to a bluesmans homecoming. The potent little off-Broadway play, about communing with God and making deals with the devil, is based on the real-life bluesman Robert Johnson, whose technique inspired rumors that he had traded his soul for musical genius. Through Dec. 17 at Roundabout Underground, Manhattan.
NEARING EXPIRATION
Shucked
If a cornucopia of puns is your thing, this lowbrow comedic musical about a small-town woman who leaves home to save her corn just might scratch the itch. With a book by Robert Horn, songs by the country music songwriters Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally and campy scenes including a mini-kickline of plastic corncobs directed by Jack OBrien, our critic called the show low humor but hard not to laugh at. Through Jan. 14 at the Nederlander Theater, Manhattan.
Sleep No More
Arguably one of New York Citys crown jewels of immersive theater, the Hitchcock-style take on Shakespeares Macbeth is set to close on Jan. 28 after 12 years. In an enchanting act of voyeurism, audiences members wear masks the Venetian type, not the health-protecting kind (those are optional) and follow characters from room to room, into densely packed apothecary dens, eerie miniature forests and dark, elaborate dining halls. Through Jan. 28 at the McKittrick Hotel, Manhattan.
This article originally appeared in
The New York Times.