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 - 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 - 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: 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)
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)
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)
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.
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
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.
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)