The President, the Duke and the Bard walk into a bar…that’s what “on tap” this WEEK AHEAD.
Kick off the weekend with a rarely performed opera from the Duke (Ellington)…sit down for a “fireside chat” (minus the fire) with the President (of Jujamcyn, Jordan Roth) and Liev Schreiber…and catch up with The Bard as he does his best Sherlock Holmes impression. Plus—two big Broadway openings!
Friday, February 26th GO→ Duke Ellington (undeniably one of the greatest musicians of all time) wrote one opera in his lifetime entitled Queenie Pie. It would be one of the last things he would ever attempt to write, and it remained unfinished at the time of his death in the 70s. This story of a Harlem beauty queen returns home for Black History Month thanks to the Harlem Opera Theatre. (7:30pm, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard @ 135th St, $26-$31, info/tickets)
WATCH→ Tony winner Anika Noni Rose hosts the 41st annual NAACP Image Awards. Tyler Perry and Wyclef Jean are among the honorees with Jamie Foxx, Myrlie Evers Williams, Mo’Nique, Morgan Freeman, Sandra Bullock, Gabourey Sidibe, Alfre Woodard, Mariah Carey, and Mekhi Phifer scheduled to appear. (8/7c on FOX)
Saturday, February 27th GO→Talkbacks are becoming as regular in theatres as Playbills…but this one caught our eye. Tony and Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes joins his stellar cast (Michelle Beck, Christian Camargo, Stephen Dillane, Alvin Epstein, Ron Cephas Jones, Juliet Rylance and Thomas Sadoski) to talk about The Bridge Project, the budding transatlantic partnership between BAM, The Old Vic, and Neal Street Productions, currently in its second year at BAM with The Tempest and As You Like It. (5pm, BAM’s Harvey Theatre, $15, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, info/tickets)
GO (FREE)→ Tony winner Ben Vereen hosts a free day of gospel music in honor of Black History Month, featuring bands, soloists and of course, gospel choirs. (10am-5pm, World Financial Center – Winter Garden, West St. btw. Vesey & Liberty Sts.)
Sunday, February 28th GO→ Ah, the understudy! Some of the hardest working (and least recognized) people in show biz. Musicals Tonight! give the standbys a change to stand up and be heard with At This Performance!, a showcase of understudies singing current musical hits. Oh, and if you’re one of those “groaners” who whine when an “at this performance” slip ends up in one of your Playbills, just remember…Liza Minnelli, Shirley MacLaine, Bebe Neuwirth, were all once understudies! (Though April 19, 8pm, McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway at 76th Street, $25, info/tickets)
GO→ Race’s David Alan Grier and Richard Thomas host Light For Haiti: Raising Haiti From The Rubble, a benefit performance promising spoken word and slam poetry, Indie rock, reggae and R&B. Proceeds go to the GHESKIO Medical Center in Port-au-Prince. (8pm, The Canal Room, 285 West Broadway,$40-$150, sponsorship Opportunities Available, info/tickets)
Monday, March 1st GO→ Jujamcyn President Jordan Roth kicks off a series of discussions with some of Broadway’s hottest stars, starting with current A View from the Bridge star Liev Schreiber. Others joining Roth throughout the series include Laura Linney, Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes. (8:15pm, 92st Y at Lexington, $27, info/tickets)
GO (AND HELP)→ Two performances are on deck this Monday, all benefiting orgainizations helping those affected by the Haiti Earthquake. They are:
→ Rockers to Rebuild: Alice Ripley, Constantine Maroulis and Bobby Spencer, plus cast members from shows like Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, and West Side Story join Grammy winner Larry Gatlin and Gene Cornish (The Rascals) for the 17th year of the Rockers on Broadway show. Proceeds this year go to Save The Children and UNICEF. (8pm, B.B. King Blues Club, 237 W. 42nd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, $40-$45, info/tickets)
→ Human Heart Benefit: Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty get together a group of performers from all across the map including Mario Cantone and Tituss Burgess for The Human Heart: Helping Haiti’s Children. Proceeds from ticket sales go to After The Storm directly to SOS Children’s Villages. (7pm, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette,$40-$100, info/tickets)
Tuesday, March 2nd OPENING→ Bill Cain’s Eqivocation explores an investigation into the infamous Gunpowder Plot of 1605 (a foiled plan to displace Protestant rule in England by blowing up Parliament), by none other than the greatest playwright in history, William Shakespeare. Directed by Tony winner Garry Hynes. (NY City Center, 131 W. 55th Street, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Wednesday, March 3rd OPENING→ The Miracle Worker gets its first revival in over forty years. Abigail Breslin stars as Helen Keller and Alison Pill as Annie Sullivan (originally played by Patti Duke and Anne Bancroft respectfully). (Circle in the Square Theater, 235 W. 50th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets) Thursday, March 4th
OPENING→ Christopher Walken pairs up with the darkest dude on Broadway, Martin McDonagh, for A Behanding in Spokane, a dark comedy about a man searching for his missing hand. It’s dark…it’s funny…it’s 100% McDonagh. Also starring Sam Rockwell, Anthony Mackie and Zoe Kazan. (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
In the Heights just celebrated its second birthday on the Great White Way. Its creator and original leading man, Lin-Manuel Miranda (full disclosure, I was his press agent before coming to Playbill), has seen his “baby” grow from its conception at Wesleyan College to its big break Off-Broadway to eventually making it to Broadway to winning a few Tonys to seeing it go out on tour and, now, to its Hollywood move. Heights will make the jump to the big screen later this year in a film starring Lin and directed by Kenny Ortega.
When Lin took his final bow as Usnavi (Heights‘ narrator and guide) last February, he began what would become an almost ceremonial handing over of the reins to future Usnavis, starting with Javier Muñoz and continuing with Michael Balderrama, Jonathan Rua, Kyle Beltran, and the newest Usnavi (or “Newsnavi,” as he’s known), Corbin Bleu.
So, when Lin told me about a planned Usnavi alumni reunion dinner, I thought it might be interesting to arm these ‘navis with a camera…and see what we might pickup. (more…)
This WEEK AHEAD is all about giving a tip of the proverbial hat to the geniuses of yesterday. A tune for the lady who sang (and lived) the blues…a dance for one of the most influential choreographers and directors of all time, Jerome Robbins…and a reading by Richard Dreyfuss and Mario Cuomo to honor the place that helped make Lincoln president.
Of Thee I Sing (and dance and act!)
Blake
Friday, February 19th GO→ Billie Holiday died in 1959 at the age of 45. She lived a life of alcohol-and-drug-induced excess, but like many artists who met an untimely death, the work she left behind is what most people remember her for. Her last performance (in May of ‘59), as witnessed by playwright Reenie Upchurch, is what is documented in Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday. The songs that made her famous (including “My Man” and “Yesterdays”) are featured in the show, as are the demons that made her infamous. Vanessa Rubin stars as Holiday, Woodie King, Jr. directs. (Through Feb. 21, National Black Theatre, 2031 Fifth Avenue, at 125th Street, $20, call 1-866-811-4111 for tickets)
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Saturday, February 20th OPENING→ Stunning soprano Anna Netrebko stars in the classic Puccini opera La Bohème, (as imagined by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli) at the Met. (Through March 20, The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue between 62nd and 65th Streets, info/tickets)
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Sunday, February 21st: OPENING→ As the old saying goes, we all want to “keep up with the Joneses,” but who exactly are the Joneses? Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park explores the many different types of “Joneses” that make up a Chicago community as it moves from a mostly white neighborhood in the 1950s to a multi-racial community of today. Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Clybourne Park takes a darkly comedic and provocative look at how society’s feelings towards race and gentrification have (or have not) changed. (Through March 7, Playwrights Horizons Mainstage, 416 West 42nd Street, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
1994 revival of Show Boat directed by Harold Prince
Monday, February 22nd GO→ Town Hall’s Broadway By The Year series returns with Broadway Musicals of 1927, which includes songs from Show Boat, Hit the Deck!, the Ziegfeld Follies and others, sung by some of Broadway’s biggest voices, including Chad Kimball (Memphis), Christopher Fitzgerald and Kate Baldwin (Finian’s Rainbow) and Ragtime’s Quentin Earl Darrington, Christiane Noll, and Bobby Steggert. (8pm, The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street, between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, $45-$55, info/tickets)
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GO→ Len Cariou, Raul Esparza, Tony Goldwyn, Julia Murney, Becki Newton, Tituss Burgess, Lea Salonga, Bruce Vilanch and a host of other Broadway celebs throw caution (and convention) to the wind for the Fifth Annual Broadway Backwards concert, which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center on 13th Street. As per usual, expect some great “gender-bending” performances with women singing songs written for men and vice versa. Florence Henderson is back as host. (8pm, Lincoln Center Theater at the Vivian Beaumont, 50 Lincoln Square Plaza, info/tickets)
GO→ The Theater for the New City hosts its seventh annual Love ‘n Courage benefit, which this year will honor Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson (who also celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary next month). The evening boasts performances by Laura Linney, F. Murray Abraham, Elaine Stritch, Marian Seldes and the honorees themselves. Hosted by Charles Busch and Julie Halston. (7:30pm, The National Arts Club, 15 Gramercy Park South, $125 (tax deductible), info/tickets)
Tuesday, February 23rd
GO→ The New York City Ballet celebrates the work of one of its most prolific members with the return of All Robbins, a show featuring famous Jerome Robbins choreography. Expected pieces from West Side Story, and Dances at a Gathering, his ballet masterpiece set to the music of Chopin. (From Feb. 18-February 24, David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street, info/tickets)
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Wednesday, February 24th GO (FESTIVAL)→ The FRIGID Festival kicks off its fourth year of bringing New Yorkers out of the cold and entertaining them with over 150 different performances in three spaces in downtown NYC. (Through March 7, Full Schedule of Events)
Thursday, February 25th GO (FREE)→ Great Evenings in the Great Hall will celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s “Right Makes Might” speech with a reading (at the very same lectern Lincoln used) by Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, Tony winner André DeShields, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Kathleen Chalfant and Stephen Lang. (6:30pm, arrive at 4pm for free tickets, Cooper Union’s Foundation Building, East 7th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues, info)
“American Idol” and Broadway: the new co-dependent relationship for the ages? It seems these two can’t live without each other!
Yesterday came the news that Hair would be the latest Broadway show to poach from the “Idol” roster of talent. Diana DeGarmo (last seen on Broadway in Hairspray) and Ace Young (last seen in Grease) would be taking over the roles of Cassie and Berger (respectively).
Other “Idol” alums that have made the leap from Hollywood to Broadway include Constantine Maroulis (The Wedding Singer and currently Rock of Ages), Fantasia Barrino (on Broadway and currently on tour with The Color Purple), Clay Aiken (Spamalot), Frenchie Davis (Rent), Josh Strickland (Tarzan) and Tamyra Gray (Bombay Dreams and Rent).
But for this Webway Wednesday, we’re turning the tables and highlighting some of “American Idol” clips of contestants singing the best of Broadway (dawg).
Carly Smithson takes on “Superstar” from the Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice classic Jesus Christ Superstar. (more…)
Valentine’s Day is almost here. For you shacked up Playbillians, that means that “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” For the single ones, it’s more like “Down with Love.” Either way, you’ll always have the WEEK AHEAD…and we’ll “Always Love You.”
Check out Mrs. Brady at Joe’s Pub…catch an oldie but a goodie with Gable and Colbert…buy a Broadway bear for BC/EFA…and attend an open call for all Edna’s— we know you’re out there, possums!
Dame Blake
Friday, February 12 GO→ Everyone’s favorite TV-mom Florence Henderson is heading downtown. Henderson will bring her show All The Lives Of Me, a retrospective of her half-century-long career (including songs from her City Center turn in Oklahoma! and Lincoln Center’s South Pacific), to Joe’s Pub. (Though February 13, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, info/tickets)
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Saturday, February 13 GO (KIDS)→ Need something to do with the kiddies on Valentine’s Day? Head over to the Galli Theatre for a series of special love-themed plays including Snow White and Little Mermaid. There’s also a special costume party where kids are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite prince or princess. ($25 adults, $20 kids, Galli’s Fairytale Theater, 38 West 38th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues, 3rd Floor, info/tickets)
Sunday, February 14 WATCH→ In honor of Valentine’s Day, BAM will be hosting a three-course dinner followed by a screening of the 1934 Frank Capra film, “It Happened One Night,” starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. “Do you love her?” “ Yes, but don’t hold that against me!” Oh Gable, they don’t make ‘em like you anymore! (6pm or 8:15pm, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Ft. Greene, $64/person with dinner, $12 screening only, info/tickets)
GO→ Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS’ 13th Annual Broadway Bears benefit will be held on Saturday at B.B. King Blues Club. This year’s bears include a “cuddly chorus line of one-of-a-kind teddy bears” from shows such as A Steady Rain, Billy Elliot and Rent. (6pm, $35-$150, B.B. King’s Blues Club, 237 West 42nd Street, for tickets call 212.840.0770 ext. 229, to make a bid online click here)
GO→ Tony winner and current Fela! star Lillias White belts the heck outta some jazz tunes this V-day. This one-night-only show features the fierce Miz White and a six-piece band jamming out to songs about love —”the good, the bad and the ugly.” (Midnight, The Iridium, 1650 Broadway, at 51st Street, $25, info/tickets)
Monday, February 15
GO→ Ryan Reynolds, Mo Rocca, Brooke Shields, and John Leguizamo take on the juiciest tales from Hollywood and beyond in (more…)
Last night, Feb. 8, the Drama League hosted its annual benefit A Musical Celebration of Broadway, honoring the career of one of Broadway’s biggest stars, Angela Lansbury.
To prove how very big this particular star is, Lansbury’s current A Little Night Music co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones joined Lansbury’s former Sweeney Todd co-star Victor Garber to rattle off a few of Lansbury’s many career milestones. They include: three Oscar nominations, 18 Emmy nominations, five Tony wins, six Golden Globe wins, a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, the title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and a Kennedy Center Honor. Whew…I’m tired even typing that!
Beyond a tribute to an enviable career, last night also served as a reunion for many of the original cast members from two of Lansbury’s biggest hits, Mame and Sweeney Todd.
The original Sweeney, Len Cariou, serenaded Lansbury with “Pretty Women,” alongside Alexander Gemignani (son of the famed musical director Paul Gemignani). Other Sweeney songs included a knockout version of “Not While I’m Around” from another dedicated “Sondheim girl,” Bernadette Peters. Sweeney’s original Johanna, Sarah Rice, performed, as did her Anthony (Garber), who sang from what Lansbury herself called one of her most successful flops — Sondheim’s Anyone Can Whistle.
Of course, there was many a reference to the show that gave Lansbury her first Tony, Mame. Dee Hoty opened with “It’s Today,” songbird Ann Hampton Callaway (who played the title character in her high school production) sang “If He Walked Into My Life,” Donna Murphy got carried away (literally) by a host of chorus boys for “Me and My Town,” and original Mame cast members Frankie Michaels (the original little Patrick) and Jerry Lanning (older Patrick) sang “My Best Girl.” Perhaps one of the best numbers of the evening came courtesy of Cheyenne Jackson (as Vera) and Christopher Sieber (as Mame) who sang a hilarious version of the song made famous by Lansbury and Bea Arthur, “Bosom Buddies.”
Edie Falco played the role of “merry mailman” as she read some love letters from absentee Lansbury colleagues, including Hal Prince, who said that when pressed about which star he enjoyed working with the most, he’d invariably say “Angie.”
The evening came to a close with the lady of the hour getting up on stage to call the night “one of the best” of her life. Citing her age (”84 a year ago,” she said, if you can believe it!) and the age of her frequent collaborator, Stephen Sondheim (who is turning 80 next month), she noted that their reunion for A Little Night Music “may very well be my swan song — it would be very fitting.”
Fitting, indeed, for a true Queen of the Broadway stage.
This is a royal WEEK AHEAD. Start off with the kings of the Great American Songbook…continue with an all-star nod to the queen of the stage, Angela Lansbury…finally, join Wynton Marsalis as he pays homage to the Count.
All hail!
Blake
Friday, February 5 GO (FREE)→ The New York Opera Society presents a free concert featuring the works of great American composers including Gershwin, Joplin and Davis. (12:30pm and 7pm, World Financial Center Wintergarden, 200 Vessey Street, info)
GO→ Eve Ensler’s new book, “I’m an Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the World,” will get a star-studded reading by Ensler along with Cynthia Nixon, Kyra Sedgwich and Kevin Bacon, with Rosario Dawson directing. The evening will benefit V-day, Ensler’s charity that raises funds to fight violence against women around the globe. (7:30pm, Urban Zen Center at Stephan Weiss Studio, 711 Greenwich Street at Charles, $100-$5000, info/tickets)
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Saturday, February 6 GO→ “High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu shows off his rapping chops when he takes as Usnavi in the Tony Award Winning musical In The Heights. (Bleu will play through April 25, Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenues, For Playbill Club Discount Tickets click here)
GO→ Placido Domingo (singing in the baritone title role) joins the Met for the classic Italian opera Simon Boccanegra. Met titles are in English, German and Spanish. The Met will also broadcast the performance on movie theatre screens nationwide as part of their The Met: Live in HD progam. (1pm, The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center Plaza, info/tickets)
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Sunday, February 7
GO→ Oscar-winning composerAlan Menken (8 times over!) joins the Broadway Playhouse for a celebration of his music which includes the songs from Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beautyand the Beast, Aladdin, Little Shop of Horrors and the upcoming Sister Act. (11am, Merkin Concert Hall at Kaufman Center 129 West 67th Street, at Broadway, info/tickets)
GO→ The stage version of Fanny featuring the original score by Harold Rome, marks the 50th production of the New York City Encores! series. Elena Shaddow (The Woman in White), James Snyder (Cry-Baby) and George Hearn (Sunset Boulevard, La Cage aux Folles) are the players caught in a love triangle set in a French seaport. (NY City Center, West 55th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues, $25-$95, For Playbill Club Discount Tickets click here)
GO→ The hippies of Broadway’s Hair will perform at a benefit for the Capital Building Campaign of Brooklyn Free School before they take off for London. (10pm, The Laurie Beechman Theatre at West Bank Cafe, 407 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Aves, $45 adults, $35 students, +$10 food/drink min., info/tickets)
Monday , February 8 GO→ The Drama League honors five-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury at its annual benefit gala, A Musical Celebration of Broadway. Signed up to pay homage to the great Lansbury is her A Little Night Music co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones, Edie Falco, Len Cariou, Dee Hoty, T.R. Knight, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Chita Rivera and more. (7pm cocktails, 8pm dinner followed by a performance, $200 performance-only tickets, The Pierre New York, 2 East 61st Street at 5th Avenue, info/tickets)
Tuesday, February 9 OPENING→ Lucinda Coxton’s new play Happy Now? starring Mary Bacon opens Off-Broadway. Bacon plays Kitty, a frustrated woman questioning her happiness with her marriage, her family, her job and life in general. Coxton’s asks a serious question in a darkly comical way. (Through March 6, Primary Stages, 59 East 59th street, between Park and Madison, For Playbill Club Discount Tickets click here)
Wednesday, February 10 GO (FREE)→ The poet Jim Carroll (best known as the author of The Basketball Diaries), who passed away this past September, will be remembered with a memorial reading by his famous friends from the Poetry Project including Patti Smith and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. (8pm, St. Mark’s Church, 131 E. 10th Street, info)
Thursday, February 11 GO→ As a part of Lincoln Center’s celebration of Black History Month, nine-time Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winner, Wynton Marsalis, will join the Lincoln Center Orchestra, vocalist Gregory Porter and pianist Cyrus Chestnut for a tribute to blues legend Count Basie. Featuring a free pre-concert discussion an hour before performance. (Through February 13, 8pm, Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, 33 West 60th street, 11th floor, $30-$120, info/tickets)
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know I loves me some diva! Whether it’s a Patti or a Bernadette or a Barbra or a Bette or a Liza…I love every single thing that comes out of their fabulous, beautiful, brassy mouths! Christine Ebersole is no exception.
Miz E returned to the Cafe Carlyle last night with a show that proved what a master of song she truly is. Whether it was a jazzy “Too Darn Hot” or a swoon-worthy version of “I’ve Got A Crush On You,” she hit every note with such ease and clarity that she definitely deserves a space on the Mt. Rushmore of Divas.
The grandest diva of them all, Elaine Stritch, was there to lend moral support and some hearty unmistakably “Stritch-esque” laughs. (Coincidentally, Miz S. herself put on a hell of a show at the Carlyle; that Sondheim tribute is now in hibernation until March and April.)
And where there’s Christine, there’s laughs.
My favorite moment was when Miz E was talking about her own mother and reverted to the voice of her Grey Gardens counterpart, Little Edie: “I hope she doesn’t die. I rather enjoy her.”
She closed the show with a nod to one of the Carlyle’s most famous residents, the late Eartha Kitt. ”We’re starting a new tradition in her honor,” she said, before doing her own interpretation of “Mink Schmink,” with a dead-on Eartha impersonation for the lead-in, purring, “He knew me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper…”
It was a divine show for a diva of the utmost caliber.
Through February 20 at the Cafe Carlyle. Call 212.744.1600 for reservations.
photos by Aubrey Reuben
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for February, 2010.
GO→ Duke Ellington (undeniably one of the greatest musicians of all time) wrote one opera in his lifetime entitled Queenie Pie. It would be one of the last things he would ever attempt to write, and it remained unfinished at the time of his death in the 70s. This story of a Harlem beauty queen returns home for Black History Month thanks to the Harlem Opera Theatre. (7:30pm, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Boulevard @ 135th St, $26-$31, info/tickets)
GO→Talkbacks are becoming as regular in theatres as Playbills…but this one caught our eye. Tony and Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes joins his stellar cast (Michelle Beck, Christian Camargo, Stephen Dillane, Alvin Epstein, Ron Cephas Jones, Juliet Rylance and Thomas Sadoski) to talk about The Bridge Project, the budding transatlantic partnership between BAM, The Old Vic, and Neal Street Productions, currently in its second year at BAM with The Tempest and As You Like It. (5pm, BAM’s Harvey Theatre, $15, 651 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, info/tickets)
GO→ Jujamcyn President Jordan Roth kicks off a series of discussions with some of Broadway’s hottest stars, starting with current A View from the Bridge star Liev Schreiber. Others joining Roth throughout the series include Laura Linney, Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes. (8:15pm, 92st Y at Lexington, $27, info/tickets)
OPENING→ The Miracle Worker gets its first revival in over forty years. Abigail Breslin stars as Helen Keller and Alison Pill as Annie Sullivan (originally played by Patti Duke and Anne Bancroft respectfully). (Circle in the Square Theater, 235 W. 50th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenues, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
GO→ Billie Holiday died in 1959 at the age of 45. She lived a life of alcohol-and-drug-induced excess, but like many artists who met an untimely death, the work she left behind is what most people remember her for. Her last performance (in May of ‘59), as witnessed by playwright Reenie Upchurch, is what is documented in Yesterdays: An Evening with Billie Holiday. The songs that made her famous (including “My Man” and “Yesterdays”) are featured in the show, as are the demons that made her infamous. Vanessa Rubin stars as Holiday, Woodie King, Jr. directs. (Through Feb. 21, National Black Theatre, 2031 Fifth Avenue, at 125th Street, $20, call 1-866-811-4111 for tickets)
OPENING→ Stunning soprano Anna Netrebko stars in the classic Puccini opera La Bohème, (as imagined by the legendary Franco Zeffirelli) at the Met. (Through March 20, The Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue between 62nd and 65th Streets, 
GO→ The New York City Ballet celebrates the work of one of its most prolific members with the return of All Robbins, a show featuring famous Jerome Robbins choreography. Expected pieces from West Side Story, and Dances at a Gathering, his ballet masterpiece set to the music of Chopin. (From Feb. 18-February 24, David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center, Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street, 
GO (FREE)→ Great Evenings in the Great Hall will celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s “Right Makes Might” speech with a reading (at the very same lectern Lincoln used) by Oscar winner Richard Dreyfuss, Tony winner André DeShields, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, Kathleen Chalfant and Stephen Lang. (6:30pm, arrive at 4pm for free tickets, Cooper Union’s Foundation Building, East 7th Street between 3rd and 4th Avenues, 
GO→ Everyone’s favorite TV-mom Florence Henderson is heading downtown. Henderson will bring her show All The Lives Of Me, a retrospective of her half-century-long career (including songs from her City Center turn in Oklahoma! and Lincoln Center’s South Pacific), to Joe’s Pub. (Though February 13, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, 
WATCH→ In honor of Valentine’s Day, BAM will be hosting a three-course dinner followed by a screening of the 1934 Frank Capra film, “It Happened One Night,” starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. “Do you love her?” “ Yes, but don’t hold that against me!” Oh Gable, they don’t make ‘em like you anymore! (6pm or 8:15pm, BAM Rose Cinemas, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Between Ashland Place and St. Felix Street in Ft. Greene, $64/person with dinner, $12 screening only, 
GO→ Ryan Reynolds, Mo Rocca, Brooke Shields, and John Leguizamo take on the juiciest tales from Hollywood and beyond in 
GO→ “High School Musical” star Corbin Bleu shows off his rapping chops when he takes as Usnavi in the Tony Award Winning musical In The Heights. (Bleu will play through April 25, Richard Rodgers Theatre, 226 West 46th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenues, For Playbill Club Discount Tickets 
GO→ The Drama League honors five-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury at its annual benefit gala, A Musical Celebration of Broadway. Signed up to pay homage to the great Lansbury is her A Little Night Music co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones, Edie Falco, Len Cariou, Dee Hoty, T.R. Knight, Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Cheyenne Jackson, Chita Rivera and more. (7pm cocktails, 8pm dinner followed by a performance, $200 performance-only tickets, The Pierre New York, 2 East 61st Street at 5th Avenue, 
GO→ As a part of Lincoln Center’s celebration of Black History Month, nine-time Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winner, Wynton Marsalis, will join the Lincoln Center Orchestra, vocalist Gregory Porter and pianist Cyrus Chestnut for a tribute to blues legend Count Basie. Featuring a free pre-concert discussion an hour before performance. (Through February 13, 8pm, Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, 33 West 60th street, 11th floor, $30-$120,
