This WEEK AHEAD features seasonal tidings for kids big and small. Start off with a holiday tale for the tots from the Brothers Grimm featuring Debbie Harry (who knew she was kid friendly?)… Four Main Stem exits…a “Race” back to Broadway for the mighty Mr. Mamet…appearances from Albee, Strouse, Menken and others… and the return of the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS “Gypsy of the Year” Competition.

Francois sez fas, flashe no do,
Blake

Friday, December 4
GO→ ‘Tis the season for seasonal theatre…especially for the tots! Axis Theatre Company brings back Seven in One Blow or The Brave Little Kid, its interactive winter show based on the classic fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. This year features a special filmed appearance by Blondie front-woman, Debbie Harry (yea, you know her!) Go on December 11 for a special benefit for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. (Through December 20, $12 adults/$6 kids, One Sheridan Square, east of 7th Avenue, call 866.811.4111 or click here for tickets)

Saturday, December 5
GO→ Before Michael Feinstein hits the main stem with a Dame named Edna, he’ll take to the main stage with a Gent named David. David Hyde Pierce will join the crooner for a series of holiday shows at the home that Michael built: Feinstein’s at the Loews Regency. (Through December 30, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency,
540 Park Avenue at 61st Street, 212.339.2095 or click here)

Sunday, December 6
BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig will close out the hugely successful run of A Steady Rain with a final benefit performance for New Yorkers for Children and NYCPBA Widows & Children’s Fund. (Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th Street, info)

BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Sienna Miller and Johnny Lee Miller in Patrick Marber’s lust-filled adaptation of a Strindberg classic, After Miss Julie, also ends its limited run this Sunday. (American Airlines Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street, For Playbill Club discount tickets click here)

BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Brooding Brit, Jude Law, takes his final turn as the prince of darkness in Hamlet, closing this Sunday. (Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street, info)

BEFORE IT CLOSES→ Julia Stiles and Bill Pullman in Mamet’s scandal plagued Oleanna, takes its final bow at The Golden. (The John Golden Theatre, 252 West 45th Street, For Playbill Club discount tickets click here)

OPENING→When God closes a Mamet door, he opens a Mamet window. David Mamet’s newest show Race will mark the playwright’s second show to open this fall on Broadway, and his directorial debut on the Great White Way. Opening this Sunday, Race stars Kerry Washington, James Spader, David Alan Greir and Richard Thomas. (The Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 243 West 47th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenues, For Playbill Club discounts, click here)

Monday, December 7
GO→ The annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS “Gypsy of the Year” Competition is one of the hottest tickets on Broadway during the holiday season. This 21st year of “Gypsy” promises to be star-studded with the casts of Billy Elliot, Bye Bye Birdie, Chicago, Hair, Jersey Boys, Naked Boys Singing, Newsical, Mamma Mia!, Mary Poppins, Rock of Ages, Superior Donuts, West Side Story, Wicked, Avenue Q and In The Heights all performing. Also on the roster of participants include Bernadette Peters, Michael McKean, Julie White and our very own Seth Rudetsky! (The Palace Theatre, 1564 Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets, Monday, Dec. 7 at 4:30 PM and Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 2 PM, Tickets $20-$350, Call 212. 840.0770 or click here for more info)

GO→ In celebration of the upcoming Lincoln Center production One Evening (Dec 9-11), the 92 st Y hosts an Evening with Beckett, a reading by the production’s star, Tony winner, Stephen Dillane.  (8pm, 92 St Y at Lexington Ave., $10(under 35)-$19, click here for tickets)

Tuesday, December 8
GO→ Charles Strouse, Alan Bergman, Hal David, Paul Williams, Alan Menken and David Zippel collectively wrote some of the greatest tunes in the American songbook. On Tuesday, this distinguished group will perform their greatest classics in a performance called The Songs of Our Lives: Performed by the Songwriters Who Wrote Them. This one-night-only performance will benefit the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. The work of other famous LaGuardia alums like Cy Coleman, Ed Kleban and the second half of the famous Bergman writing team, Marilyn Bergman, will also be heard. (7pm, 100 Amsterdam Avenue at 66th Street, Tickets are $150-300, Call (212) 595-1301 or visit www.alumniandfriends.org)

Wednesday, December 9
GO→ The Museum of the Moving Image celebrates the film release of Tennessee Williams’ rediscovered screenplay The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond with a discussion featuring the film’s director Jodie Markell and stars Ellen Burstyn, Bryce Dallas Howard, Elaine Stritch and Eli Wallach. The panel will be moderated by Charles Isherwood, theater critic for The New York Times. (7pm, The Times Center, 242 West 41 Street, between 7 Avenue and 8 Avenues, $25 public/$15 Member, click here for more info)

Thursday, December 10:
GO (FREE)→ Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Edward Albee, will join distinguished playwright David Henry Hwang and actor Francis Jue for a conversation and reading of Hwang’s newest play, Yellow Face, at the Drama Book Shop this Thursday. (5:30pm, The Drama Book Shop, 250 West 40th Street, info)