The Normal Heart keeps beating…Anne Hathaway out in Public… Betty Buckley back to her roots...and Lombardi brings the Gridiron to the Great White Way

Are you ready for some (dramatic) football?
Blake

Saturday, October 16
GO?Tony winner Betty Buckley returns to New York with a one-night-only solo show at Town Hall, as part of the The Broadway Cabaret Festival. The fest concludes the next day with Broadway Originals, a concert featuring over a dozen artists including John Tartaglia, Lucie Arnaz, Christiane Noll, Jo Sullivan Loesser and Michele Lee (who will also direct.) (Town Hall, 123 W. 43rd St., btwn. 6th and 7th Aves., $50-$55, info/tickets)

Sunday, October 17
BEFORE IT CLOSES? Tyler Perry brings his popular stage and screen persona Madea back to New York with the musical Madea’s Big Happy Family. The show, the 12th stage offering from the entertainment mogul, will move on to play a national tour hitting stops in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Michigan and Indianapolis. (The Theater at Madison Square Garden, $69-$94, info/tickets)
Monday, October 18
GO? The Normal Heart, Larry Kramer’s award-wining drama about the early days of the AIDS epidemic, will receive a 25th-anniversary staged reading with Joel Grey directing an all-star cast including Glenn Close, Victor Garber, Joe Mantello and Patrick Wilson. This one-night-only event will benefit The Actors Fund and Friends in Deed. (7:30 PM, Walter Kerr Theatre, 219 W. 48th St., info/tickets)

GO? Anne Hathaway will join the Public Theater for “Chasing The Green Light,” the inaugural event in a new series exploring issues surrounding the works presented by the Public. The three-part evening will include a writers’ roundtable featuring Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, Michael Friedman (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) and Jay McInerney (“Bright Lights, Big City”). Arianna Huffington will also contribute to the evening with Sam Waterston hosting. (8 PM, The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St., $25, info/tickets)

Tuesday, October 19
GO? Kelli O’Hara will take some time in-between gigs at the Kennedy Center and New York City Opera to play a more intimate show at the home that Michael Feinstein built. O’Hara, a three-time Tony nominee, promises a set exploring newer songwriters like Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Ricky Ian Gordon (Sycamore Trees) with classics from the likes of Irving Berlin and Frank Loesser. (Through Oct. 30, Feinstein’s at Loews Regency, 540 Park Ave., at 61st St., info/tickets)
Wednesday, October 20
GO? Jessica Molaskey and John Pizzarelli's new cabaret show, The Heart of a Saturday Night, features the married couple coupling songs in jazz-inflected mashups including pairing Stephen Sondheim's "You Must Meet My Wife" with Joni Mitchell's "Conversation" and Irving Berlin's "Count Your Blessings" with Jonathan Larson's "Seasons of Love." (Through Nov. 6, Café Carlyle , 35 E. 76th St., at Madison Ave., info)

Thursday, October 21
OPENING? The story of football giant Vince Lombardi touches down on Broadway with Lombardi. Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”) plays the Brooklyn-born, Green Bay Packers legend for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named with Judith Light (“Ugly Betty”), playing the coach’s wife, Marie. Produced by the National Football League. (Circle in the Square Theatre, 235 W. 50th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Ave., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)

Friday, October 22
GO? Whoopi Goldberg returns to the cast of the new London musical, Sister Act, for five performances. Goldberg (also a producer) plays the Mother Superior in the new Alan Menken/Glenn Slater disco musical based on the 1992 film of the same name. The show is set to come to Broadway in April. (London Palladium, the West End, info/tickets)