The witches of Wicked turn eight… BC/EFA celebrates a Hedwig Hallows Eve… Christmas is a nightmare with the Wyeth family of Other Desert Cities…and the murderous duo Bonnie & Clyde hoof-it on the Main Stage
Happy Halloween, Playbilians!
Blake
Saturday, October 29
GO (FREE)? The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens, hosts a special Halloween weekend screening of the 1986 movie musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” The Alan Menken and Howard Ashman-scored flick tells the tongue-and-cheek story of a flower shop worker (Rick Moranis) who helps his fledgling shop on Skid Row get out of the red thanks to the addition of a man-eating plant. The museum continues its Halloween celebration with screenings of other thrillers like “The Shining,” “Alien” and a special 80th anniversary screening of “Frankenstein,” as well as a special horror makeup tutorial with special effects makeup artist Mike Marino (added $15 admission fee). There's also a brilliant exhibition about the life and work of Jim Henson at the museum at the moment. (Through Oct. 30, free with museum admission, Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, NY 11106, info)
Sunday, October 30
GO?Wicked, Stephen Schwartz’s blockbuster musical about those famous witches from Oz, hosts Wicked Day, in celebration of the show’s 8th anniversary on Broadway. Immediately following the Oct. 30 matinee, cast members will perform a special concert that will be made available at 9 PM ET on Facebook for fans around the world. (Gershwin Theatre, 222 W. 51st St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave., info)
Monday, October 31
GO? Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS hosts a one-night-only benefit performance of the gender-bending rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. David Brian Colbert will star as Hedwig, a transsexual glam rocker who comes to America after a botched sex-change operation. John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s musical debuted Off-Broadway in 1998 and has since become a cult classic spawning many revivals and a film version in 2001. (8 PM, New World Stages, 340 W. 50th St., btwn. 8th & 9th Aves., info/tickets)
Tuesday, November 1
OPENING? Inspired by the 2008 report of a group of teenagers from Massachusetts and an infamous “pregnancy pact,” Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar follows the not-so-sweet lives of three inner-city high schoolers who grow up too fast thanks to their plan to get pregnant at age 16. Sugar received great notices for its world premiere at La Jolla and makes a New York transfer starring Tony winner Tonya Pinkins as a feisty mother of one of the teens. (Through Nov. 20, Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 416 W. 42nd Street, btwn. 9th & 10th Aves., Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets)
Wednesday, November 2
OPENING? Andrew Hinderaker’s dark comedy Suicide, Incorporated — about an unconventional consultancy service that offers help writing suicide notes — gets its New York City debut (following a Chicago premiere) courtesy of the Roundabout Underground program that nurtures new and emerging playwrights, with low ticket prices. Jonathan Berry directs. (Through Dec. 23, Roundabout’s Black Box Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center, 111 W. 46th St., btwn 6th & 7th Aves., info/tickets)
Thursday, November 3
OPENING? Christmas with the Wyeth family of Other Desert Cities is anything but cheery. Mother and Father Wyeth (Tony winners Stockard Channing and Stacy Keach) welcome their novelist daughter Brooke (Rachel Griffiths) to their perfectly appointed Palm Springs compound for the holidays. When Brooke reveals her latest project — a tell-all memoir that spills the family’s well-hidden secrets — it causes an earthquake in the lives of Brooke, her GOP-darling parents, her TV producer brother (Thomas Sadoski) and her ultra-liberal alcoholic aunt (Judith Light). By Jon Robin Baitz and directed by Joe Mantello. (Booth Theatre, 222 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway & 8th Ave., info/tickets)
PREVIEWS?Tony winner Alice Ripley and Patrick Breen star in Wild Animals You Should Know, playwright Thomas Higgins’ New York debut. The play centers around two adolescent boys who go on a bizarre camping trip where one of the boys innocently instigates an "erotic game of cat and mouse." Both of their lives, and the lives of their parents, are changed. (Lucille Lortel Theatre,?121 Christopher St., btwn. Bleecker & Hudson, Click here for Playbill Club discount tickets. Officially opens Nov. 20.)
Friday, November 4
PREVIEWS? Tony-nominated composer Frank Wildhorn puts a rockabilly and blues twist on the infamous Depression-era mobsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow with his newest musical Bonnie & Clyde. Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan play the titular young outlaws whose crimes captivated a nation and inspired numerous romanticized versions of their exploits including the famous 1967 film of the same name starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. Tony winner Don Black provides lyrics, with Tony nominee Jeff Calhoun directing and choreographing. (Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45th St., btwn. Broadway and 8th Ave., info/tickets. Officially opens Dec. 1.)
