December 2019 Highlights on Broadway and Beyond

Check out our guide to the biggest theatrical events of the month...

Happy Holidays to all our valued readers from all of us at the New York Theatre Guide! Yes, December is finally here and The Big Apple is once again flooded with festive lights. And if you're looking for a festive treat for the whole family this month, then we can heartily recommend these joyous, holiday-themed shows:

- A Christmas Carol continues its Broadway engagement at the Lyceum Theatre through January 5, 2020. Starring Campbell Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, two-time Tony Award winner Andrea Martin as the Ghost of Christmas Past, and Tony Award winner LaChanze as the Ghost of Christmas Present, this immersive Old Vic production has been delighting both the young and the young-at-heart with its timeless tale of redemption and its multitude of beautifully arranged Christmas carols!

A Christmas Carol Tickets are available now for performances through January 5, 2020.

- 'Twas the Night Before... by Cirque du Soleil stages its world premiere at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden from December 12 through December 29, 2019. Billed as Cirque du Soleil's first-ever show themed to the holidays, 'Twas the Night Before... promises an exhilirating spin on this Christmas classic with bundles of high-flying acrobatics, inline skating and circus acts, of course! So, why not treat the kids and find out what happened before Santa dropped in?

'Twas the Night Before... by Cirque du Soleil Tickets are available now for performances from December 12 through December 29, 2019.

- Christmas Spectacular starring The Radio City Rockettes is the New York City holiday tradition second to none. The Rockettes are lighting up Radio City Music Hall through January 5, 2020, so grab the kids, grab the grandparents and (re)visit this festive frolic that has been entertaining New Yorkers since 1933... and yes, it is spectacular!

Christmas Spectacular starring The Radio City Rockettes Tickets are available now for performances through January 5, 2020.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to remind you of two Broadway productions closing this month. It's 'Last Chance Saloon' for the Broadway revivals of Harold Pinter's Betrayal and Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo, which both end their limited runs on December 8. So, catch the hit London production of Betrayal, starring Golden Globe and Olivier Award winner Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Cox and Zawe Ashton in their Broadway debut performances, and see Roundabout Theatre Company's take on The Rose Tattoo, starring Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei, before it's too late!

Betrayal Tickets are available now for performances through December 8, 2019.

The Rose Tattoo Tickets are available now for performances through December 8, 2019.

And now, without further ado, it's time to talk about the theatrical highlights this December. 'Tis the season to be jolly on the Great White Way!

December 5

Will the New York critics fall "Head Over Feet" for the Broadway premiere of Jagged Little Pill? We'll find out on December 5 as the new musical, inspired by the 1995 Alanis Morissette album, celebrates its official opening at the Broadhurst Theatre. Packed with hits such as "You Oughta Know," "Ironic," "Hand in My Pocket" and "You Learn," alongside some of Morissette's greatest hits not featured on that album, Jagged Little Pill tells an original story about a suburban family named The Healys, whose lives aren't quite as picture-perfect as they may seem.

Jagged Little Pill Tickets are available now for performances through July 5, 2020.

December 7

In celebration of his new studio album True Love: A Celebration of Cole Porter, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr. returns to Broadway on December 7 with a special concert engagement at the Nederlander Theatre. The ultimate modern-day showman meets the legendary Great American Songbook icon in Harry Connick, Jr. - A Celebration of Cole Porter, which is scheduled to run through December 29, with an official opening on December 12. The Tony Award nominee is set to serenade his loyal fan base with his own interpretations of classics such as "Anything Goes," "All Of You," "You Do Something To Me," and many more in this multi-media-infused presentation. We're in no doubt that a lot of you would love to experience some "True Love" on Broadway this December!

Harry Connick, Jr. - A Celebration of Cole Porter Tickets are available now for performances from December 7 through December 29, 2019.

December 10

"Something's coming, something good" on December 10! Avant-garde director extraordinaire Ivo van Hove's new (perhaps radical?) take on the classic musical West Side Story begins performances at the Broadway Theatre and is scheduled for almost two months of previews, before opening in February. Featuring all-new choreography (for the first time ever in the United States!) by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, this modern re-telling of the Arthur Laurents/Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim masterpiece, inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, will certainly turn a few heads, but we are more than curious to see how van Hove will re-invent West Side Story for the audiences of today. With a young cast led by Shereen Pimentel as Maria and Isaac Powell as Tony, get ready to fall for these Upper West Side star-crossed lovers all over again!

West Side Story Tickets are available now for performances from December 10, 2019, through June 7, 2020.

December 23

Just in time for Christmas Second Stage Theater brings us a star-studded production at its Broadway home of The Hayes Theater. Bess Wohl's Grand Horizons centers on Bill (played by Emmy Award winner James Cromwell) and Nancy (Tony Award winner Jane Alexander), who have been married for fifty years... until Nancy decides she wants a divorce and turns the family upside down. The comic drama also boasts a cast that includes "Gotham" star Ben McKenzie (making his Broadway debut), Tony Award nominee Ashley Park, Tony Award winner Priscilla Lopez, "30 Rock" and "Weeds" star Maulik Pancholy, and Broadway favorite Michael Urie. An official opening is set for January 23, 2020.

Grand Horizons Tickets will be available soon.

December 27

Not to be outdone, Roundabout Theatre Company returns from December 27 with its own star-studded play at the American Airlines Theatre. The first-ever Broadway production of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama A Soldier's Play, which follows a murder investigation at a Louisiana Army base in 1944, is headlined by three-time Tony Award nominee David Alan Grier and two-time Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood. Directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, the cast also features Nnamdi Asomugha and Jerry O'Connell and will undoubtedly generate another welcomed chapter of Black Broadway history.

A Soldier's Play Tickets are available now for performances from December 27, 2019, through March 15, 2020.

And here's what's going down away from the (festive) lights of Broadway this month...

December 4 - Courtroom drama MsTrial officially opens at New World Stages.

December 5 - Musical revue Anything Can Happen in the Theater: The Songs of Maury Yeston officially opens at York Theatre Company.

December 6 - London Assurance begins previews at Irish Repertory Theatre, ahead of an official opening on December 15.

December 9 - Lincoln Center Theater's production of Samuel D. Hunter's Greater Clements officially opens at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and Atlantic Theater Company's world premiere of Stephen Adly Guirgis' Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven officially opens at the Linda Gross Theater.

December 10 - The New Group's world premiere of one in two officially opens at Pershing Square Signature Center.

December 12 - 'Twas the Night Before... by Cirque du Soleil begins performances at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden (and runs through December 29) and the New York premiere of Lucas Hnath's The Thin Place officially opens at Playwrights Horizons.

December 16 - The world premiere musical Sing Street, based on the 2016 film by John Carney, officially opens at New York Theatre Workshop.

Join us again in the New Year when we take a look at January's theatrical highlights, including the Broadway return of four-time Tony Award nominee Laura Linney!