Broadway From Home: 10 Holiday Movies Featuring Broadway Stars!

Whether you love them or not, holiday films are designed to make you feel good inside - so it makes total sense that, over the years, Broadway stars (our favorite purveyors of joy) have found themselves appearing in them!

Check out the list below to find out where you can find your favorite belters and baritones onscreen - 'tis the season!

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Victor Garber - Happiest Season (2020)

You may know Victor Garber from his dozens of Broadway appearances in shows like "Hello, Dolly!," "Present Laughter," "Art," "Arcadia," "Assassins," and his Tony-nominated performances in "Deathtrap," "Little Me," "Lend Me a Tenor," and "Damn Yankees." You may also know him from his long run on TV's "Alias." But you can find Victor Garber close to your home this holiday season as Ted Caldwell in "Happiest Season," a lesbian Christmas rom com starring Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis. Garber plays Davis' character's father - a conservative mayoral candidate worried about the future of his family.

Watch "Happiest Season" on Hulu. Watch the trailer here:

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Patti LuPone - Last Christmas (2019)

If there's a more iconic Broadway star to include in your holiday film, we haven't found one. Patti makes a quick cameo in the film, which stars Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, and Emma Thompson, as a store customer who's obsessed with Christmas, and it's totally worth the watch. You know Patti LuPone from "Evita," "Company," "Sweeney Todd," "Gypsy," "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," and so many more - she took home Tony Awards for "Gypsy" and "Evita."

Watch "Last Christmas" on HBO Max. Watch the trailer here:

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Kristin Chenoweth - Holidate (2020) and Four Christmases (2008)

Kristin Chenoweth is both the queen of Broadway and the queen of Christmas. In addition to big studio Christmas movies, Chenoweth has starred in "A Christmas Love Story" and "12 Men of Christmas"; she's best known for her Broadway roles in "Wicked," "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown," "Promises, Promises," and many more. You can also catch her holiday-themed Food Network series, "Candy Land." The Netflix film "Holidate" was just released this year, but "Four Christmases" is a bonafide holiday classic. Could Chenoweth just be the glue that holds the holidays together? We think so.

Watch "Holidate" on Netflix, and watch "Four Christmases" on AMC+. Trailers here:

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Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana - Frozen (2013)

Can you consider "Frozen" a holiday movie? Unclear. But we think it is - it's about loving your family, finding out where you belong, and appreciating enormous heaps of snow. "Frozen" is truly crawling with Broadway stars; Menzel is best known for "Wicked" and "Rent," Groff is best known for "Hamilton" and "Spring Awakening," Gad made waves in "The Book of Mormon," and Fontana starred in "Tootsie," "Cinderella," and more. For a fun, non-denominational, winter holiday treat, "Frozen" is definitely the choice.

Watch "Frozen" on Disney Plus. Watch the trailer here:

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Anna Kendrick - Noelle (2019)

You may know Anna Kendrick best from "Pitch Perfect," "The Last Five Years," or "Into the Woods," but she got her start in the 1998 Broadway production of "High Society." In this Disney Plus original, Kendrick plays Kris Kringle's daughter, who's forced to fill in as Santa when her Santa-in-training brother goes missing. It's a heartfelt holiday experience!

Watch "Noelle" on Disney Plus. Watch the trailer here:

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Anika Noni Rose - Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020)

The star-studded cast of "Jingle Jangle" features Forest Whitaker, Keegan-Michael Key, Phylicia Rashad, Ricky Martin, and Broadway's own Anika Noni Rose. Her credits include "Caroline, or Change," "Footloose," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "A Raisin in the Sun." She also starred in the film adaptation of "Dreamgirls," and voices Disney's only African American princess, Tiana. "Jingle Jangle" is a delightful, brand-new, holiday musical with memorable performances from the whole cast.

Watch "Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey" on Netflix. Watch the trailer here:

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Sarah Jessica Parker - The Family Stone (2005)

You know SJP from "Sex and the City," or for her Broadway performances in "Once Upon a Mattress," "Annie," and "The Innocents." She's scheduled to return to Broadway in 2021 in "Plaza Suite." She stars alongside Dermot Mulroney, Diane Keaton, Luke Wilson, and more in "The Family Stone," the story of a Christmas gone wrong in a small New England town.

Watch "The Family Stone" on Hulu. Watch the trailer here:

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Matthew Morrison - Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical! (2020)

We're cheating a little by including a musical taped live on this list, but Matthew Morrison's take on the grumbling Grinch is too fun to leave off. Morrison originated the role of Corny Collins in "Hairspray," and has additional Broadway credits in "Finding Neverland," "The Light in the Piazza," "South Pacific," and more. You probably know him best for playing Will Schuester on "Glee."

Watch "Dr Seuss' The Grinch Musical" on Peacock and NBC. Watch the trailer here:

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Vanessa Hudgens - The Knight Before Christmas (2019)

"Gigi" Broadway star Vanessa Hudgens has made quite the name for herself in the Netflix Christmas rom-com. She stars in "The Knight Before Christmas," the story of a medieval knight accidentally time-traveled to the present holiday season; she also leads "The Princess Switch" and its sequel, which both have Christmastime elements to them. Hudgens is also known for roles in "High School Musical," "Grease: Live," and the Kennedy Center production of "In The Heights."

Watch "The Knight Before Christmas on Netflix. Watch the trailer here:

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Christine Baranski - Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square (2020)

Last but not least, we come to Christine Baranski, the iconic Broadway, film, and sitcom actress known for roles in "Rumors" and "Boeing Boeing" on Broadway, "Cybill" on TV, and "Mamma Mia!," "Chicago," "The Birdcage," and more on film. She brings her particular brand of Baranski-ness to "Christmas on the Square," playing a woman who plans to sell her hometown at Christmastime. Directed by the legendary Debbie Allen with music by "9 to 5" composer and cultural icon Dolly Parton, "Christmas on the Square" is not one to miss.

Watch "Dolly Parton's Christmas on the Square" on Netflix. Watch the trailer here:

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Photo Credit: Steve Dietl/NETFLIX, "Holidate."