BroadwayGirl NYC

It's December, already?! How can that be? Weren't we all just at BC/EFA Flea Market & Grand Auction, and just before that the 2019 Easter Bonnet Competition? How do the years keep flying by faster and faster?

'It's December again? How did that happen? Where did 2018 go? And more importantly... how am I going to get all of my holiday shopping done?!'

It's December, y'all! Time for snow storms, egg nog, those giant ornaments that show up on 6th avenue across the street from Radio City Music Hall.

Ice skating in Bryant Park. The lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Seeing the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. The holiday windows on 5th Avenue. Fighting crowds at the airport with the promise of family on the other side of a long flight. Curling up with hot chocolate to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the millionth time. The rich, familiar nuttiness of egg nog.

There's so much to look forward to every December in New York. The tree going up at Rockefeller Center; ice skating in Bryant Park; gorgeous window displays at Macy's and Bloomingdales. For many Broadway fans, the Gypsy of the Year concert and a new Carols for a Cure album mark the start of the holiday season. For me, it really feels like Christmas when I receive my favorite pre-holiday gift: the annual Broadway Cares snow globe. Behold, the 2015 globe:

The best of this year's Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS holiday gift guide, through the eyes of Broadway's biggest fan.

They say it's the most wonderful time of the year. I can't say I disagree! The holidays in New York City are magical... ice skating at Bryant Park, the huge trees lit up in Rockefeller Center and Lincoln Center, and snow falling softly on Times Square (let's just ignore the black post-snow slush). New shows opening on Broadway just in time for the holiday crowds, and of course... the chance to scour the BC/EFA Holiday Gift Guide to find the perfect items for everyone on your list.

The Tonys are about celebrating the best of Broadway theatre from the past 12 months. And what is America's favorite way to celebrate? By pouring liquids into our mouths!!

I woke up early to watch the Tony nominations. The categories & nominees were announced so fast I could barely register the names, much less process a reaction or live tweet my thoughts! Now that I've had a couple of days to consider the list, here are my very preliminary thoughts about each of the main categories. (Part 1 of 2!)

Which of Laura Osnes' leading men has been your favorite?

This week is Valentines Day, the occasion set aside (by Hallmark or otherwise) to celebrate that which we care about most. And we all know what I care about most...

Have you heard of the 24 Hour Plays? It's a simple concept that is ridiculously complex to pull off. Every year, a big group of actors, playwrights, and directors volunteer a single day -- 24 full hours -- in which they create a night full of original theatre. It started in 1995 as a group of young theatre-makers who set out toput on a show where, as founder Tina Fallon explains, 'opening night and closing night could be at the same time, so our friends would actually show up'.

A night in the theatre can seem to go by in an instant. A fabulous cast album can have the same effect - which is why I never travel without an ipod loaded up with lots. I asked via twitter: 'What are your favorite cast albums when you're traveling?' Responses flowed in. Needless to say, I'm not the only one who depends on cast recordings when I have a long trip ahead of me! Depending on my mode of transportation, my listening criteria vary. Here are my favorites!

The holiday season totally snuck up on me this year. I'm writing this on December 11, just TWO WEEKS before Christmas (and already three nights into Hannukah), and I'm more than a little bit panicked!! Two weeks to do all of my shopping? EEK to say the least. Luckily I have the BC/EFA Catalogue of Giving, which offers hundreds of Broadway-themed gifts, my favorite of which I'll share with you below. Proceeds to the wonderful causes supported by Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS, which this year includes help for victims of Hurricane Sandy and similar disasters.

A debate started up tonight when a tweeter suggested that Cinderella shouldn't be brunette on Broadway.

The Performers - starring Cheyenne Jackson, Henry Winkler, Alicia Silverstone, Ari Graynor, Daniel Breaker, and Jenni Barber - will close on Sunday night, November 18, after 23 previews and only seven regular performances. See this hilarious show, before it's too late.

This weekend my friend Jill & I went on The Ride -- a big tour bus with seats facing sideways, and one giant window like an imax screen looking out on the city. This is not just a facts-and-snapshots experience. It's more like being inside a virtual reality version of midtown Manhattan... except there was nothing virtual about it! Let's call it enhanced reality -- an energetic, showbizzy, glitzier version of a bus-about-town, where instead of being observers, the riders become part of the city experience.

Earlier this week I had my iPod on shuffle as I walked around the theatre district. Somewhere around 47th & Broadway, a beautiful instrumental track came on, which I didn't recognize for the first few bars. Then I heard a snippet of a song I knew... and then another... and I realized with a smile that it was the Entr'acte from Merrily We Roll Along. I enjoyed it so much I started scanning through my vast collection of songs for other Entr'actes. As soon as I got home, I too made a iTunes playlist of my favorites.

There are cast albums that we blast as we decorate for a party. There are those that are perfect for driving along an open highway with the top down. Certain albums make perfect workout soundtracks, or deliciously accompany us as we're getting ready for an exciting big date. There are those we love to sing along to, and share with our friends as we giggle at the lyrics. Then there are those, as Spring Awakening is for me, that are best enjoyed like a bubble bath: warm, slow, and solitary.

I go to the Bway Flea every year; I love the piles of t-shirts and tote bags, the stacks of cast albums on both CD and LP, the buttons and keychains and stickers and promotional items. My favorite sources of treasure are the overflowing dollar boxes, ripe for rummaging through, which are full of countless fun little tchochkes and the occasional something-amazing that has slipped in either by accident or by someone who didn't know the difference. I'll keep a few things from today. But the vast majority of it, I'm sending away. I'm sending it, in fact, to YOU.