PREVIEWS

Dec. 9: Performances begin for the Classic Stage Company production of Mother Courage and Her Children, starring Tony winner Tonya Pinkins and featuring original music by Duncan Sheik, the Tony-winning composer of Spring Awakening. 

OPENING

Dec. 4: Oscar winner Al Pacino co-stars alongside Christopher Denham in David Mamet's two-hander, China Doll. Pacino plays a billionaire on the verge of retirement, ready to buy his young, new fiancé a jetplane and settle into the good life. One phone call changes it all. See photos from the production here. Dec. 6: Andrew Lloyd Webber's School of Rock — The Musical bounds onto Broadway starring Alex Brightman as music teacher Dewey Finn, the role made famous in the film by Jack Black. Read Playbill.com's exclusive interview with the leading man in which he talks about his unlikely casting, gaining weight and being Lloyd Webber's "homie." Joining Brightman in the rock musical are Sierra Boggess, Spencer Moses, Mamie Parris and more. 

Dec. 7: It's opening night for the highly anticipated world-premiere musical Lazarus by Tony-winning playwright Enda Walsh with music by David Bowie. The story is inspired by Walter Tevis' best-selling 1963 novel "The Man Who Fell to Earth," about a human-looking alien who comes to our planet. Hedwig star Michael C. Hall plays the extraterrestrial in the New York Theatre Workshop production, a role that Bowie himself played in the 1976 film adaptation. 

Dec. 10: The Transport Group's innovative revival of the Tony-winning musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress officially opens Off-Broadway, starring Jackie Hoffman as Princess Winnifred and John "Lypsinka" Epperson as the Queen. Discover the untold story of how composer Mary Rodgers made the dream of a Mattress revival a reality.

LAST CHANCE

Dec. 6: Emmy winner Holland Taylor and Marylouise Burke battle it out for a final time in Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire's world-premiere comedy Ripcord at Manhattan Theatre Club. Set in a nursing home, his newest play sees two elderly women in a hilarious, no-holds-barred battle of the wills. 

Dec. 6: In Roundabout Theatre's Off-Broadway premiere, Ugly Lies The Bone, "The Good Wife" star Mamie Gummer plays a discharged soldier from Afghanistan who is left scarred both physically and emotionally in Lindsey Ferrentino's play. Read Playbill.com's interview with the leading lady as she discusses getting down, dirty and ugly in the world-premiere production.

Dec. 13: Nina Arianda and Sam Rockwell end their electrifying performances as a tormented couple in the Broadway production of Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard's Fool for Love. Read Playbill.com's coverage of the sizzling opening night.

Dec. 13: Following an acclaimed London run, don't miss the Donmar Warehouse production of Henry IV at St. Ann's Warehouse featuring an all-female ensemble and set against the backdrop of a women's prison. The terrific cast, lead by Harriet Walter as King Henry, will soon be heading back over the pond. Read Playbill.com's interview with director Phyllida Lloyd in which she discusses the inspiration behind the innovative staging.

SPECIAL EVENTS

Dec. 3: The Tony Award-winning musical The Wiz celebrates its 40th anniversary tonight with a star-studded remake from NBC. The broadcast of The Wiz Live! begins at 8 PM, starring newcomer Shanice Williams, who is joined by original Dorothy, Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em, Queen Latifah as The Wiz, Mary J. Blige as Evillene, David Alan Grier as the Cowardly Lion, Uzo Aduba as Glinda, Amber Riley as Addaperle, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man and Common as the Bouncer. 

Dec. 4: Michael Fassbender stars alongside "Inception" star Marion Cotillard in a new film adaptation of Macbeth, in selected U.S. cinemas. Watch the trailer here. 

Dec. 4: Tim Janis’s The American Christmas Carol celebrates its 10th year at Carnegie Hall, with full orchestra and a 200-voice choir, along with special guests Sarah McLachlan and Zachary Levi, among others. 

Dec. 7: As a benefit for Roundabout Theatre Company, two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane stars in a one-night-only staged reading of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's classic comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner. Lane recently shared his top ten theatregoing experiences with Playbill.com: read them here.  

Dec. 7 & 8: The 27th Annual Gypsy of the Year Competition, produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, features a slate of participating stars including Wayne Brady, Andréa Burns, Gavin Creel, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson and more. The festivities and performances are a culmination of six weeks of fundraising by Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies.