Nicole Kidman Gets a Christmas Carol: Broadway's Holiday Season Lineup

Broadway's holiday season runs the gamut from a Nicole Kidman-inspired "Christmas Carol" to a live radio play starring Andrew Rannells and Megan Hilty. New York City's theaters, never ones to resist a theme, have stacked the festive calendar with five not-to-miss shows. Here's what's on.

What's playing for podcast fans?

"It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" stages the story behind Frank Capra's classic film in the medium that dominated the first half of the 20th century. The concept: the audience sits inside a 1940s radio studio and watches the broadcast come together, complete with a foley artist (the sound-effects craft of live radio and film). Andrew Rannells, Megan Hilty, Tituss Burgess, Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna head the cast. It runs through Jan. 3 at the Broadhurst Theater.

The Times's framing is blunt: the podcast, at heart, is a rebranded radio play. Fair point. Now you can hear the story in its native format — on a Broadway stage, which rather undermines the nostalgia. Irony noted.

Where does Dickens meet drag?

Marla Mindelle, fresh from deploying "a wicked Quebecois accent as Celine Dion in 'Titaníque,'" switches hemispheres to take on Nicole Kidman in "A Kidman Carol." Josh Sharp plays Cate Blanchett opposite her. The show is Kevin Zak's riff on "A Christmas Carol," and the source dryly allows that it "might be a comedy. Just a hunch." It runs Nov. 16-Dec. 30 at New World Stages.

For audiences who have memorized the best "RuPaul's Drag Race" challenges, this is presumably the seasonal appointment.

What about visitors who don't speak English?

Blue Man Group, faces painted "cryptically" Yves Klein blue, has built nearly four decades on precision physical comedy that needs no translation. This season the troupe makes its move to Broadway with "A New Holiday Surprise," running Nov. 12-Jan. 3 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater.

It may carry a seasonal title, but expect the usual antics — including the Blue Men interacting directly with the audience. That's the format's signature, and the format doesn't bend for Christmas.

Is there actual magic on offer?

For those who believe the holiday season is magic — literal magic, that is — "Now You See Me Live" borrows its title from the film franchise and brings the Four Horsemen and their illusions to Broadway. The roster isn't all men: Gabriella Lester is one of the Horsemen. The show runs through Jan. 3 at the Al Hirschfeld Theater.

Why the seasonal pile-up?

The reasoning is simple, per the source: the winter holidays tend to include "a certain excess," and theater is no exception. That excess translates into a crowded market of festive offerings aimed at both New Yorkers and visitors in town for a few days.

The season's run dates cluster around New Year's — four of the shows close on or before Jan. 3 — so anyone hoping to catch the full slate has roughly seven weeks. Choose accordingly.