Santa Claus News

Buddy the Elf is bringing the North Pole to Seattle this holiday season when ELF - The Musical takes over The 5th Avenue Theatre. Under the direction of Seattle's theatrical superstar Eric Ankrim (in his 5th Avenue directorial debut), Elf will feature Seattle's singing and dancing wunderkind Matt Owen as Buddy, the iconic Christmas groupie, alongside Broadway's Kendra Kassebaum as his true love, Jovie. Owen and Kassebaum are joined by Broadway vet Kim Huber, and Seattle stars Sean G. Griffin, Allen Fitzpatrick, Cynthia Jones, Nick DeSantis, and Jessica Skerritt.

Tony Award and Emmy Award-Winning and Golden Globe Award-Nominated Actor, Joe Mantegna will serve as Grand Marshal of THE 2012 HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE BENEFITING MARINE TOYS FOR TOTS. The parade will be presented live by The City of Los Angeles and Associated Television International in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, November 25, 2012 starting with a PRE-PARADE SHOW SPECTACULAR at 5:30 pm, with the Parade commencing at 6:30 pm.

The Crown Center has announced the following upcoming events.

Nickelodeon celebrates the holidays with its first full-length stop-motion animated special, It's A SpongeBob Christmas!, premiering on Nickelodeon Sunday, Dec. 9, at 7:30 p.m. (ET/PT), following its CBS television premiere (11/23). It's A SpongeBob Christmas! was inspired by the classic Rankin/Bass specials (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town) and the popular SpongeBob song released in 2009, 'Don't Be a Jerk (It's Christmas),'co-written by Tom Kenny (voice of SpongeBob) and Andy Paley. The half-hour special features John Goodman as Santa Claus.

Grammy Award®-winning international megastar Rod Stewart returned to HSN on October 26 to once again shatter music sales records at HSN, selling nearly 30,000 copies of his first-ever holiday CD, MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY before its official release on October 30 (Verve Records). Stewart surpassed previous sales records he set at HSN in 2010 with his exclusive debut of FLY ME TO THE MOON: VOLUME V, selling 26,000 CDs on the day of launch. He continues to be the largest selling music artist on HSN.

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical have announced that, due to Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, the production has rescheduled the start of performances on Broadway at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre until Wednesday November 7 at 7PM.

The award winning Arvada Center will open Miracle on 34th Street, The Musical directed by Gavin Mayer on November 27 running through December 23, 2012 in the Main Stage Theater. The musical is based on the story "Miracle on 34th Street" by Valentine Davies; book, music and lyrics were written and composed by Meredith Willson (The Music Man and The Unsinkable Molly Brown). Performances are Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 1 p.m., Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Preview performances are November 23 - 25. Moderated talkbacks with the cast are offered on Friday, December 7 after 7:30 p.m. show and Wednesday, December 12 after 1:00 p.m. show. For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.arvadacenter.org or call 720-898-7200.

'THE GIFT OF ROCK' is available everywhere on 429 Records today, October 30th.

Grammy Award®-winning, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rod Stewart, hosts his first holiday special, Rod Stewart: Merry Christmas, Baby, on THIRTEEN's Great Performances beginning this December on PBS. (Check local listings.)

Grammy Award®-winning, two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Rod Stewart, hosts his first holiday special, ROD STEWART: MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY, on THIRTEEN's Great Performances beginning this December on PBS. (Check local listings.)

Grammy Award-winning international megastar Rod Stewart will return to HSN tonight, October 26 at 8 p.m. (ET) to kick-off the holidays with the debut of his first-ever holiday CD, MERRY CHRISTMAS, BABY before its official release on October 30 (Verve Music Group).PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1nnBH)

ABC Family's '25 Days of Christmas,' cable's biggest programming event of the year, returns with 25 continuous days of holiday-themed entertainment for the whole family. From December 1 - 25, viewers can ring in the holidays with original movies, holiday specials and returning favorites.

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical will present the November 5 -December 30 Broadway engagement at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Following a nationwide search, Johnny Rabe will don Ralphie's trademark spectacles. John Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic, "Boardwalk Empire," "Gossip Girl') will reprise his acclaimed performance as The Old Man from the 2011 National Tour. Joining Bolton will be Tony Award nominee Erin Dilly (Nice Work if You Can Get It, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Mother, Zac Ballard (Oliver! at Irish Repertory Theatre) as little brother Randy, Caroline O'Connor (Chicago, Moulin Rouge) as school teacher Miss Shields, and Eddie Korbich (The Little Mermaid, The Drowsy Chaperone, Wicked) as Santa Claus. All join previously announced Dan Lauria (Broadway's Lombardi, TV's "Sullivan & Son" and "The Wonder Years") as Jean Shepherd. The cast met the press yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you full coverage from the festivities below!

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical will present the November 5 -December 30 Broadway engagement at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Following a nationwide search, Johnny Rabe will don Ralphie's trademark spectacles. John Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic, "Boardwalk Empire," "Gossip Girl') will reprise his acclaimed performance as The Old Man from the 2011 National Tour. Joining Bolton will be Tony Award nominee Erin Dilly (Nice Work if You Can Get It, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Mother, Zac Ballard (Oliver! at Irish Repertory Theatre) as little brother Randy, Caroline O'Connor (Chicago, Moulin Rouge) as school teacher Miss Shields, and Eddie Korbich (The Little Mermaid, The Drowsy Chaperone, Wicked) as Santa Claus. All join previously announced Dan Lauria (Broadway's Lombardi, TV's "Sullivan & Son" and "The Wonder Years") as Jean Shepherd. The cast met the press yesterday, and BroadwayWorld brings you full coverage from the festivities below!

Get your swing shoes on and travel back to the 1940's for Adelaide Festival Centre's big band themed Christmas Proms at Her Majesty's Theatre from 13 - 16 December. Swing the night away with Adelaide's own musical darling, Johanna Allen and rock 'n roll soul man, Andy Seymour as Timothy Sexton and the Adelaide Art Orchestra present classic Christmas carols with a jazzy big band flair.

The cast met the press today, and BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge was there to chat with the whole gang. Check out what they had to say below!

The producers of A Christmas Story, The Musical will present the November 5 -December 30 Broadway engagement at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre. Following a nationwide search, Johnny Rabe will don Ralphie's trademark spectacles. John Bolton (Spamalot, Contact, Titanic, "Boardwalk Empire," "Gossip Girl') will reprise his acclaimed performance as The Old Man from the 2011 National Tour. Joining Bolton will be Tony Award nominee Erin Dilly (Nice Work if You Can Get It, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Mother, Zac Ballard (Oliver! at Irish Repertory Theatre) as little brother Randy, Caroline O'Connor (Chicago, Moulin Rouge) as school teacher Miss Shields, and Eddie Korbich (The Little Mermaid, The Drowsy Chaperone, Wicked) as Santa Claus. All join previously announced Dan Lauria (Broadway's Lombardi, TV's "Sullivan & Son" and "The Wonder Years") as Jean Shepherd. The cast met the press today, and BroadwayWorld brings you a sneak peak of the festivities below!

The Jewish Museum will present an author talk featuring Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, on Monday, November 5 at 11:30 am. Rabbi Plaut will read from his new book, A Kosher Christmas (Rutgers University Press, 2012), the first on the subject of Jews and Christmas in the United States, which portrays how Jews are shaping the public and private character of Christmas by transforming December into a joyous holiday season belonging to all Americans. This will be the first of only two appearances Rabbi Plaut will be making in New York as part of his book tour.

The navigational prowess of 'the most famous reindeer of all' will again illuminate Santa Claus' way into the Christmas season, on a rebroadcast of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER, Tuesday, Dec. 4 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. (Originally broadcast on CBS 12/8/72 after an eight-year run on another network.)

CBS will present a new stop-motion animated special, IT'S A SPONGEBOB CHRISTMAS!, based on the hit Nickelodeon animated series "SpongeBob SquarePants," on Friday, Nov. 23 (9:30 - 10:00 PM, ET/PT). John Goodman lends his voice to Santa Claus in this special. Get a first look at the special below!