Joel Waggoner & Julia Mattison's ADVENT CAROLNDAR Will Play Town Hall This Holiday Season
Special guests will include Neil Patrick Harris, Megan Hilty, and Allen René Louis.
No Guarantees Productions announced today that Advent Carolndar, the wildly festive holiday spectacular created by Joel Waggoner (School of Rock) and Tony Award- and Grammy Award-nominated Julia Mattison (Death Becomes Her) will make its triumphant return to the New York stage at The Town Hall on Monday, December 14 at 8:00 PM. Directed by Tim Drucker (The Unauthorized Hallmark(ish) Parody Musical), this year’s celebration will feature special appearances by Broadway favorites Tony- and Emmy Award-winning Neil Patrick Harris, Tony Award-nominated Megan Hilty, Grammy Award-nominated Allen René Louis, with additional special guests to be announced.
Single tickets beginning at $55 are on sale for the general public now at www.ticketmaster.com/event/0300654DBA7D1B70.
Born from Waggoner and Mattison’s digital holiday tradition, Advent Carolndar began when the Broadway veterans challenged themselves to write and release a brand new holiday song every day for the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Now, the pair are bringing their growing collection of festive bangers to the stage for one gloriously unhinged night of holiday music and mayhem. Featuring songs from every season of Advent Carolndar, it is the perfect antidote to a silent night.
“We are thrilled to return to New York with our biggest, jolliest, most dingle-bongliest Advent Carolndar yet,” said Waggoner and Mattison. “We’ve been writing holiday songs for a number of years, which means we have approximately 9,000 Christmas songs and absolutely no idea what to do with them except PUT THEM IN A SHOW! We’re bringing the hits, the deep cuts, the clams, the Christmas witch, and several things that we legally cannot call Christmas miracles. It’s going to be merry, bright, and deeply stupid. Come celebrate the season with us!”
The creative team for Advent Carolndar will include Nate Bertone (Production Design), Colleen Doherty (Lighting Design), Connor Wang (Sound Design), and Joyah Spangler (Associate Director). Production management by Juniper Street Productions, and General Management by ShowTown Theatricals.
For more information, please visit www.thetownhall.org/event/joel-and-julias-advent carolndar.
BIOGRAPHIES
JOEL WAGGONER is a Broadway actor, composer, songwriter, music director, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist with an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from NYU Tisch. Broadway: School of Rock, Be More Chill. Film/television: “Only Murders in the Building,” Don’t Say Good Luck (Netflix). Off-Broadway: A Man of No Importance (Classic Stage Company), Southern Comfort (Public Theater), Titaníque, The Joel Waggoner Experience (Joe’s Pub), Advent Carolndar Live! (Public Theater/Joe’s Pub). With Julia Mattison, Waggoner created Advent Carolndar, featured on NPR’s Weekend Edition, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” with Ben Platt, The New York Times, and The New Yorker. He is the composer of Presto Change-o, written with Eric Price, and has written music for commercials for “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and several albums. www.joelwaggoner.com Instagram: @joelwaggoner
JULIA MATTISON is a Tony- and Grammy Award-nominated songwriter, actor, librettist, and musical comedian. She is the co-composer/lyricist of the Tony winning hit musical comedy Death Becomes Her and is currently writing the book for Disney's stage adaptation of Tangled (in development with DTG). Other theatrical projects include Is Anyone Alive Out There? (Audible Theater), Noel and Julia’s Wayward Brainchildren (Joe’s Pub), “Brooklyn Sound” (Streamy Award winner), and Ruby Manger Live! (54 Below). She and Joel Waggoner are the unhinged minds behind the viral holiday sensation Advent Carolndar (@adventcarolndar on Instagram) featured on NPR, in The New Yorker, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and more, while their live show has played sold out runs at the Public's Shiva Theater, Joe's Pub, and Chelsea Music Hall. Broadway: Godspell. www.juliamattison.com
TIM DRUCKER (Director) is thrilled to be celebrating year five of Advent Carolndar at Town Hall. He previously directed their sold out shows at Chelsea Musical Hall, Joe's Pub and last year's run at the Public's Shiva Theater. His other annual holiday musical with Joel along with co-lyricist and co-bookwriter Bonnie Milligan, The Unauthorized Hallmark(ish) Parody Musical premiered in Toronto last season where it returns this year as well as launching a 2026 US tour, which he also directs. Recent credits include the global tour of Trixie and Katya Live! and the English dialogue for Opera Saratoga's La Vie Parisienne. For more info TimDrucker.com.
NO GUARANTEES PRODUCTIONS is an eight-time Tony Award–winning theatre producer, including for the 2026 Best Musical Schmigadoon! Additional lead producing credits include The National Theatre’s Broadway production of Inter Alia starring Rosamund Pike, Jez Butterworth’s Tony Award-nominated The Hills of California, James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize winning play Fat Ham, and Nell Benjamin and Larry O’Keefe’s new musical Huzzah!. Co-producing credits including Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along, The Lehman Trilogy, Leopoldstadt and Hadestown. No Guarantees is the operator and programmer for NYC’s historic Astor Place Theatre and is led by Christine Schwarzman and Megan O’Keefe.
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