Student Blog: How to Have a Broadway Holiday

As a Broadway fan, I have come up with many little touches to the holiday season that encapsulate my love for the holidays as well as my love for musicals. I thought it’d be fun to compile them into a list for any fellow theater nerd to take inspiration from!

The most integral part to celebrating the holidays as a Broadway fan is of course, the music. Albums like the “Carols for a Cure” series have gifted us with the voices of the incredible casts of various Broadway shows singing holiday classics. My personal favorite is the Broadway cast of Anastasia singing “All Those Christmas Cliches.” It perfectly encapsulates how I feel around the holidays, how cheesy it can all appear but ultimately I find meaning in it all. Christy Altomare’s voice makes me cry, so in the context of the most precious time of year it's even more emotional. I also highly recommend the incredible album, “If the Fates Allow” by Jewelle Blackman, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Kay Trinidad, featuring much of the Hadestown original cast. Anyone who has listened to the Hadestown cast recording knows that the voices of these 3 are just ethereal, so to hear them sing holiday songs, not only the classics but some originals with their unique sound, is nothing short of mind-blowing. It’s been on repeat for me every winter since it came out. 

My mom and I started a tradition a few years back of decorating a small tree with all of the Broadway ornaments we have accumulated. Our collection grows each year and it’s so cool to look back on the new shows we had attended that year, each one holding a memory. This year my mom set up a fake Christmas cactus. I doubted it at first but now there’s a cactus in our living room covered in ornaments and I think it turned out beautifully! 

Seeing shows can be a great way to celebrate the holidays as a theater-lover. I’d recommend checking out local theaters to see what’s on the schedule for December. A few years back my local professional theater did a production of “A Christmas Story” which was amazing to see around the holidays. I think generally seeing shows around the holidays can feel really festive, even if it’s not explicitly holiday themed. Last year I saw a local production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” twice naturally, and it filled me with that warm holiday feeling. Especially with family around, it can be a really great experience to see shows together, getting out of the house and feeling festive along the way.

I’m not a huge fan of Hallmark movies, but I will always watch one for a Broadway actor. “Holly & Ivy” starring Jeremy Jordan was very cute, as well as “A Holiday Spectacular” starring Ginna Claire Mason and Derek Klena. It is a real shame when they don’t find some random excuse to have the Broadway star sing, but they’re fun nonetheless.

My friend and I recently discovered “Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn” on Broadway HD. It’s a pro-shot of the production in 2017 that stars Bryce Pinkham and Corbin Bleu (a duo I never expected but now need more from). It has so many classic songs like “White Christmas” that are surely familiar. There are references to so many holidays, so I’m convinced it’s the perfect thing to watch all year round, but especially at Christmas time. Tons of fun dance numbers and just a classic Broadway feel. The humor hits, there’s an adorable romance, Byrce Pinkham’s voice is so cozy, it’s just a precious piece of theater. I highly recommend throwing it on while drinking hot cocoa. 

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and gets some ideas from this list to make it even better as a theater fan! Here’s to getting all of the Playbills/Broadway merch/tickets on our lists.