If you’re a fan of burlesque don’t miss the 5th Annual Winter Burlesque Blitz, running Dec 26 through the 29th at the Kraine Theater. This fest for the barely dressed includes performances by Hot Mama Burlesque, Dark Carnival Burlesque, and Shocks Without C*cks: All Nude No Dude Revue. Shows include “Hot Mamas Do the Holidays,” an all-mother burlesque revue on Dec 26 and the David Lynch-based burlesque show “The Pink Room,” plus a burlesque show based on the Bible. Definitely not for the easily shocked!
Catch the latest in dance, performance and theater at the 9th Annual COIL Festival. This year’s highlights include “House of Dance,” a play about performers struggling to make it in the highly competitive world of tap dance; “Tyson vs. Ali,” which takes a look at two of the world’s most famous boxers, and “Bronx Gothic,” focusing on the sexual coming of age of two young girls. COIL runs at various New York City locations from Jan 3rd through the 19th. For more information, as well as a full schedule of shows, head to ps122.org.
Drag queens Dallas DuBois, Holly Dae, Bootsie Lefaris, Pixie Aventura and others star in a special holiday installment of their “Distorted” series, which has sent up everything from Broadway to Disney. Distorted Kristmess (emphasis on the “mess”) finds them tearing apart such beloved seasonal traditions as A Charlie Brown Christmas and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. They will also be joined by their partners in crime, the Port Authority Cockettes. Distorted Kristmess runs at the Laurie Beechman Theater at the West Bank Café every Fri through Dec 20th.
Naked Holidays returns for a seventh season of fun with music, burlesque, and brand-new comedy sketches like “A Very Paula Deen Hanukah” and “Christmas Village of the Damned,” in which an elf is to blame for an outbreak of the zombie plague. (Yikes!) Naked Holidays bares it all at the Cutting Room through Dec 30.
The New York Pops presents a special holiday concert Dec 19 and 20 at Carnegie Hall with Under the Mistletoe, featuring Ashley Brown and the choral ensemble Essential Voices USA. The show will include renditions of famous holiday songs like “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” along with other standards by composers Sammy Cahn, John Williams and Vince Guaraldi.
If you like a little soul music with your holiday season, then check out An R&B Christmas, which will be at Brooklyn College’s Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts on Dec 21. This show will feature such legendary acts as The Coasters, Blue Magic, Charlie Thomas’ Drifters and Shirley Alston Reeves, the original lead singer for the Shirelles. The artists will be singing the hits they are best known for as well as traditional Christmas songs.
A holiday tradition not to be missed, the legendary Radio City Christmas Spectacular features the Rockettes dancing to “Parade of the Wooden Soldiers;” Santa taking us on a trip to his magical workshop; and a “Living Nativity” scene which remembers the very first Christmas. This wonderland of a show will be at Radio City Music Hall through Dec 30.
The Nutcracker Rouge is a reworking of Nutcracker Suite—with an adult edge. An erotic combination of burlesque and baroque styles, Nutcracker Rouge blends theater, dance, opera, poetry and circus performance to create something truly unique. The cast features Laura Careless, Shelly Watson and circus artists Rose Bonjo and Courtney Giannone. Nutcracker Rouge will be at Minetta Lane Theatre through Jan 5.
A Christmas Carol is another classic holiday tradition getting an interesting reworking. The story focuses on the night Scrooge’s life is changed, as he is offered a chance to change the course of his miserable existence and help his fellow man. Six actors play 37 characters in a rendition that can be best described as a classic black comedy with a modern-day message. Damen Scranton takes on the role of Scrooge. A Christmas Carol, presented by the Blessed Unrest theater company, runs through Dec 22 at the Interart Theatre.
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