This Week’s Picks! Have a Disgraced Dinner Party, Salute the Stars & Get Naked with a B’way Survivor

Hey, you—the one who's so bored you’re considering hanging out with the weird dude from accounts receivable. Don’t! Entertaining options abound in New York City and beyond this week, including a Broadway vet’s foray into reality TV, the Great White Way debut of a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, and a fan favorite’s return to Jersey Boys. It’s all part of this week’s picks!


Enter the Tiaradome at 54 Below
September 22 at 54 Below
We’re hard-pressed to think of good things to come out of beauty pageants, aside from that priceless "Kristi" Chenoweth video. Oh, wait. There’s Smile, the tremendous Howard Ashman and Marvin Hamlisch musical about the behind-the-scenes machinations at a second-rate California beauty pageant. Alas, the play closed in 1986. But good news! For one night, members of that Broadway cast—including Jodi Benson and Lauren Kosarin—return for a reunion concert. Don’t forget your tiara. Click for tickets!


Welcome a Jersey Boy Back to Broadway
September 23 at the August Wilson Theatre
After the death of Bob Crewe, fans of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons needed a pick-me-up. Well, they’re getting one. Quinn VanAntwerp returns to Jersey Boys as Bob Gaudio, who penned some of the group’s biggest hits and became Valli’s confidante and business partner. Even better, we get an excuse to say “Quinn VanAntwerp.” That is a fantastic name. Click for tickets!


Have an Office Party with Harvey Fierstein
September 23 at Anita’s Way at 43rd Street and 6th Ave.
At most jobs, when you reach a significant work anniversary, you’re lucky to be honored with a sugary, store-bought cake that has the wrong name on it. But when you’ve spent 25, 35, or 50 years on Broadway—as a press agent, stagehand, whatever—the irrepressible Harvey Fierstein emcees your celebration. The sixth annual “Broadway Salutes” features appearances by Lindsay Mendez and Andy Karl and is open to the public. Hooray for work!


See Reed Kelly Survive Reality TV
Begins September 24, check local listings
Carving out a career in Broadway requires quick thinking, patience, and self-sacrifice. (Well, that’s what A Chorus Line taught us.) So, we know Reed Kelly (The Addams Family, Wicked) will thrive as a contestant on Survivor: San Juan del Sur—Blood vs. Water, the latest edition of the granddaddy of reality TV shows. Good luck, Reed. We hope at least some of the challenges involve Clay Aiken and contemporary show tunes!


RSVP for a Disgraced Dinner Party
Begins September 27 at the Lyceum Theatre
Pray you don’t have a get-together like the one in Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, the riveting Pulitzer Prize-winning drama making its Broadway debut. Amir Kapoor (Har Dhillon) is a successful Pakistani-American attorney who has distanced himself from his Islamic roots; his wife, Emily (Gretchen Mol), is a white artist influenced by Islamic art. When the New Yorkers host a dinner party, benign conversation turns into something truly unsettling. Josh Radnor also stars. Click for tickets!