Photo: The Ed Asner Family Center

In what has become a holiday tradition for The Ed Asner Family Center, there will be another star-studded live reading of the beloved holiday tale, It’s A Wonderful Life this month.

On Sunday, December 11th at 8pm ET/5pm PT, join Brendan Fraser, Christina Applegate, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, JK Simmons, Jean Smart, Ken Jeong, Jim Beaver, Brent Spiner, Phil Lamarr, Ben Mankiewicz, James Cromwell, Sue Ann Pien and host Tom Bergeron alongside honorees Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann for a reading of the classic 1946 holiday film.

Fraser will taken on the iconic role of George Bailey, originated by James Stewart, while Applegate will star as Mary Bailey, Rogen as Clarence, and Smart as Ma Bailey.

Social director of TEAFC, Chelsea Darnell will play a narrator alongside autistic actors Dwayne Cox, Max Gadson, Spencer Harte, Lucas Salusky and Hannah Schindler.

Victor Nelli (Superstore, Brooklyn Nine Nine) returns for a third year as director.

Proceeds will benefit The Ed Asner Family Center, dedicated to promoting mental health and enrichment programs to special needs children and their families.

Tickets are currently available at edasnerfamilycenter.org.

Stay Merry,

Photos: The Ed Asner Family Center

Tom Bergeron will host a star-studded cast special virtual table read gala of the 1946 holiday classic film, It’s A Wonderful Life, on Sunday, December 13th at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Proceeds will benefit The Ed Asner Family Center, dedicated to promoting mental health and enrichment programs to special needs children and their families.

Pete Davidson will be taking on the iconic role of George Bailey, originated by James Stewart.

Photos: NBC

Despite the very different holiday season we’ll be having this year, you can count on NBC to bring some of your most cherished traditions right into your homes with their nostalgic-filled lineup of seasonal programming, which was officially announced today.

Among the network’s holiday offering is the annual “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade”, the tree lighting ceremony for “Christmas at Rockefeller Center” and a viewing of the iconic show, the “Radio City Christmas Spectacular”.  NBC will also premiere “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical!” starring Matthew Morrison, “The Voice Holiday Celebration”, the “Saturday Night Live” Thanksgiving and Christmas specials, and of course a few family-fun movies, including Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (both the 1966 animation and the 2000 feature film) and the classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”.

Check out the full festive lineup below!

Photos: NBCUniversal

I’ve been awaiting the NBC holiday programming lineup for months now, and my interest increased when I learned that superstar siblings Derek and Julianne Hough would host their first Christmas special on the network.

This morning NBC revealed their “Oh, What Fun” lineup, which included “Holiday with the Houghs” along with spectacular perennial and annual specials like the iconic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, National Dog Show, a Dolly Parton concert event, beloved classics like “It’s a Wonderful Life” and Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, and the annual New Year’s Eve event before closing out on January 1, 2020 with the Tournament of Roses Parade.

Check out the holly jolly lineup below!

Photos: Mary McCartney, PR / Paramount

Musical legend Paul McCartney (of The Beatles) is currently working on a musical stage adaptation of one of the most iconic holiday films of all time, Frank Capra’s 1946 film “It’s a Wonderful Life”, based on Philip Van Doren Stern’s “The Greatest Gift”.

The musical is the brainchild of McCartney and West End theatre and film producer Ben Kenwright, and has been in development for three years, since acquiring the rights, and is slated to open in late 2020. McCartney will write the music and lyrics alongside Tony Award winning playwright Lee Hall, while Kenwright is set to produce.

“Like many of these things this all started with an email. Bill had asked if it was something I might be up for. Writing a musical is not something that had ever really appealed to me but Bill and I met up with Lee Hall and had a chat and I found myself thinking this could be interesting and fun. “It’s A Wonderful Life” is a universal story we can all relate to,” McCartney said.

Read more about the upcoming project at BroadwayWorld.com!

Stay merry!