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Notes from New York: Hunks on stage and a very Broadway thanksgiving parade

New York is buckling down for the winter with Emma Stone, Hugh Jackman, and Bradley Cooper

Matthew Morrison will return to Broadway in Finding Neverland
Matthew Morrison will return to Broadway in Finding Neverland
© David Gordon

We hear you're building a stadium for The Hunger Games – and we have to admit, we're a little excited. After all, we here in the states are big proponents of adapting our favourite film and literary properties for the stage. Take the adaptation of Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, currently running at La Jolla Playhouse. Sometimes we even like to blur the lines further by taking our stage shows and putting them on TV, as with NBC's upcoming Christopher Walken-led Peter Pan Live! And of course, one stage to screen crossover we're excited about on both sides of the pond is the Into The Woods film.

In the coming months we also have a lot to look forward to on Broadway. We just learned that Glee's Matthew Morrison will star in a different perspective on the boy who wouldn't grow up when Finding Neverland soars into the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre this spring. The Royal Shakespeare Company production of Wolf Hall will also be stopping by the Great White Way in 2015, as will another British import: Keira Knightley. Knightley will be making her Broadway debut in Thérèse Raquin, Helen Edmundson's new stage adaptation of the novel by Émile Zola. We're also prepping for Broadway favourite Danny Burstein to star in an upcoming revival of Fiddler on the Roof, and the new (we hope) Broadway-bound Little Dancer, which is currently playing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. And let's not forget that Hollywood A-lister Emma Stone is already here steaming up Studio 54.

Two of the spring productions we're most looking forward to star favourite Broadway blonde bombshells. Not only is March when preview performances will begin for a revival of The King and I starring Kelli O'Hara and Ken Watanabe, it's also when Kristin Chenoweth returns to Broadway. She'll be starring with Peter Gallagher and Rocky's Andy Karl in a revival of the musical On the Twentieth Century. For fans who can't wait that long for a dose of Cheno's angelic soprano, she's releasing a new live album and TheaterMania has an exclusive first listen.

In other Chenoweth news, the actress has not announced plans to star in a revival of Once Upon a Matress, but Carol Burnett announced to us that she'd like to co-star. With that in mind, we dream cast an (in our opinion) pretty perfect revival of the 1959 musical, featuring Chenoweth as Winnifred and Burnett as Queen Aggravain. Hey, you can't blame us for trying to get the musical-obsessed Zachary Levi back on the Broadway stage.

That's not to say we don't have our fair share of theatrical hunks on Broadway right now. Hugh Jackman and his bulging biceps just opened in the London transfer of The River, alongside Cush Jumbo and Laura Donnelly, and we're thrilled because we remember Hugh when he made his Broadway debut. Erstwhile sexiest man alive Bradley Cooper is also back on Broadway, having just begun previews in The Elephant Man. There are even rumours that the hunk to beat them all, Sting himself, may be heading to Broadway to star in the world premiere of his currently running musical The Last Ship.

Michael C Hall is one leading man we don't have to give up quite yet. The Dexter star and Broadway favourite has extended his run in Hedwig and the Angry Inch even despite the fact that some gutsy audience member stole a wig right from under his nose. When Hall does eventually depart the production, all will not be lost for Hedwig fans. There's word that John Cameron Mitchell, the show's creator and original star, could be returning to the role.

Before we get that fabulous treat, we'll have to make it through the holiday season. And though the turkey-basting and present-wrapping is always stressful, we do have a very Broadway Thanksgiving Day Parade (featuring If/Then's Idina Menzel and more) to look forward to. And then we'll have the opportunity to celebrate a very Motown New Years when The Four Tops and Temptations stop by for a one-week Broadway engagement. This year, "I Can't Help Myself" from celebrating Broadway all throughout the holidays.