(Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11217-1486) (Varies) This fall, the Next Wave Festival returns for its 29th season, presenting an array of contemporary performance, artist talks, storytelling, visual art, and film that showcases work by emerging artists and innovative modern masters. Event Website

(The WIRED Store, 692 B'way) (We - Su 11am - 7pm) Not just a shopping destination - it's an interactive experience that allows you to touch, test and tinker with the most "wired" products out there for the digital gentleman, gadget girl, gastronaut, smarter upstarter, adventure capitalist, maker, or culturazzo in your life. Event Website

(Union Square, 14th St. @ B'way, New York, NY 10003) (11am - 8pm) Over 100 merchants bringing in some of the most unique gifts ever, this is the place do your holiday shopping, or just enjoy browsing! There will be nibbles and noshes throughout -- German delights, sweet and savory treats, cider and cappucino to keep you warm. (FREE) Event Website

(Grand Central Station, 101 East 42nd, New York, NY 10017) (10am - 8pm) Located in the Terminal’s historic Vanderbilt Hall, you’ll find the city’s best holiday shopping experience featuring 76 vendors with a wide array of goods at all price levels. The fair features artisans selling unique crafts, jewelry, clothing, home furnishings, children’s gifts, and more. Event Website

(Marquis Theatre, 1535 Broadway, New York, NY 10036) (Varies) FOLLIES comes to Broadway for an historic limited engagement, complete with its 28-piece orchestra and a cast of 41—led by such Broadway babies as two-time Tony® winner Bernadette Peters, four-time Tony® nominee Jan Maxwell, two-time Tony® nominee Danny Burstein, three-time Emmy nominee Ron Raines and Olivier Award winner Elaine Paige. Purchase Between August 7 – October 2 - $89 Orchestra/Front Mezz (reg. $135/$125) $65 Mid Mezz (reg. $95/$85) Order August 7 – October 2, Use code 2BUDDY ($45+) Event Website

(New World Stages, 340 W 50th St, New York, NY 10019) (Varies) Returning to NYC after its groundbreaking 12-year Broadway run, Rent, set in NYC's East Village, is a modern take on the classic Puccini opera, La Boheme. It tells the unforgettable story of a group of young artists learning to survive, falling in love, finding their voices and living for today. ($65) Event Website

(Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal Street near West 4th St., NY, NY 10014) (7pm) Don’t miss the NYC return of the smash Off-Broadway hit THE GAYEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER! It’s time for the annual holiday production for a struggling gay theatre company in West Hollywood. Jim, the pot-smoking straight tech guy, offends M&M, the eclectic playwright, causing him to walk out and take his script with him. Now the crazy and drama-addicted team has just a few weeks to produce the “gayest Christmas pageant ever.” This holiday camp-fest is a fast-paced comedy packed with hilarious dialog and over-the-top characters. ($35) (212-464-8875) [email protected] Event Website

(Foxwoods Theater, 214 West 43rd St, New York, NY 10019) (Varies) Previews November 14th Opens December 21st. Drawing from over 40 years of Marvel comic books for inspiration, Spiderman - Turn Off The Dark, spins a new take on the mythic tale of Peter Parker, a teenager whose unremarkable life in Queen's is turned upside down - literally - when he's bitten by a genetically altered spider and wakes up the next morning clinging to the ceiling. Event Website

(Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, 111 West 46th St, New York, NY 10036) (See website for details) A refreshingly honest take on how we cope with wounds that just won't heal, and the funniest play about human suffering you're likely to see. ($88) Event Website

(Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street, New York, NY 10036) (Varies) Hugh Jackman in a rare and intimate concert. Tony & Emmy award winning superstar performs with an 18-piece orchestra, as he sings his favorite songs and shares some personal stories. ($69+) Event Website

(American Museum of Natural History, 175 Central Park West, New York, NY 10023) (Varies) A new exhibition this spring focusing on the monstrous size and impressive survival of these beings with hands-on computer activities and collections of sauropod specimens. The main attraction will be a life-size sauropod dinosaur that is about 60 feet in length. ($24) Event Website

(The High Line, Gansevoort St to 34th St, btwn 10 & 11th Aves, New York, NY 10011) Three sculptures resembling the skeletal framework behind advertising billboards. These blank forms emulate the abounding indicators of the economic recession, such as empty storefronts and "For Sale" signs. Beck's sculptures have the illusion of depth when viewed from the front, but as visitors move past them, the side views reveal that they are completely flat, cut from perspective drawings and built like theater props. (FREE) Event Website

(FIT, 27th St & 7th Ave, New York, NY 10001) The exhibition Daphne Guinness will feature approximately 100 garments and accessories from Guinness' personal collection, including designs from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Azzedine Alaïa, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, John Galliano for Christian Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Rick Owens, Gareth Pugh, and Valentino. Guinness' own designs will also be on display. Event Website

(Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park, Southwest corner of Lincoln Center Plaza at 62nd St btwn Columbus & Amsterdam Aves, New York, NY 10023) In its 34th Season with a thrilling All-New Show, Dance On! Artists swing into action in the spotlight under the intimate Big Top, where no seat is more than 50 feet from the ring! ($25+) Event Website

(Barrymore Theatre, 243 W47th Street, New York, NY 10036) (Varies) Much more than a concert, An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin is a funny, passionate, intimate and unique musical love story told entirely through a masterful selection of some of the greatest songs ever written for the stage. ($77+) Event Website

(Museum of Sex, 233 5th Ave, New York, NY 10016) (Su-Thu 10am-8pm ; Fr & Sat 10 am-9pm) In the exhibition Obscene Diary, the rich sexual documentation of one remarkable individual, a professor, tattoo artist, pornographer and sexual record keeper, Samuel Steward is unveiled. Steward’s self documentation included a catalogue of every partner and sex act, illustrated through photos, diary entries, sexual record keeping, explicit drawings and erotic literary musings. “Obscene Diary asks our patrons to reflect on what it would look like if their own sexual histories were documented and what this would say about the times in which we live..." ($17.50 Stu/Sen $15.25) (212-689-6337) [email protected] Event Website

(New York Botanical Garden, 200th Street and Kazimiroff Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10458) This cherished tradition delights people of all ages. Marvel at the charming model trains and New York City landmark replicas, stroll the spectacular grounds, decorate (and eat!) gingersnaps, break for lunch and hot chocolate, and shop for everyone on your list. ($20) Event Website

(FIT, 27th St & 7th Ave, New York, NY 10001) (See website for details) The show will trace Hartman’s unique position as a working photographer who successfully weathered the transition from analog to digital. While carting around a camera, rolls of film, and a hand-held flash in 1977, Hartman still managed to capture candid shots at Studio 54 and behind-the-scenes photographs of fashion shows before press was widely invited to cover the pre-show preparations. (FREE)

(Music Box Theatre, 239 West 45th St, New York, NY 10036) (See website for details) Private Lives, provides a riotous showdown between two of the stage and screen's most magnetic personalities - Kim Cattrall (Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner for Sex and the City) and Paul Gross (Tales of the City, Slings and Arrows, Due South.) Glamorous, rich and reckless, Amanda (Cattrall) and Elyot (Gross) have been divorced from each other for five years. Now both are honeymooning with their new spouses in Deauville on the French Coast. ($66.50) Event Website

(Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, New York, NY 10012) (Vaies) Jordon Harrison, Jeffrey Hatches, Neil LaBute and other playwrights look at same-sex marriage and a host of surrounding issues, both political and comical, in this evening of one-acts ($25+) Event Website

(Minetta Lane Theatre, 18 Minetta Lane, New York, NY 10012) (See website for details) Two little words, and suddenly your whole world changes. Don't miss this evening of new short plays by an A-list lineup of writers with 2 Pulitzer Prizes, 4 Obies, 1 Emmy® and 3 Tony® nominations. Be there as they offer their unique takes on the moments before, during and after "I do." Witty, warm and occasionally wacky, these plays are vows to the blessings of equality, the universal challenges of relationships and the often hilarious power of love. Standing on Ceremony will donate a portion of all ticket sales to Freedom to Marry and other organizations promoting marriage equality. (Special offer $49 until Dec 11) Event Website

(Walter Kerr Theater, 219 West 48th St, New York, NY 10036) (See website for details) The new musical comedy Lysistrata Jones is getting ready to score on Broadway. Every player on the creative squad is an all-star: Book by three-time Tony® nominee Douglas Carter Beane (Sister Act), music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn (The Divine Sister) and direction and choreography by Tony® nominee Dan Knechtges (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee). (special $50 tickets)

(Lincoln Center, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023) For the fifth season in a row, thanks to a generous gift from The Agnes Varis Trust, 200 orchestra seats are available for each regular Monday through Thursday performance for only $20, 50 of these tickets are set aside for senior citizens. You can purchase Varis Rush Tickets at the Met box office beginning two hours before curtain, subject to availability. ($20) Event Website

(Circle In The Square Theatre, 235 West 50th St, New York, NY 10019) (See website for details) The beloved classic from Stephen Schwartz, the Grammy® and Academy Award®-winning composer of WICKED and PIPPIN. Enjoy all the good gifts of one of the most enduring shows of all time as it comes to Broadway in a brand new, intimately staged, one-of-a-kind production. Raise your spirit with the Tony®-nominated score filled with the popular hits Day By Day, Learn Your Lessons Well and Turn Back, O Man. ($125+) Event Website

(LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th St, New York, NY 10011) The world's oldest and largest not-profit agency dedicated to serving LGBT senior citizens. Activities include Daytime Discussion, Art Studio, 75+, Support Group, Scrabble & Bridge and Women's and Men's activities. Event Website

(Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd St, New York, NY 10024) (7pm) Support groups for parents, families and friends of LGBTs. Event Website

(Staten Island LGBT Center, 25 Victory Blvd, Third Floor, Staten Island, NY 10301) (7:30 - 9:30pm) Support groups for parents, families and friends of LGBTs. Event Website

(Public Assembly, 70 N. 6th St., Brooklyn, NY 11211) (9 PM) New Producer. New Shows. Celebrating One Year of The New Monday Night Burlesque with a month of Anniversaries. Jonny Porkpie (“The Burlesque Mayor of NYC”) takes over production duties from Doc Wasabassco at The New Monday Night burlesque. His first task: to commemorate the one-year anniversary of The New Monday Night Burlesque. So Porkpie has gathered an all-star month of shows celebrating this and other anniversaries. ($10) [email protected] Event Website

(Bowery Poetry Club, 308 BOWERY, (b/w BLEECKER & HOUSTON), New York, NY 10012) (7:30PM) The legendary comedian and NYC icon needs no stinking bingo card to entertain—but think how much better the numbers’ game will roll as The Talented Mr. Murray co-hosts with dynamite drag star Linda Simpson. Play for cash and prizes while indulging in adult beverages, plus the occasional surprise performance—all leading up to someone scoring the cash jackpot at the end of the night. (ADMISSION/BINGO CARDS $2 EACH) Event Website