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The holiday season officially kicks off with Thanksgiving. We are thankful for all our loyal friends, family, and members who make Answers4Dancers an amazing and caring community! We have great stories coming to the DanceBlast for December! See you then!
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DANCING WITH THE STARS: AND THE MIRRORBALL TROPHY GOES TO...
 After 10 weeks, dozens of performances, and countless awkward chats in the Skybox, Dancing With the Stars’ first season on Disney+ has come to a close. In a way, Monday’s reveal of the Season 31 winner almost felt like a footnote during the finale, which also packed in emotional farewells to head judge Len Goodman and longtime dance pro Cheryl Burke, both departing the series after joining Dancing in its earliest days. But after all those tears were wiped, the show still had four remaining finalists: Wayne Brady, Charli D’Amelio, Shangela, and Gabby Windey. We got to see all of the season’s contestants return to the ballroom. We also saw Selma Blair and Sasha Farber perform their final dance we missed when Selma had to drop out of the competition. Jordin Sparks provided the music for them with a live performance to her hit, No Air. The final four had two new routines to perform for judges’ scores and viewers’ votes. First, each couple revisited a dance style they’d previously struggled with earlier in the season, then the duos unveiled their long-awaited freestyle performances. Here’s how Monday’s final scores shook out: Shangela and Gleb Savchenko placed fourth even though they had a strong redemption round with a perfect score. Third place went to Wayne Brady and Witney Carson. Second place went to the always fun and upbeat Gabby Windey and Val Chmerkovskiy after their phenomenally strong finale with two perfect scores and impressive dances. But there was no denying that Charli D’Amelio and Mark Ballas were the clear champions and they took the Mirrorball Trophy. Congratulations to all the contestants after a stellar season!
DARREN CRISS, LENA HALL, RAMIN KARIMLOO & SOLEA PFIFFER SET FOR CHESS BENEFIT CONCERT ON BROADWAY
 A benefit concert of Chess is coming to Broadway for one night only. The concert will feature Emmy winner Darren Criss as Freddie Trumper, Tony winner and Little Shop of Horrors star Lena Hall as Florence Vassey, Funny Girl’s Ramin Karimloo as Anatoly Sergievsky, and Almost Famous star Solea Pfeiffer as Svetlana Sergievsky. The event will take place on December 12 at Broadway’s Broadhurst Theatre and benefit the Entertainment Community Fund. Tony winner Michael Mayer will direct. Chess features a score by ABBA’s Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and EGOT winner Tim Rice. It features a new book by Emmy winner Danny Strong. The musical is a love story set against the historic Cold War chess battles between the United States and Russia where ideologies dangerously clash. The show was originally produced on Broadway in 1988. A benefit concert in 2003 at the New Amsterdam Theatre, starring Tony winner Sutton Foster, Josh Groban, Julia Murney, and Adam Pascal, also supported the Entertainment Community Fund (then called The Actors’ Fund). A new staging, starring Raúl Esparza, Tony winner Karen Olivo, Karimloo, and Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles bowed at the Kennedy Center in 2018. Rice has been hinting that a new Broadway production may be in the works.
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TONY WINNER JOAQUINA KALUKANGO TO PLAY THE WITCH IN INTO THE WOODS ON BROADWAY
 Tony winner Joaquina Kalukango will take over the role of the Witch in the Broadway revival of James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods on December 16. She will replace Patina Miller and Montego Glover who currently share the role at the St. James Theatre. A Tony winner for Paradise Square, Kalukango earned an additional nomination for leading Slave Play. Her other Broadway credits include The Color Purple, Holler If Ya Hear Me, and Godspell. When Kalukango joins the cast, it will feature Stephanie J. Block, Brian d’Arcy James, Gavin Creel, Joshua Henry, Denée Benton, Katy Geraghty, Jim Stanek, Ann Harada, Cole Thompson, and Alysia Velez. The Lear deBessonet-directed production will play its final performance on January 8, 2023. This marks its third revival and its first time back on Broadway in 20 years. A movie adaptation was released in 2014.
TONY WINNER MICHELE PAWK & MICHAEL WARTELLA JOIN WICKED ON BROADWAY
 Tony winner Michele Pawk and Michael Wartella will join Wicked on Broadway. Pawk will take on the role of Madame Morrible on December 12, replacing Sharon Sachs, who will take her final bow on December 11. Wartella began performances as Boq on November 15, taking over the role from Jordan Barrow, who ended his history-making run on November 13. Wartella played the role on Broadway in 2013. Pawk is a Tony winner for Hollywood Arms. Her other Broadway credits include Beautiful, Hairspray, Losing Louie, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, Seussical, Cabaret, Triumph of Love, Crazy For You, and Mail. Wartella starred as Dion DiMucci in the pre-Broadway engagement of The Wanderer. His Broadway credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Tuck Everlasting. Wicked features choreography by Wayne Cilento.
Did you know that in 2021 roughly 155 million Americans shopped on Black Friday and 88 million folks shopped online? Americans spent $8.9 billion shopping Black Friday deals online in 2021. The post-Thanksgiving shopping extravaganza you know today started over 98 years ago. It wasn’t until the 1924 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that the idea of the Friday after Thanksgiving as the kickoff for the holiday shopping season was established...
FUNNY GIRL, STARRING LEA MICHELE, RELEASES BROADWAY CAST ALBUM
 The Broadway revival of Funny Girl, starring Lea Michele, has its cast album. It arrived digitally on November 18 with the physical CD release set for January 20, 2023. The recording is produced by Sony Masterworks Broadway, in partnership with Accident Jacket Entertainment and Gemini Theatrical. The production, directed by Michael Mayer, is playing at the August Wilson Theatre. Funny Girl also features Tovah Feldshuh, Ramin Karimloo, Jared Grimes, Peter Francis James, Ephie Aardema, Debra Cardona, Toni DiBuono, and Martin Moran. Funny Girl features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and a book by Isobel Lennart. Harvey Fierstein revised the book for this revival. The musical follows Fanny Brice’s humble beginnings to become one of Broadway’s biggest stars under producer Florenz Ziegfield. The production features choreography by Ellenore Scott and tap choreography by Ayodele Casel.
JOHN LEGUIZAMO REVEALS KISS MY AZTEC WILL ARRIVE ON BROADWAY IN 2023
 Tony winner John Leguizamo’s satirical new musical Kiss My Aztec, which had its pre-Broadway run at Hartford Stage in June, will arrive on Broadway in 2023. He revealed the date on Late Night With Seth Meyers while promoting his new film The Menu. Leguizamo described it as a really funny take on ‘conquests and genocide…real fodder for humor.’ Directed by Tony Taccone, who directed Leguizamo in Latin History for Morons, the show previously ran at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse in 2019 and includes a book by Leguizamo and Taccone, music by Benjamin Velez, and lyrics by Leguizamo, Velez, and David Kamp. He most recently voiced Bruno in Disney’s animated film, Encanto.
Black Friday isn’t about sales, it dates back to the U.S. stock market crash of Friday, September 24, 1869. It was called Black Friday due to the financial crisis that resulted from two investors trying to drive up the price of gold… Free shipping has the biggest influence on buyers’ decisions, according to numerous shopping surveys. This is a growing trend that retailers are listening to. In the past, consumers shied away from online purchases because paying for shipping was a drawback. In addition, both in-store and curbside pickup were in demand in 2021. Retailers who offered these options increased their sales by 50%…
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