A decade to celebrate!

It’s time to bid farewell to yet another year (in this case a decade) and get ready to welcome 2010. Here are some suggestions on where and how to celebrate.

A Long Island Philharmonic
Celebration
Join Maestro David Wiley and the Long Island Philharmonic at a musical celebration to usher in the New Year. The Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve concert has become a popular year-ending tradition for the orchestra and its fans. This year’s concert, “A New Year’s Eve Spectacular With Forbidden Broadway,” is ˆa spoof of Broadway’s best with the hilarious Forbidden Broadway troupe.

Maestro Wiley, music director and conductor, and the Philharmonic join forces with four musical theater stars of the venerable satirical revue for a foray into the vast catalog of Broadway hits. Twenty-years of Forbidden Broadway’s comic library has been distilled into a “Forbidden Broadway’s Greatest Hits” version. The shows spoofed include Fiddler on the Roof, Cats, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miz, Chicago, Hello Dolly, Annie, The Lion King, West Side Story, and Guys and Dolls, among others.
“It’s a symphonic version of their cabaret show that pulls out the best of what they’ve done over the years,” said Philharmonic Executive Director Stephen Belth. “It’s really the greatest hits of Broadway's greatest shows. You don't have to be a Broadway aficionado to appreciate this. These shows have become household names.”
The award-winning Forbidden Broadway, the satirical revue that has been making audiences laugh since 1982, was originally created and written by Gerard Alessandrini. The show spoofs songs, characters and plots of Broadway musicals.
This version, with the Long Island Philharmonic, features Craig Laurie and Kevin B. McGlynn, Kristen Mengelkoch, a vocal powerhouse and comedienne; and Tony Award-winning actress Jeanne Montano.
To add to the New Year’s Eve revelry, concert-goers can see the Philharmonic’s own New Year’s Eve ball drop at the close of the concert. Everyone will be invited to toast the New Year prior to the start of the concert and again at intermission with a glass of champagne.
The concert is expected to sell out, with limited seats now remaining.
Belth noted that the Long Island Philharmonic recently met its first fundraising goal of $100,000. “These gifts helped us to offset our cash flow problem expected from recent funding declines,” he said.
The LIP is now in its second phase of fundraising to raise an additional $150,000 by June 2010. “We are extremely positive about our future and have an almost full schedule planned for spring,” Belth said. “Sustaining the Long Island Philharmonic or any symphony orchestra at the highest professional level is an extremely complex effort, he said. We have been successful in strengthening our organization over the last five years and watching our audiences grow. But since ticket sales only account for about 40 percent of the cost of our classical performances, there is little room for error. We depend on the community to recognize the importance of its cultural institutions and to step up to the task of maintaining the Philharmonic as a core component to the quality of life of Long Island.”
The Philharmonic’s New Year’s Eve Spectacular is presented at Tilles Center, on Thursday, Dec. 31, at 7:30 p.m., ending at approximately 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $85, $70, $55. For tickets and information, call (631) 293-2222 or www.liphilharmonic.org. Tilles Center for the Performing Arts is located on the C.W. Post Campus, Rte. 25A, Brookville.
Theatre
Once again, theater lovers can partake of special New Year's Eve “champagne” performances offered by the region’s theater
companies.
Arena Players Repertory Theatre: “Under The Yum Yum Tree,” the comic farce, is at the Main Stage Theatre, Dec, 31, at 9:30 p.m. The comedy, which was a 1963 film starring Jack Lemmon, revolves around Hogan, a man living a bachelor’s dream as the manager of an apartment building that caters only to single women. Hogan, who enjoys romancing his tenants, sets his sights on a newcomer. Throw in a boyfriend and a meddling marriage counselor and you have the recipe for a very hysterical apartment building! Tickets are $50; with wine, champagne toast and dessert. Arena Players is offering special ticket package, with the second ticket at half price. See it at 296 Rte. 109, East Farmingdale. For reservations or further information call (516) 293-0674 or www.arenaplayers.org.
BroadHollow Theatre Company: “Striking 12” is presented at BroadHollow’s Studio Theatre, Dec. 31, at 9:30 p.m. Striking 12 is a refreshingly alternative holiday rock musical that describes itself as “a holiday show for people who don’t like holiday shows.” This hip Off-Broadway hit tells the story of a grumpy, overworked New Yorker who resolves to spend New Year’s Eve alone when an unexpected visitor brings some much-needed cheer. Tickets are $50; with treats and a champagne toast. The Studio Theatre is located at 141 S. Wellwood Ave., Lindenhurst. To purchase tickets or for further information, call (631) 581-2700 or www.broadhollow.org.

Family Festivities
Families can end the year with a bang at Long Island Children’s Museum’s annual Countdown to 12! celebration. Starting at noon on Dec. 31, Times Square comes to Museum Row when the Long Island Children’s Museum gets ready to ring in the next decade with a “city-style” celebration. Young visitors can share in the New Year’s Eve experience with family-centered activities that celebrate the holiday just like the “big kids.”
There are a variety of activities to choose from throughout the afternoon. Visitors can design a
fireworks-filled picture of the Manhattan skyline and create their own drums and trumpets to help bring the new year in with a bang! Families will also enjoy cookie decorating: kids can leave their mark on the new decade by decorating “decade” cookies (shaped like the number 10). Then, create top hats and countdown to the big “ball drop” at 4 p.m. with entertainer Louie Miranda. Kids can also twist and shout to the sounds of The El Louie Show in an energetic theater performance at 1:30 p.m.
The “Noon Year’s Eve” celebration ends at 4:30 p.m.; a schedule that allows parents to spend the day with their children and still have time to take part in traditional New Year’s celebrations once the kids are tucked into bed. 
The program concludes a busy time at LICM; the museum is open daily through Jan. 3 (with the exception of Dec. 25 and Jan. 1) to accommodate children and adults looking for family activities during the school break. Visitors can learn the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy, create their own piñatas, enjoy a holiday-themed film festival, and rock and roll in the theater with a bunch of entertaining performers, among other activities. Visit www.licm.org for the entire holiday break week schedule.
  Countdown to 12! admission is $10 for adults and children over 1 year old. Additional fees for theater and special programs may apply. LICM is located on Museum Row, Garden City. For additional information, contact (516) 224-5800.