A festival for the wine-drinking Broadway lover in you who just wants to kick back in the park and catch a casual performance by some of your favorite stage performers isn’t too much to ask.
Enter: Elsie Fest, coming to Central Park this Sunday.
This year’s event will be headlined by “Younger” star Sutton Foster, “The Scottsboro Boys” actor Joshua Henry, and “Glee” co-stars Alex Newell and Darren Criss. The lineup also includes special performances by the casts of “Anna and the Apocalypse,” Off-Broadway’s “Be More Chill” and “The Prom,” coming to 48th Street’s Longacre Theatre Oct. 23.
Tickets for the Oct. 7 festival ($59.99 each) are still available. Doors open at 5 p.m., with the fest running from 6 to 10 p.m.
Elsie Fest was founded by Criss and has been held annually at the park’s SummerStage since 2015. Elsie takes stars from their Great White Way stages, like Foster and Henry, both of “Violet,” and gives them an avenue to perform some of their favorite pop hits for fans. A laid-back park vibe welcomes picnic dinners or a glass of rosé.
Criss, a participant himself, called the fest the “Coachella of show tunes” ahead of its 2015 debut.
“I loved playing Disney tunes in punk-rock bands,” Criss told Billboard. “I liked fusing things together that were cool to me on both sides of my brain.”
Past Elsie Fest performers include “Glee” star Lea Michele, “Westworld’s” Evan Rachel Wood, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” actor Tituss Burgess, and Gaten Matarazzo of “Stranger Things” fame.
