BROADWAY | What's playing

"Avenue Q" -- Love blossoms among the twentysomething set -- a group that includes puppets -- in this very funny, adult musical comedy that has transferred from off-Broadway. Winner of the 2004 Tony Award for best musical. Golden. Telecharge.
"Beauty and the Beast" -- For those who want a lavish, literal, live-action version of the delightful Disney animated feature, this is the ticket. Others may be content to rent the film. Lunt-Fontanne. Ticketmaster, a special Disney hot line, (212) 307-4747.
"Bombay Dreams" -- A bland version of the lavish London success that celebrates India's Bollywood musicals. Broadway. Telecharge.
"Brooklyn The Musical" -- A young French woman comes to America in search of her father in what has been described as an urban fairy tale. Plymouth. Telecharge
"Chicago" -- A potent revival of the 1975 Bob Fosse musical with a sassy Kander and Ebb score. Broadway's longest running musical revival -- and deservedly so. Ambassador. Telecharge.
"Dame Edna: Back With a Vengeance!" -- Possums, beware. Australia's most exotic import has returned with a new show. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 21. Music Box. Telecharge.
"Democracy" -- Michael Frayn's play about West German chancellor Willy Brandt and his trusted assistant, who is spying for the East Germans. James Naughton and Richard Thomas star. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 18. Brooks Atkinson. Ticketmaster.
"Dracula, The Musical" -- The old neck-biter is back, this time with songs by Frank Wildhorn, composer of "Jekyll & amp; Hyde-- Tom Hewitt plays Dracula. Belasco. Telecharge.
"Fiddler on the Roof" -- A lovely revival of the classic Bock-Harnick and Robbins musical, starring Alfred Molina as Tevye and Randy Graff as Golde. Minskoff. Ticketmaster.
"Forever Tango" -- The tango extravaganza from Argentina returns for one more visit. Shubert. Telecharge. Closes Nov. 28.
"42nd Street" -- Those tapping feet are back. A loud, relentless revival of one of the biggest musical hits of the 1980s. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. Ticketmaster. Closes Jan. 2.
"Gem of the Ocean" -- Phylicia Rashad heads the cast of August Wilson's play about one man's spiritual journey. Opens Thursday. Walter Kerr. Telecharge.
"Golda's Balcony" -- A forceful Tovah Feldshuh, who received a Tony nomination for best actress, is the legendary Israeli prime minister in a fascinating one-woman show written by William Gibson. Helen Hayes. Telecharge. Closes Jan. 2.
"The Good Body" -- Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," looks at women's image issues. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 15. Booth. Telecharge.
"Hairspray" -- The cult John Waters movie set in 1960s Baltimore has been turned into a hilarious, tuneful musical. Bruce Vilanch plays full-figured Edna Turnblad, mother of young Tracy Turnblad (Carly Jibson) whose life's desire is to appear on a television dance show. Neil Simon. Ticketmaster.
"Laugh Whore" -- Comedian Mario Cantone's acerbic and hilarious one-man show. Cort. Telecharge. Closes Jan. 2.
"The Lion King" -- Director Julie Taymor is a modern-day Merlin, creating a stage version of the Disney animated hit that makes you truly believe in the magic of theater. New Amsterdam. Ticketmaster, a special Disney hot line, (212) 307-4747. Difficult on weekends.
"Mamma Mia!" -- The London musical sensation featuring the pop songs of ABBA makes it to Broadway. Die-hard ABBA fans will like it best; others may be puzzled. A special "Mamma Mia!" Telecharge number (212) 563-5544.
"Marc Salem's Mind Games on Broadway" -- Marc Salem knows what you are thinking -- before you do. Monday and Tuesday evenings. Lyceum. Telecharge
"Movin' Out" -- Songs by Billy Joel. Choreography by Twyla Tharp. A dance musical about good friends, taking them from the 1960s onward. The dancing is exuberant; the story less so. Richard Rodgers. Ticketmaster.
"'Night, Mother" -- Marsha Norman's mother-daughter drama of despair. The stars are Brenda Blethyn and Edie Falco. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 14. Royale. Telecharge. Closes Feb. 27.
"The Phantom of the Opera" -- The one with the chandelier. The Andrew Lloyd Webber musical about a deformed composer who haunts the Paris Opera House is the prime, Grade- A example of big Brit musical excess. But all the lavishness does have a purpose in Harold Prince's intelligent production. Majestic. Telecharge.
"The Producers" -- Brad Oscar and Hunter Foster star in this riotous stage version of the Mel Brooks movie. The musical is even better than the film, which is saying something. St. James. A special "Producers" Telecharge number (212) 239-5800.
"Reckless" -- Mary-Louise Parker stars in a Manhattan Theatre Club revival of Craig Lucas' dark comedy about one woman's adventures across America. Biltmore. Telecharge. Closes Dec. 19.
"Rent" -- Jonathan Larson's touching and now nostalgic look at struggling artists in New York's East Village. Loosely based on Puccini's opera "La Boheme-- Nederlander. Ticketmaster.
"Twelve Angry Men" -- Reginald Rose's drama of jury deliberations. Philip Bosco and Boyd Gaines are in the fine cast of this Roundabout Theatre Company production. American Airlines. (212) 719-1300. Closes Jan. 2.
"Whoopi" -- Whoopi Goldberg is back on Broadway with her one-woman show. Now in previews. Opens Nov. 17. Lyceum. Telecharge. Closes Jan. 30.
"Wicked" -- An ambitious if problematic new musical about the witches in "The Wizard of Oz-- Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. Gershwin. Ticketmaster. Difficult on weekends.
"Wonderful Town" -- Brooke Shields stars in a buoyant revival of the Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden and Adolph Green musical based on "My Sister Eileen." Al Hirschfeld. Telecharge.
X"Broadway/What's Playing" is published on the first Sunday of each month in The Vindicator. The Telecharge number is (800) 432-7250 unless otherwise indicated. Ticketmaster is (800) 755-4000. The League of American Theaters and Producers has a special telephone line called the Broadway Line for information on most Broadway shows and how to purchase tickets. Calls must be made on a touch-tone phone. The number is (888) BROADWAY.