New York ? Murderous passion in ancient Greece with the ultimate high-strung wife and mother. Singing vampires in exotic Lower Belabartokovich. A fierce feud between two literary lionesses. Don Quixote tilting again at windmills.

All this, and Paul Newman, too.

Broadway will be blooming in December, with seven major productions scheduled to open before Christmas, making the month feel more like spring, when the Tony Award deadline usually produces a spate of shows trying to nab nominations.

And the December rush doesn’t include the prominent off-Broadway attractions ” featuring such stars as Danny Aiello, Sigourney Weaver and Tommy Tune ” that also will arrive during the next three weeks.

Bucking the trend

Usually by Thanksgiving, Broadway openings are pretty well over until after the first of the year, with newly arrived shows aggressively selling for the potent holiday week between Christmas and New Year’s and bracing for the downturn in business in January and February.

Not so this year. The logjam began after “Dance of the Vampires” canceled its Nov. 21 opening because of an illness in director John Rando’s family and pushed the musical into December. By then, “Our Town” had moved into the mix, followed by “Medea.”

The $12 million “Vampires,” which marks Michael Crawford’s first visit to Broadway since “The Phantom of the Opera” nearly 15 years ago, now opens Monday. The show, based on Roman Polanski’s campy film, “The Fearless Vampire Killers,” has been doing hefty business during its extended seven weeks of previews.

Jessica Comeau, center, performs as Musetta with the company in Baz Luhrmann's production of Puccini's La

The revival of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town,” starring Paul Newman as the Stage Manager, has been an even more potent attraction. The limited engagement, running through Jan. 26, still has a few seats available but already has recouped its $1.5 million production costs. It opened Wednesday.

Tonight finds Brian Stokes Mitchell opening in a revival of “Man of La Mancha.” Mitchell portrays the idealistic Don Quixote, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrontonio is his beloved Dulcinea.

Something for everyone

No one is certain how the heavy influx of shows will play out.

“Some people say that fighting for media space with the movies, which always open a lot of films between Thanksgiving and Christmas, is a mistake,” said Jed Bernstein, head of the League of American Theatres and Producers. “Others think you have the excitement of the holiday season when people are focused on going out and consuming entertainment. So maybe it’s the perfect time to be in front of the public.”

Each of the seven newcomers could be distinct enough to draw audiences.

Baz Luhrmann’s “La Boheme” opens Sunday. The $6.5 million version of Puccini’s opera already has generated buzz, particularly among fans of Luhrmann’s movie, “Moulin Rouge.”

“Medea” grabbed great reviews in a brief engagement last month at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and was promptly snapped up for Broadway. The Greek revenge tragedy, with Fiona Shaw in the title role, begins a limited engagement Tuesday, closing Feb. 22.

Swoosie Kurtz and Cherry Jones, playing Lillian Hellman and Mary McCarthy, open in “Imaginary Friends,” Nora Ephron’s account of their feud and subsequent lawsuit. The curtain goes up Dec. 12.

Finally, “Dinner at Eight,” a 1932 play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, arrives only six days before Christmas