OnStage, Georgetown: December
By • November 26, 2024 0 121
By Mark Edelman
Joy and laughter suffuse the season with holiday cheer at your favorite area theaters. Don’t miss the fun as we bring in the new year, live! onstage in Washington, D.C., and the suburbs.
“A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” at Signature Theatre. Photo by Christopher Mueller.
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM Signature Theatre Now through Jan. 12
Matthew Gardiner and company turn in a fast-paced production of this comedy classic, Stephen Sondheim’s first Broadway attempt at music AND lyrics, following his success as a “West Side Story” collaborator. Pixie powerhouse Erin Weaver leads a company of bawdy buffoons who turn in enough mugging to quadruple the Shirlington crime statistics—and in a good way. Special kudos go to scenery-chewers Mike Millan, Cameron Loyal and that redoubtable rounder Sherri L. Edelen, along with John Klablfeisch’s fourteen merry musicians and wardrobe wonder Erik Teague. If you’re feeling blue about the way the world is going, this funny thing will pick up your spirits and push them out the door. Tickets at www.sigtheatre.org
“Summer 1976” at Studio Theatre. Photo by Margot Schulman.
SUMMER 1976. Studio Theatre Now through Dec. 22
This sweet memory play, artfully directed by Vivienne Benesch from Pulitzer-Prize winner David Auburn’s well-burnished script, offers a master class in character development and emotional range. Washington favorites Kate Eastwood Norris and Holly Twyford grace the intimate Studio stage as frustrated artist Diana and hippie housefrau Alice. Thrown together by circumstance in that eponymous time of the year, the two very different women grow together and apart and together again in this touching ode to enduring, patient friendship. Take a hanky. Tickets at www.studiotheatre.org.
New for December
LEOPOLDSTADT Shakespeare Theatre Company Dec. 1 through 29
The brilliant Tom Stoppard’s gut-wrenching tale of an Austrian family on the eve of Nazi occupation, followed up by a coda on that terrible time. Traversing decades of joy and strife, the family strives to maintain their delicate bonds of shared history at that eponymous address. This is a tough one to sit through during the holiday season, making it all the more important that we don’t forget its lessons. Tickets at www.shakespearetheatre.org.
Patrick Page in “All The Devils Are Here” at Shakespeare Theatre Company. Photo by Julieta Cervantes.
ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE Shakespeare Theatre Company Dec. 3 to 29
Next door to “Leopoldstadt,” Tony Award-nominee Patrick Page (“King Lear,” “Hadestown”) turns his attention to the twisted motivations and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Moving swiftly through the canon, Page illuminates Shakespeare’s evolving conception of evil by delving into more than a dozen of his most wicked creations. Again, not your usual holiday fare, but there’s plenty of that to go around (see below). Tickets at www.shakespearetheatre.org.
A SWINGIN’ LITTLE CHRISTMAS Music Center at Strathmore Dec. 4
This fall-out-of-your chair-hilarious cabaret, straight out of those classic 1950s and ’60s TV holiday specials, stars two wacky gals: Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Lynch and Kate Flannery of “Glee,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “The Office.” Tim Davis and the Tony Guerrero combo accompany the ladies in this comedic yet heartfelt extravaganza. You’re bound to leave in a merrier mood. Tickets at www.strathmore.org
AN IRISH CHRISTMAS CAROL Keegan Theatre Dec. 4 to 31
Keegan favorite Matthew J. Keenan returns to the Dupont neighborhood playhouse for this homage to the Dickens classic. Set in a Dublin pub, the show tells the tale of a wealth gent who has lost touch with his own humanity. You can guess what happens to the tight-fisted fellow on Christmas Eve. Tickets at www.keegantheatre.com
’TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS Adventure Theatre Dec. 6 to Jan. 5
Head over to Glen Echo Park for this new twist on that poetical classic, with a playscript by D.C.’s own Ken Ludwig, who seems to have Christmas on stage wrapped up around here (see “Death on the Nile” below). You know the drill: ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…” But wait! A mouse is stirring; and before you can say “Merry Christmas,” we are off on a wild adventure with said rodent, an elf, and a spunky little girl who won’t take no for an answer. Tickets at www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org.
“Step Afrika” at Arena Stage. Photo by Jati Lindsay.
STEP AFRIKA’S MAGICAL MUSICAL HOLIDAY STEP SHOW Arena Stage Dec. 13 to 22
The holiday spirit returns as the rich tradition of African American stepping blends with the magic of the season. DJ Nutcracker and his Arctic friends join the festive proceedings in Arena’s annual “step-stravaganza”! Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
LIFE OF PI Kennedy Center Dec. 17 to Jan. 5
Winner of three Tonys and the Olivier Award for Best Play, this beautifully rendered dramatization of the epic novel about a shipwreck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a dazzler. A 16-year-old boy named Pi survives the arduous trek that ends on a lifeboat with four strange companions—a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. Tickets at www.kennedy-center.org.
Ongoing Through the Holidays
DATA Arena Stage Closes Dec. 15
Maneesh creates a ground-breaking algorithm that pre-selects “acceptable” immigrant populations. The trouble is, some good people are bound to be unselected. What’s a brilliant data analyst to do? In this speed-of-light Arena Stage premier, playwright Matthew Libby and a talented cast wrestle with the moral and ethical ambiguities at work in a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Who gets to play God? you ask. Director Margot Bordelon, late of the Arena’s acclaimed production of “POTUS,” points us in one of several directions in this all too relevant new work. Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
DANCE LIKE THERE’S BLACK PEOPLE WATCHING Woolly Mammoth Closes Dec. 22
Woolly Mammoth imports the improv gods from Chicago’s Second City to dispense a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, always thought-provoking dose of Black sensibility. The talented cast fills a hundred minutes with scenes from a lifestyle too often ignored on area stages. Who knows? You may see one of these folks on SNL next season. Tickets at www.woollymammoth.net
A HANUKKAH CAROL or GELT! TRIP THE MUSICAL Round House Theatre Closes Dec. 29
This time the ghosts visit Chava, not Scrooge, to help her reconnect with her Jewish identity in this world premier of alternate holiday programming. Tickets at www.roundhousetheatre.org.
DEATH ON THE NILE Arena Stage Closes Dec. 29
Washington playwright Ken Ludwig’s take on Agatha Christie’s suspense-filled whodunit welcomes the unflappable Inspector Hercule Poirot to the Arena Stage. Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL Ford’s Theatre Closes Dec. 31
Washington favorite and all-around grouch (albeit a redeemed one) Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in this timely holiday classic. Tickets at www.fords.org.
DISNEY’S FROZEN Olney Theatre Center Closes Jan. 4
“Let It Go,” (your credit card, that is) and take the kids to Olney for this local take on the Disney fave Tickets at www.olneytheatre.org.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC Toby’s Dinner Theatre Closes Jan. 12
The hills are alive over in Columbia, Maryland, when this family friendly chestnut takes the stage for Toby’s holiday season. Tickets at www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.
Mark Edelman is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony voter.
