Onstage, Georgetown: December
By • December 1, 2025 0 199
By Mark Edelman
The holiday season sashays on with standard Christmas fare and some new entries on stage this month. Give the gift of theater this Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or Pancha Ganapati. Like Dicken’s ghosts, the list below will point you the way.
Fiddler on the Roof
Signature Theatre
Now thru Jan 25
Tevye, a poor milkman, has a few problems. Foremost on his mind are three daughters for whom he must find husbands. He wonders whether or not his wife Golde really loves him and the Cossacks are threatening to burn down the neighborhood. What’s a milkman to do? Will a shared community and history provide some solace in the face of a changing world? It’s not surprising that Tevye’s tale keeps coming back every few years to remind us what hope and humanity really mean. A classic. Tickets at www.sigtheatre.org.
The Mother Play
Studio Theatre
Now thru Dec 21
DC favorite Kate Eastwood Norris plays the eponymous parent in Pulitzer Prize-winning (and DMV native) playwright Paula Vogel’s touching odyssey through the DC suburbs from one roach-infested apartment to another. Life with Mother never sounded so frustratingly funny in this wry, savage, and surprisingly tender tome. Tickets at www.studiotheatre.org
Ho Ho Ho Ha Ha Ha Ha
Woolly Mammoth
Now thru Dec 21
Funny lady Julia Masli returns to Woolly with a festive edition of her award-winning show, direct from a wacky engagement at New York’s Public Theatre. As usual –unusual is more like it; unpredictable, too– Masli invites audiences to bring their holiday problems to the stage for a hilarious and surprising solution. A completely different show every night keeps Juli on her toes—or someone’s toes. Tickets at www.woollymammoth.net
A Christmas Carol
Ford’s Theatre
Now thru Dec 31
The holiday classic returns for another season of soul-searching and merry making with Scrooge, the Cratchit Family and three ghosts who remind us to appreciate what we have and be kind and generous so others may have as well. Tickets at www.fords.org.
The Snowman and the Snow Dog
Imagination Stage
Now thru Jan 4
If you love the short “Snowman” video, you’ll enjoy this expanded tale of a boy who’s lost his beloved dog. In the garden he builds that famous snowman and then, to keep it company, an icy canine, too. Both come to life after dark, and the three embark on a fantastic journey in this spirited new musical for kids of all ages. Tickets at www.imaginationstage.org.
Frosty the Snowman
Adventure Theatre MTC
Now thru Jan 11
Everybody’s favorite watery life form springs to life for one day of adventures before he melts away. Fun is had by all in this merry wintertime romp, chock-full of chuckles and comic antics, as Frosty gallops into the hearts of kids and adults alike- through his uproarious antics. Tickets at www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org.
Guys and Dolls
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Dec 2- Jan 4
WNO Artistic Director Francesca Zambello lends her musical theatre acumen to Frank Loesser’s Broadway fable about the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York. With all-star Broadway leads and choreography by the talented Joshua Bergasse, how lucky we are to roll the dice on the musical theatre hot streak DMV audiences have enjoyed from Arena’s Damn Yankees to Signature’s Fiddler and now Guys and Dolls. Tickets at www.shakespearetheatrecompany.org.
Step Afrika’s Magical Musical Holiday Step Show
Arena Stage
December 5-21
Back for their fourth spectacular year at Arena Stage, DJ Nutcracker and his Arctic friends invite us on an electrifying journey packed with high-energy stepping, festive music, and non-stop holiday cheer. Get in the step! Tickets at www.arenastage.org.
Lea Salonga
Strathmore Music Center
Dec 6
The Tony ® Award winning leading lady will perform at The Music Center on her “Stage, Screen & Everything In Between” tour, featuring from her iconic roles in “Miss Saigon” and “Les Misérables,” as well as songs from the animated musicals she brought to life. Tickets at www.strathmore.org.
Rules of Living
Round House Theatre
Dec 3- Jan 4
What happens when long-standing tensions, buried resentments and disastrous coping mechanisms collide over Christmas dinner? Find out when this U. S. Premiere of a high octane comedy that was a happy holiday hit at the UK’s Royal National Theatre comes to Bethesda. Tickets at www.roundhousetheatre.org.
Delta King’s Blues
IN Series at Theatre Alliance in SW
Dec 6-14
Delta blues legend Robert Johnson is the eponymous musician whose brief but seismic life that helped shape the future of American music. Raised amid the poverty and racial violence of the Jim Crow South, Johnson turned to music as a form of expression. In this immersive juke-joint experience, the audience partakes as his story unfolds around them in a multisensory night of music. Tickets at www.inseries.org.
Water for Elephants
National Theatre
Dec 9-14
A young man jumps a moving train and finds a new home among the remarkable crew of a traveling circus. Life and love beyond his wildest dreams await in this colorful, imaginative new Broadway musical. Tickets at www.broadwayatthenational.com
An Irish Carol
Keegan Theatre
Dec 11-28
A DuPont Circle tradition by local holiday hero Michael J Keenan, this version of the Dickens classic unspools in a modern day Dublin, where David, a wealthy pub owner, has lost touch with his own humanity. The three visitors are a wee-bit different and the Christmas cheer is Guinness, but otherwise you’ve already got the general idea. Tickets at www.keegantheatre.com.
Monty Python’s Spamalot
Kennedy Center
Dec 16- Jan 4
Knights who say “ni,” killer rabbits and that perfect shrubbery return in this daft musical comedy, originated back in the good old days at the Ken Cen, after which it took Broadway by storm. Now back on tour because, these days, we all need to look on the bright side of life. Tickets at www.kennedy-center.org.
The writer is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony® voter. Catch his monthly podcast at www.onstagemdv.org.
