Carly Rosemore

Musical theater villains are the characters we love to hate. They are enigmas. Their actions within the plot of any given musical paint them as despicable people who merit neither regard nor affection, and yet, we leave the theater humming wonderful, memorable melodies, and inwardly smiling. But their status as villains relegates their songs to the background. Join Canton's Spotlight Players for an evening of wicked fun when the villains of musical theatre take the stage to have their say in their 'From the Shadows: The Villains Take the Stage" cabaret, October 12 and 13 at 8:00 p.m.

The producer of RIVERDANCE, Moya Doherty, previously announced that the United States touring production of the internationally-acclaimed worldwide phenomenon, will play its final performance today, June 17, 2012 (at Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts in Vienna, VA).

Theatre Tulsa announced its 2011-2012 season, titled Eclectricity. The performances will be URINETOWN, DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, WAITING FOR LEFTY, EFFECTS OF GAMMA RAYS ON MAN ON THE MOON MARIGOLDS, and ARSENIC AND OLD LACE.

To kick off its 2012 season, the Overtime Theater in San Antonio presents a new melodrama, GHOSTS IN THE AFTERNOON, written by Bernard and Simon Taylor. The production will be directed by Matthew Byron Cassi.

Award Winning Playwright Director Nickolas Long, III teams up with the Fredrick Douglass School for an all-new modern version of the holiday classic, A CHRISTMAS CAROL written by Carleen Jones. It features acting majors of Fredrick Douglass Academy.

Repertorio Español presents a rotating repertory of theatrical productions of plays as well as dance and musical concerts from Latin America, Spain and by Hispanic-American artists. All productions (except those noted) are presented in Spanish with live simultaneous translation to English via wireless headsets.

The Mesa Arts Center will present A HOLIDAY DOOWOP SHOW hosted by Danny Davis on Saturday, December 17, 2011 as part of the Performing Live Series at the Ikeda Theater. The performace starts at 8:00 p.m. and tickets are currently on sale for $32-$48.

Act II Playhouse announces that its next Cabaret Night will be Monday, Dec. 19, when Liz Filios and John Jarboe will perform their new Holiday Cabaret. The show begins at 7 p.m.

The legendary Grotta Azzurra Ristorante, located on the corner of Broome and Mulberry Streets in one of lower Manhattan's historic neighborhoods - Little Italy -- is transforming its famous lower-level 'grotto' into an intimate live music room on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8 PM starting in mid-December. The policy will be a $20 cover charge plus a two drink minimum. Dinner at this fabled Italian restaurant will be available upstairs in the main dining room at 6 PM. A limited snacks menu will be available in the 'grotto" during the performances. The capacity of the 'grotto" is 50 people.

Paul Taylor has won the National Medal of Arts, the MacArthur Genius Award, he's in the French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour), and now his works are coming here. This intrepid company performs adaptations of his famous pieces to eager audiences across the country and around the world.

In this line-by-line reinvention of August Strindberg's classic MISS JULIE, writer and director Robert Cucuzza distills an essential tale of class and sexual power dynamics and transports it to modern-day Pittsburgh. Set during a failed car dealership's liquidation party, CATTYWAMPUS traces the rise and fall of Julie (Jillian Lauren), the owner's wife, as she tries to escape the flaccid clutch of her disinterested husband. She sets out to seduce the unsophisticated detailer, Donnie (D.J. Mendel), and gets much more than what she bargained for-a dance partner, a goofy playmate, a cuckold-maker, and a partner in crime. Determined that Donnie and his restored Ford Pinto are her escape hatch out of married misery, she makes a last ditch effort and gambles it all on his cracked plan to relocate to Florida. But in a world that is so economically out-of-whack, she finds that her dreams of escape are no match for what seems like a predetermined fate.

Multi-platinum pianist, songwriter and performer Jim Brickman has proven once again that he knows his way around a hit song. His latest single is a light-hearted Christmas song aptly named "Fa La La" and has made an impressive showing this week on the airwaves - landing at #16 on the AC Radio charts and at #13 on the Christmas Radio charts. The success in nothing new for Brickman who continues to take radio by storm with more charted hits than any other artist in his format (30) including "Valentine", "The Gift" and "Simple Things" just to name a few. Jim sailed past his A-list competition this week with the impressive chart placement - beating out the likes of Katy Perry and Rihanna for a spot in the Top 20 on the AC charts and acquiring more adds than teen sensation Justin Bieber. "Fa La La" was also the third most added song this week behind two songs by crooner Michael Buble. His brand new albums All is Calm and Romanza were released this month as Target exclusives and are available through the retailer nationwide or on iTunes.

Opera Idaho joins Ballet Idaho and Boise Philharmonic every year to produce the classic Christmas ballet The Nutcracker. Join us as Opera Idaho's Children's Choruses, led by Linda Berg, perform in this spirited masterpiece, and entertain with Christmas carols in the lobby of The Morrison Center.

Park Avenue Armory has announced an additional concert in the line-up for its second Tune-In Music Festival, featuring four artists whose critical thinking and output have influenced and been influenced by Philip Glass and whose eclectic offerings represent a wide range of musical styles and genres. The Armory's Tune-In Music Festival will be held February 23-26, 2012, featuring and co-curated by the iconic composer Philip Glass on the occasion of his 75th birthday. The Armory's soaring 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall, with its cathedral-like acoustics and informal character, will set the scene for a concert environment that is at once both immersive and intimate, erasing the confines and eliminating the formalities of traditional concert halls.

The Bushwick Starr and Van Cougar are set to present the world premiere of Gonna See a Movie Called Gunga Din.This new play draws from intimate, real-life interviews with United States veterans set against a vivid collage of physical movement culled from classic American war films. Van Cougar, a homegrown company of The Bushwick Starr, presents Gonna See a Movie Called Gunga Din to examine the distance between cinematic depictions of American soldiers and the reality of service men and women from the last century to current day.

AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH WHY? will be presented on Thursday, December 15, 2011 at 7pm and 10pm at Florence Gould Hall 55 East 59th Street at Madison Avenue. The show is for all ages. Tickets are $20.

Set inside the racial tensions of 1940s Mississippi, THE RIVER WAS WHISKEY pulses with revenge and retribution. Some things demand to be remembered, whether we like it or not-especially if we love someone we shouldn't.

In THE SECRET GARDEN, Ten-year-old orphan Mary Lennox is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven, a man who's given up on life after the death of his wife Lily. Mary uncovers the mystery of Lily's long-abandoned secret garden and unlocks the door to happiness for herself and her uncle.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Carey Perloff announced that an evening of short plays by modernist master Samuel Beckett replaces Twelfth Night for the 2011-12 season. The evening includes ENDGAME, Beckett's timeless rumination on the end of life, featuring two-time Tony Award winner and A.C.T. favorite Bill Irwin, who was recently hailed by The New York Times as 'an actor deeply steeped in the traditions of clowns, according to both the commedia dell'arte and Samuel Beckett,' and PLAY featuring A.C.T. core acting company members René Augesen, Anthony Fusco, and Omozé Idehenre. A longtime Bay Area favorite as one of the founders of the Pickle Family Circus, Irwin returns to A.C.T. after stealing the hearts of the Bay Area audiences last season as the loveable title character in Moliére's SCAPIN, which he also adapted and directed. Perloff, who has previously directed Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT at A.C.T. and will helm the production, said: 'It was in Endgame that Beckett famously wrote: 'nothing is funnier than unhappiness.' And I cannot think of a more consummate artist than Bill Irwin to demonstrate that fact, undertaking the lead role of Hamm in this astonishing play. Endgame is a play Bill and I have wanted to do together for many years; when the opportunity suddenly presented itself to do it this season, we could not say no. I am thrilled to present Endgame in tandem with a comic gem from 1963 called PLAY, which will give our core company a chance to shine a spotlight on a hilarious tale of marriage and adultery that represents a very different side of Beckett's oeuvre. I hope that this Beckett pairing will add a rich chapter to A.C.T.'s explorations of the great modernists, Beckett and Pinter.' Endgame and Play play May 9-June 3, 2012, at the American Conservatory Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco). Press night is Wednesday, May 16, 2012, at 8 p.m. Tickets (starting at $10) are available by calling A.C.T. Ticket Services at 415.749.2228 or at www.act-sf.org.

Jay Hunter Morris will sing the role of Siegfried in SIEGFRIED on April 21 matinee and April 30, 2012, and in GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG on May 3, 2012. He replaces Gary Lehman who has withdrawn due to illness.