Kristin Frosch

With the holiday season right around the corner, its always fun to gather the family and revisit those classically timeless productions. While its not Miracle of 34th Street or A Christmas Carol, ELF certainly provides families with a little bombastic humor to help get through the stress that always seems to accompany the holidays. The latest production to delight St. Paul audiences is ELF, the musical adaptation of the popular Will Ferrell film, which opened last night, Dec. 7 at The ORDWAY CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS.

Don't miss the short-run production of BILLY ELLIOT, as its electric, razzle-dazzle spirit leaps and soars across St. Paul's ORDWAY CENTER stage.

Kicking off its 50th season, Minneapolis' own Guthrie Theater debuted Christopher Hampton's, TALES FROM HOLLYWOOD, a dizzyingly dark and absurdist comedy of the lives and work of Bertolt Brecht, Heinrich and Thomas Mann, and their emigre (or more appropriately-exiled) novelists and screen-writers as they flee Nazi-occupied Europe for Los Angeles. Fascism, capitalism and the role of the writer are at odds as director, Ethan McSweeny, cleverly weaves historical insight into this 'film within a play' staging style, taking audiences on a whirlwind of philosophical discourse and witty banter.

Kicking off its 61st season, Minneapolis' Theatre in the Round presents the hilariously irreverent and uniquely relevant Greek classic, LYSISTRATA. First performed in 411 B.C., the show's lewd humor is still enthralling audiences today-and rightfully so. The production runs from September 7 through September 30, 2012, so audiences have plenty of time to catch Craig Johnson's wildly entertaining adaptation.

Despite the countless stage renditions and award-winning film adaptation, CHICAGO is still able to jazz up audiences with that old "razzle-dazzle" sass, sharp-witted satire, and boudoir scandal. The musical, starring Tracy Shayne, Terra C. MacLeod, and John O'Hurley, debuted at the Ordway Theatre on August 7.