Nancy Grossman - Page 26

A little bit of Irish history and a lot of Irish music comprise THE IRISH...AND HOW THEY GOT THAT WAY at the Davis Square Theatre in Somerville. A multi-talented ensemble of three women and three men sing and dance their way through Frank McCourt's wide swath of history on both sides of the pond.

Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Christine Ebersole made her Celebrity Series of Boston debut at Sanders Theatre with an intimate cabaret performance that brought much-needed warmth to a cold January night. The former "Not Ready for Prime Time" player on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE is now the toast of Broadway and Harvard Square.

Direct from Broadway, the National Tour of the five-time Tony-nominated SISTER ACT is in town, featuring an original score by award-winning composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater, and a book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner with additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane. Based on the Touchstone Pictures 1992 motion picture written by Joseph Howard, the live stage show has an ensemble cast that will have you dancing in the aisles to its variety of musical styles.

Company One presents the New England premiere of Providence playwright Mia Chung's YOU FOR ME FOR YOU, an imaginative tale of two North Korean sisters who contemplate fleeing their homeland. The story relies heavily on magical realism and suspension of disbelief; not for the cynics in the audience.

New England premiere of acclaimed Broadway play at SpeakEasy Stage Company is a complex comedy-drama about the generational and cultural divide in one family plagued by secrets. Scott Edmiston directs a stellar ensemble.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, URT brings a powerful and riveting production of Katori Hall's award-winning play to Central Square Theater. Bravura performances by Maurice Emmanuel Parent and Kami Rushell Smith.

Vern Thiessen's play at Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a one-woman show about Shakespeare's wife and the strange bequest he left her in his will. Seana McKenna, lead actress of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, gives a riveting performance under the direction of Miles Potter.

The Wellesley Summer Theatre Company does what it does best with a familiar cast and a couple of fresh faces in the 1928 comedy of manners, Philip Barry's HOLIDAY.

Celebrity Series of Boston and World Music/CRASHarts collaborate to present Boston premiere of Savion Glover's homage to the late, great tap dance masters who came before him.

Ralph Ellison's 1952 novel has been called a masterpiece that changed the shape of American literature. Adapted into a play by Oren Jacoby, INVISIBLE MAN is having its New England premiere at Huntington Theatre Company with an epic performance by Teagle F. Bougere, under the direction of Christopher McElroen.

Casting Paula Plum as Katherine Brandt in Moisés Kaufman's 33 VARIATIONS was a no-brainer for Lyric Stage Artistic Director Spiro Veloudos. Her performance is courageous and heartfelt, and she and pianist Catherine Stornetta are the linchpins that give the play its heart and its soul.

The concept of MARRY ME A LITTLE, an easy to take musical revue at New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, is a loosely-themed program of Stephen Sondheim rejects. Seventeen of the maestro's songs that have been cut from well-known shows or drawn from never-produced works are performed by a talented quartet of actor/singers, with direction and choreography by Ilyse Robbins and dual piano accompaniment by Musical Director David McGrory and Todd C. Gordon.

Gabriel Kuttner revisits his 2010 IRNE Award-winning portrayal of thirty-plus characters in Becky Mode's one act, one person comedy at New Repertory Theatre.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre and Director Kyle Fabel collaborate with John Kolvenbach for the world premiere of his backstage comedy about life and love in a repertory theatre. When the backstage shenanigans of the protagonist spill through the dressing room door into a scene playing live onstage, all hell breaks loose. The cast is a cohesive ensemble, timing their many entrances and exits perfectly, and maintaining straight faces throughout the farcical goings on.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, with all of its blaring music and colorful lights clamoring for attention, New Repertory Theatre is offering a quiet and simple drama as a balm for our overloaded synapses. HOLIDAY MEMORIES combines two short stories by Truman Capote that are based on his childhood in rural Alabama in the middle of the Depression. If you only know him from IN COLD BLOOD, you will be pleasantly surprised by Capote's exquisite language and the warmth that radiates from these stories.

The 30th Anniversary Edition of Reagle Music Theatre's CHRISTMAS TIME is an all-encompassing, radiant, musical holiday extravaganza. A pageant for all ages that has stood the test of time, the show features guest artists Sarah Pfisterer and Rick Hilsabeck, a cast of nearly 200 adults and children, and a full live orchestra. It is a feast for the eyes with outstanding costumes and beautifully rendered scenic backdrops.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston veers away from traditional Christmas fare and presents Tony and Obie Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang's CHINGLISH, his 2011 play about an American businessman trying to cash in on the growth potential in China. Miscommunication and mistranslation are the order of the day; bad for business, but good for laughs.

Celebrity Series of Boston brings celebrated Swiss performance troupe back to Boston for the sixth time. Although it is somewhat difficult to adequately describe the nature of what they do, what they do is entertain and enchant. Part choreographed movement, part acrobatics, part performance art, MUMMENSCHANZ 40TH ANNIVERSARY is all magic.

Ryan Landry and The Gold Dust Orphans introduce a new Christmas parody, starring a new leading hunk. Jesse James Wood is all bright and shiny in RUDOLPH THE RED NECKED REINDEER, based on the 1964 Rankin/Bass RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER. Costume designer Scott Martino and Choreographer Delta Miles have outdone themselves, and the veteran members of the troupe perform their usual hilarious magic.

If Congress instituted a "Bring your dog to work day," the NEA would be fully funded, Roe v. Wade and women's rights would remain protected, and we'd have a better chance of avoiding the fiscal cliff.