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There are certain theatrical presentations you can always depend on for sheer holiday joy at this time of year. Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker is definitely high on that list. The music has spawned many different interpretations over the years, including Duke Ellington's version featuring a swinging saxophone section. The music is also used in many television commercials so even if you didn't know the music was from the classic ballet, chances are you at one point or another have been exposed to The Nutcracker.

Zorro is the original swashbuckling hero who always does the right thing and adheres to a personal code that drives him to help those in need. His tales have the same familiar things: the black mask to hide his face, the signature "Z" slashed across the surface, and the overwhelming balance of family and duty. Alberta Theatre Projects has followed in the footsteps of the great Zorro adventures that came before, and asked the question: what next?

Can you recall the last time you were truly enamored by a stage musical? Well, that is exactly what transpires while watching the all-together endearing hit Broadway musical WAITRESS, which continues its national tour stop at Orange County's Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Costa Mesa through November 25, 2018. Like the warmest of embraces, the yummiest of comfort food, and the most cherished camaraderie of dear friends or loved ones, WAITRESS is, overall, quite an adorable, extremely likable show. Even its forgivable flaws are trounced by its irresistible delicacy and its winsome machinations.

As our divided country hurtles towards the all-important mid-term elections, it is becoming increasingly harder not to feel even a bit disenchanted with it all, as we surrender to the feeling that our political system seems to be unfairly rigged. Right smack at the center of the action are people who call themselves lobbyists---people who are hired (and are paid handsomely) by a business, an industry, or a cause to persuade government officials or even promising electoral candidates to support that specific business, industry, or cause that employ them. This is the sphere that surrounds Sarah Burgess' timely new play KINGS, which is now continuing its West Coast Premiere performances at Orange County's South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA through November 10. Interesting, intriguing, but slightly too tame and a bit of a promising work-in progress, the play basically presents what most of us already know about the lobby-friendly political arena: in order to stay in 'the game,' you have to be willing to play within it.

Classical Theatre Company returns to the great Arthur Conan Doyle for the first time since the 2014-15 season's smash hit, The Speckled Band: An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. Engaged to reprise their roles as the detective and Dr. Watson are CTC Executive Artistic Director John Johnston and CTC company artist Andrew Love. "I've been in many plays over my career, but I've never had the chance to play the same character in different plays," says Love. "I'm really looking forward to this challenge."

It's … ALIVE! The UK's biggest festival of live horror performance is resurrected for its 8th year. The London Horror Festival continues to grow to evermore monstrous size with help from their sponsor, Horror Channel. This year it returns to the Old Red Lion Theatre with over 30 productions to curdle your blood, chill your spine, and split your sides. For four weeks this Halloween season, theatre-goers will be subjected to shocking experimentations in drama, comedy, musicals, and spoken word.

On 17 June, the admirable Quinta da Ribrafria in the outskirts of Lisbon delighted the public with a creative and though-provoking version of Beauty and the Beast. The play was directed and written by João Ascenso, who chose to diverge from the classic Disney format we have come to know, and develop something closer to the original tale, with a stronger emphasis on mythical and philosophical themes.

What more pleasant way to spend a summer evening than outdoors in the heart of Old Louisville, surrounded by green space, with some of the loveliest turns of phrase ever written in the English language wafting on the breeze? Thanks to Kentucky Shakespeare and its supporters, we can do just that - free of charge - virtually all summer long in Louisville. What a treat, indeed!

This week, the cast and crew of Shakespeare's Henry IV, starring Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks, came together for the first meet and greet of the production. Check out shots from the event below!

A 2016 winner of the prestigious National Theatre Company Grant Award by the American Theatre Wing, Classical Theatre Company (CTC) is proud to announce the lineup for its 2018-2019 Mainstage Season. As the only professional theatre company in the State of Texas that solely produces classical drama on a year-round basis, CTC only produces plays that are 100 or more years old.

Physical Festival Chicago - the city's annual contemporary, visual and physical theater festival presenting new forms of theater from around the world - is returning June 1-9, 2018 for its fifth anniversary outing.

New Line Cinema's comedy 'Life of the Party' stars Melissa McCarthy under the direction of Ben Falcone. When her husband suddenly dumps her, longtime dedicated housewife Deanna (McCarthy) turns regret into re-set by going back to college...landing in the same class and school as her daughter, who's not entirely sold on the idea. Plunging headlong into the campus experience, the increasingly outspoken Deanna-now Dee Rock-embraces freedom, fun and frat boys on her own terms, finding her true self in a senior year no one ever expected.

Is Hamlet mad or sane? Should Denmark be ruled by the melancholy Dane, or by Claudius? Ted Pappas's production bravely casts all accepted answers into uncertainty.

Passionate and captivating, The Hunchback of Notre Dame - the stage musical based on the Disney animated classic, featuring music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Peter Parnell - is given a superb production at Woodbury's Arts Center of Cannon County and discerning theater patrons in Middle Tennessee have but two performances left to experience the show under the direction of Darryl Deason and Rachel Jones.

Due to popular demand, The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, extends the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love to February 25. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863-1938). The production, which is set to open on February 4, runs at The Connelly Theater and features set and costume design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View). Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.

The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, presents the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love, a serious comedy in two acts. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858 1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 1938). The production, which runs January 25 February 18 at The Connelly Theater, features costume and set design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View, Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet) and is scheduled to open on February 4. Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.

The Left Wing, in association with John Turturro, presents the world premiere production of Brandon Cole's Imperfect Love, a serious comedy in two acts. Directed by Michael Di Jiacomo, Imperfect Love is inspired by the tumultuous life of the great Italian actress Eleonora Duse (1858 1924) and her nine-year love affair with the poet and playwright Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 1938). The production, which runs January 24 February 18, 2018, at The Connelly Theater, features costume and set design by the Academy Award-winning Italian designer Gianni Quaranta (Merchant-Ivory's A Room with a View, Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet) and is scheduled to open on February 4. Turturro's 1998 film, Illuminata, which was co-written by Cole and Turturro, was based on Cole's Imperfect Love.

'It's a great way to escape the anxiety and stress of the holiday season with characters that remind you of your family - or yourself!'

Today, multi-platinum artist AWOLNATION announced the release of their third studio album, Here Come The Runts, on February 2, 2018. Fans can preorder the album starting tomorrow

London's red kite have released a new video for 'and yet you miss the sea' today, taken from their forthcoming album Racquet, released on November 3rd and available to pre-order

Rockfire Theatre (Failure: A Love Story, Boom, Abraham Lincoln's Big Gay Dance Party, Cabaret Gameshow Funtime Super Wow!!) and new local company The Radical Buffoon(s) present the regional premiere of Ann Washburn's Mr. Burns: a post electric play directed by Jon Greene (Faustus-Big Easy Award, Sleeping Beauty, Musicians of Bremen, The Spider Queen ).

The second Cape Town Buskers Festival adds a colourful exclamation mark to the Cape Town Fringe when it springs to life this week. An array of local and international performers will be wowing the crowds at the V&A Waterfront, the host venue of the Festival.