Katie Elinoff

As the year winds to a close, and the holiday hustle and bustle keeps us spinning our wheels, it can be a salve for the spirit and rest for the weary to sit in a darkened theater for a couple of hours. There is a plethora of seasonal fare competing for your entertainment dollars, but may I suggest something completely different from the colorful, holly jolly? A departure from the ballerinas, Christmas ghosts, and department store Santas? How about a two-time Tony Award-winning musical (1999 Best Book/Best Score) written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Alfred Uhry (DRIVING MISS DAISY) and Tony Award-winner Jason Robert Brown (SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, THE LAST FIVE YEARS), that will pump the blood to your heart, and push you back in your seat until the very end, when you will rise up and salute this Moonbox Productions' PARADE.

Moonbox Productions, winner of numerous IRNE and Elliot Norton Awards, is thrilled to present Parade, the Tony Award-winning musical from the composer of The Last Five Years and The Bridges of Madison County, December 11th a?" 28th at the Boston Center for the Arts Roberts Theatre.  Produced by Sharman Altshuler, directed by Jason Modica with music direction by Catherine Stornetta and choreography by Kira Troilo, Parade is a powerful story with a soaring musical score.  Tickets are $50 general admission/$40 Seniors/$25 Students and are available at bostontheatrescene.com or by calling 617-933-8600. 

Moli re's TARTUFFE, as translated by Ranjit Bolt, is directed by Huntington Theatre Company's Artistic Director Peter DuBois and features an accomplished cast, led by Frank Wood and Brett Gelman. The story of a charlatan getting the better of a fool, despite the misgivings and warnings of his family, the dialogue is delivered in rhyming couplets, or what I refer to as satiric verses.

The Huntington Theatre Company presents the brilliant classic comedy Tartuffe by Moli re, directed by Huntington Theatre Company Artistic Director Peter DuBois (Sunday in the Park with George), translated by Ranjit Bolt, and featuring actor and comedianBrett Gelman (Murray Bauman on the upcoming season of Netflix's Stranger Things and Dinner with Brett Gelman specials on Adult Swim) as Tartuffe and Tony Award winner Frank Wood (Side Man and August Osage County on Broadway and HBO's Flight of the Conchords ) as Orgon. Performances run from November 10 through December 10, 2017 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre.

SpeakEasy Stage Company's Boston premiere of Marsha Norman's (Book) and Jason Robert Brown's (Music and Lyrics) adaptation of Robert James Waller's novel is elevated by the luminescent Jennifer Ellis and hunky Christiaan Smith. The libretto wobbles, but the leads and ensemble warble Brown's soaring score beautifully. Bring tissues.

From May 6 - June 3, 2017, SpeakEasy Stage Company will proudly present the Boston Premiere of THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, a lush, lyrical musical by Tony Award-winners Marsha Norman (book) and Jason Robert Brown (music & lyrics), based on the best-selling novel by Robert James Waller.

Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins enjoys ambiguity and messing with traditional concepts and constructs. His 2014 Obie Award-winner for Best New American Play, APPROPRIATE, is a prime example as it defies categorization. He borrows themes and tropes from classic American family dramas, and the ensemble of actors in the SpeakEasy production carve out brilliant individual performances that rival anything one might see on a Broadway stage. M. Bevin O'Gara directs this breathtaking drama.

Now through October 10, 2015, SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the New England Premiere of APPROPRIATE, the thrilling new drama about race and identity by acclaimed African-American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

From September 12-October 10, 2015, SpeakEasy Stage Company will proudly present the New England Premiere of appropriate, the thrilling new drama about race and identity by acclaimed African-American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

Perfect timing for a long-awaited Spring, Actors' Shakespeare Project (ASP) presents what is easily one of Shakespeare's most engaging comedies As You Like It runs today, April 17 - May 18, 2014 [Press Performance is Saturday April 19, 2014 at 8pm] at The Springstep Building, 98 George P Hassett Drive, Medford. Directed by Resident Acting Company member Robert Walsh **. Tickets are $28 - $50. Student Rush and Group discounts available.

Perfect timing for a long-awaited Spring, Actors' Shakespeare Project (ASP) presents what is easily one of Shakespeare's most engaging comedies As You Like It April 17 - May 18, 2014 [Press Performance is Saturday April 19, 2014 at 8pm] at The Springstep Building, 98 George P Hassett Drive, Medford. Directed by Resident Acting Company member Robert Walsh **. Tickets are $28 - $50. Student Rush and Group discounts available. Tickets will be available beginning March 10 at actorsshakespeareproject.org or by calling OvationTix at 866-811-4111.

A show about how complicated raising a child now seems to be with the constant presence of technology, the media, new learning disabilities and disorders, and the fact that everyone is always on the move. Everything is much more complicated, and pure familial values are not always easy to find anymore.