A. Gentle News

Winston's a cop, Jess is an activist and Schmidt is arm candy? That's right, NEW GIRL is back. And if you think a new year is going to change these kids, you may want to reconsider.

It is the last day of 2014 and this final look at 'six of the best' plays to appear on South African stages finishes up BroadwayWorld's review of the past year's theatre.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Alabama Story by Kenneth Jones, January 9 - 24, 2015. The play was workshopped in Pioneer Theatre Company's new play reading series, Play-by-Play, last season. The play-a finalist in the 2014 National Playwrights Conference-coincides with the 50th anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

Of OSL's first Carnegie Hall Orchestra Series concert this season, The New York Times wrote, '... this is an ensemble to watch ... the orchestra is brimming with enthusiasm.' For its second series concert in January, OSL welcomes British conductor Harry Bicket and British pianist Stephen Hough for a program including Dvorak's beautiful, rarely performed Piano Concerto in G minor, Haydn's Symphony No. 104 'London,' and Wagner's intimate Siegfried Idyll. This will be Bicket's first appearance with OSL, and Hough's first time joining the orchestra since 1986.

Alta Loma, Calif.

From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes 'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,' the third in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien. The film hits theaters in the U.S. this Wednesday, December 17, and the reviews have started to come in!

The Geffen Playhouse announces the cast for its West Coast premiere production of Conor McPherson's The Night Alive, helmed by Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Randall Arney. This production will feature Paul Vincent O'Connor (August: Osage County at the National Theatre, London), Fiona O'Shaughnessy (Utopia), Dan Donohue (The Lion King on Broadway), Denis Arndt (Basic Instinct), and Peter O'Meara (Band of Brothers).

?Z2 Entertainment is proud to present Brett Dennen with Special Guests at the Fox Theatre on Sunday, February 8th, 2015.

Andrew Pinard: Discovering Magic. This 'mind-numbing, jaw-dropping, eye-opening' experience takes audiences on a guided tour of the impossible and the absurd. Andrew Pinard will bring the show to Portsmouth beginning on December 26th for only five performances. All performances are at The Player's Ring on 105 Marcy Street in Portsmouth. Tickets are $15 general admission, $12 for Seniors/Students/Members. For more information or to reserve your tickets call 603-436-8123 tickets are also available online at www.playersring.org or at the door (limited seating available).

Illustrious stage and screen actress Penny Fuller brings all of her charm and incandescence to Merrimack Repertory Theatre this holiday season in the lovely one-woman musical 13 THINGS ABOUT ED CARPOLOTTI.

Closing out an exceptional year at Third Man Records is a release that's pretty near and dear to us. It should come as no surprise to the TMR faithful that Lillie Mae Rische is a complete bad-ass and an all-around powerhouse of melody.

Watching a singer like Celia Berk, who brings a heartwarming balance, a subtle good humor, originality, and a lot of affection to everything she sings, makes one realize the crucial role good instincts play in the self-conscious, self-absorbed world of cabaret. Right at the top of her recent debut run of shows titled You Can't Rush Spring (the title of her recently released excellent debut CD) at the Metropolitan Room, this New Yorker from the business world ingratiated herself with the audience by admitting she was fulfilling a lifelong dream. Berk had already built a following with a few excellent guest performances (most notably at this past October's Cabaret Convention at Lincoln Center) and in this auspicious debut she proved she easily puts her personal stamp on an eclectic mix of songs. Such ability springs directly from who she is and not from someone's idea of who she should be.

New Amsterdam Records is proud to announce OK It's Not OK, the fourth studio album from 'baroquely unclassifiable' (The New Yorker) composer and 'prince of postclassical song' (Time Out New York) Corey Dargel.

Nobody does dance on local stages like the Cape Dance Company (CDC). Their 2013 season of CADENCE at the Artscape Theatre was the local dance highlight of the year and they top themselves in 2014's presentation of BLUE, a compilation of eight eclectic pieces from half a dozen choreographers.

If watching family members spew venom at each other for 100 uninterrupted minutes is your idea of holiday cheer, then by all means head on over to SpeakEasy Stage Company this Thanksgiving weekend for a visit with BAD JEWS.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -

In celebration of its 70th Anniversary, Milwaukee Repertory Theater mounts a new production of Mary Chase's Harvey, the classic American comedy that won the Pulitzer Prize, played for 1,775 performances on Broadway and was immortalized by Jimmy Stewart's iconic 1950 film. Directed by KJ Sanchez, who returns to The Rep after last year's hilarious and sold-out production of Noises Off, Harvey will welcome back to the Quadracci Powerhouse stage Rep Associate Artists Jonathan Gillard Daly, Laura Gordon, James Pickering, and Deborah Staples. A perfect offering for the whole family just in time for the holidays, Harvey is sure to fill the theater with laughter and delight with its timeless tale of finding one's place in the world.

The State Theatre Company of South Australia is presenting a modern setting of William Shakespeare's Othello, directed by Nescha Jelk, to close their 2014 season.

Theatre J's production of 'The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures' comes complete with quirks and brainy asides that can leave audiences miles behind, grasping for meaning. This being an epic affair, eventually we simply give up and let the characters live their lives, untouched and untouchable. But that's when the magic starts.

Mill Valley, Calif.