Stage: Winter’s tales
Seasonal stage productions across the country
Arlington, Va.
Striking 12
Arena Stage
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(202) 488-3300
Brooklyn-based indie rock trio GrooveLily and Tony Award–winning playwright Rachel Sheinkin turn Hans Christian Andersen’s frostbitten tragedy “The Little Match Girl” into a rock musical by transforming Andersen’s waif into a light bulb–peddling goth and adding a blend of original pop, folk, and rock music. Through Dec. 13
Boston
A Civil War Christmas
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Boston University Theatre
(617) 266-0800
Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Paula Vogel weaves together several stories, all taking place on Dec. 24, 1864. From First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln’s search for a new, German-style decoration—the Christmas tree—to a slave fleeing north with her daughter, A Civil War Christmas portrays a holiday marked by change, unease, and a welcome, if fleeting, peace. Through Dec. 13
Chicago
The Snow Queen
Victory Gardens Biograph Theater
(773) 871-3000
Chicago composer Michael Peter Smith adapts this Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, about a young girl who rescues her friend from the spell of winter’s evil empress, into a folk-tinged musical. Director Jim Corti employs a surreal set and large-scale puppets, created by puppeteer Blair Thomas, to bring the Queen and her frosty domain to life. Through Jan. 7
Los Angeles
The Eight: Reindeer Monologues
Chance Theater
(714) 777-3033
Former MTV reality show writer Jeff Goode provides a tart alternative to the season’s sentimentality. After a scandal erupts on the North Pole, Santa’s reindeer break ranks to kvetch about their boss. The audience soon learns that Comet is a Bible-thumper, Vixen is a radical feminist, and St. Nick himself is more naughty than nice. Through Dec. 19
Minneapolis
The Seafarer
The Jungle Theater
(612) 822-7063
A Christmas Eve poker game in a suburban basement near Dublin isn’t exactly the standard setting for holiday cheer, but even more unusual is the presence of the devil himself. As the drunken card game escalates, so do the stakes, until one player makes a Faustian bargain with the netherworld guest, then rushes to find redemption by Christmas morning. Through Dec. 20
New York
Wintuk
WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden
(212) 465-6080
A dizzying array of acrobatics and choreography frames Cirque du Soleil’s story of a boy’s quest to find snow. Lush scenery and music create the mythical Arctic land of Wintuk, which is home to a host of gravity-defying inhabitants including freestyle skateboarders, in-line skaters, and a clowning tightrope walker. Through Jan. 3
Seattle
Black Nativity
Intiman Theatre
(206) 269-1900
Langston Hughes wrote this retelling of the Nativity story, which features innovative dance and Gospel-style Christmas carols. Here it’s performed by an all-black cast of more than 30 actors and singers, many of whom have been performing Black Nativity at the Intiman for more than 10 years. Opening-night proceeds go to Seattle-area charities. Through Dec. 27
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