The La Jolla Playhouse adaptation of Sinclair Lewis's classic novel Babbitt tells the story of George F. Babbitt, played by Matthew Broderick.  Set in a sleek modern library, the ensemble cast, scattered around the library reading the novel, tells Babbitt’s story. It is. a smash hit.

The Royal Ballet of the United Kingdom, will appear at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival for the first time, as the company’s sole stop in the United States in 2024. To celebrate this milestone, Jacob’s Pillow will for the first time feature daily back-to-back performances from one company in multiple venues, with one program on the outdoor Henry J. Leir Stage, and another distinct program in the historic indoor Ted Shawn Theatre.

The Women in Classical Music Symposium in Dallas was not acrimonious. No one whined. Instead, the spirit was exploratory. There was some feeling that 'what you heard here should stay here' in Dallas. This was odd because many of the problems that were raised and then discussed were common to men and women across the color and gender spectrum.

The Cape Ann Museum presents its next special exhibition, Above the Fold: The Photographers of the “Gloucester Daily Times,” 1973-2005, featuring a selection of works by photographers shooting for the Times for over three decades. The captivating photographs in this exhibition draw on an important archive of an estimated one million photographs which is a recent acquisition donated to CAM by the North of Boston Media Group. 

The musical gives a peek into the marginalized world of gamblers and performers around Broadway during the Depression. While running floating craps games as a profession, Nathan Detroit has eluded marriage to nightclub singer, Adelaide, for 14 years. Out-of-towner Sky Masterson is an occasional participant in Nathan's games. Needing $1,000, Nathan bets the bet-on-anything Sky that he can't induce a certain woman to go to Havana (Cuba!) with him for dinner. That woman happens to be Sarah, a uniformed member of the Times Square Save-a-Soul Mission, so Nathan feels comfortable with his bet. Well.....

More versions of A Christmas Carol are throughout the area. The Downtown Cabaret Theater in Bridgeport has a child-oriented, musical version through Sunday, Dec. 30. Remember you sit at tables and can bring or purchase food. Stony Creek’s Legacy Theatre returns with a musical version through Sunday, Dec. 10. Another musical, Christmas Carol is at New Haven’s Shubert Theater on Friday, Dec. 22, and Saturday, Dec. 23.

Who would have thought that a solo performance about a family on the seedy edge of society as told by one of its descendants would captivate a theater audience? Sara Porkalob writes, tells, and sings stories of surviving entertainingly and with consummate magnetism and conviction.

Phil Kline created a magical holiday event thirty years ago. This year, Unsilent Night in North Adams, MA was presented by MCLA Gallery 51/MOSAIC, nbCC, North Adams Chamber, Anna Farrington, Andrew Fitch, Isabelle Holmes & Todd Reynolds In collaboration with LumiNAMA Holiday Lights Walk.

Now a Berkshire resident Steve Nelson and his wife Jan resided high above D.C. when Jimmy Carter became president. This piece was inspired by looking at vintage snapshots.

The Salvagers takes place in a Chicago winter, as a father and son (Boseman Salvage Senior and Junior) must break down the barriers between them, explore the secrets that have created these, and start to find peace with each other and romance in their lives.

Not only is A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas back at Hartford Stage, but it is better than ever. It’s been missing due to the pandemic and its aftermath.

The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival is a winter arts festival located in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, organized by the City of Pittsfield and Barrington Stage Company. Presenting short new plays during the dead of winter.  

Recipe for a delightful evening: Take one part A Christmas Carol and one part Sherlock Holmes. Blend well, then let a talented team of actors serve to it you. A Sherlock Carol by Mark Shanahan does just that and it is a delight. It’s getting a brief run at Westport Country Playhouse through Saturday, Dec. 23. I wish it were longer.

The new year begins with Boston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Andris Nelsons conducting the orchestra in two blockbuster programs that spotlight the BSO’s enduring creative partnerships and major recording projects. Both programs will first be performed in Boston: works by Maurice Ravel, Tania León, and Igor Stravinsky with acclaimed pianist Seong-Jin Cho on January 11–13, followed by a concert version of the landmark 1934 Dmitri Shostakovich opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk on January 25 and 27. Performances of the two complete programs will be repeated at New York’s Carnegie Hall on January 29 and 30, respectively.   

Rose Art Museum names Mexican artist Noé Martínez the 2024 Ruth Ann and Nathan Perlmutter Artist-in-Residence.Since 2002, the Perlmutter Residency has been part of the Rose Art Museum’s longstanding tradition of promoting emerging artists of extraordinary talent whose work addresses contemporary issues of vital urgenc

Huang Ruo, who searches for the Asian American voice and translates it for an audience of Asian Americans and all other Americans too, will present the New York premiere of his vocal theater work, Angel Island, at the Harvey Theater at BAM on January 11, 12 and 13.  It is part of the Protopype Festival, now celebrating its 11th anniversary. 

Carlos Caicedo, a native of Colombia, is an award winning photographer and graphic designer. With his daughter Sandra, who also creates colorful fabric designs, they recently moved to the Eclipse Mill in North Adams. During a studio visit we discussed his process and how what he calls abstract photography is more accurately defined as non objective.

Pandering to the public continues at the ever more accessible Museum of Fine Arts. It follows a blockbuster show of Sargent portraits of white supremacists with an in depth view of the ultimate charlatan Salvador Dali. He has been described as the greatest modernist from the wrist down. Dalí: Disruption and Devotion, opens in July with 30 works by Dali compared to European masterpieces from the museum's collection. The Dalis are on loan from the St Petersburg, Florida museum. The project is both cost effective and crowd pleasing.

Beth Morrison is an important leader in the development of new opera with new alliances and venues. She is a force that the future of classical music depends on. The Prototype Festival she created is now in its 11th season in New York.

Opening night of Jean-Paul Sartre's "Die Schmutzigen Hände" (Dirty Hands) on January 26th, 2024 at the famed Berliner Ensemble in Berlin, Germany was sold out.

After nearly a half century lapse Tanglewood has doubled down on the vintage British rock group The Who. Last summer we heard Pete Townshend leading Quadrophenia with the Pops. Last night lead singer Roger Daltrey performed the entire 75-minute Tommy as well as three encores minus the orchestra.

It was a long but satisfying evening at Tanglewood. Chris Hillman, a founder of The Byrds, and Herb Peterson, one of The Dillards went on at 7 PM. They were followed by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Then David Crosby brought it on home at 10:30 PM. The hits just kept on coming.

Fifty years ago Stephen Stills and Judy Collins met and had a relationship that lasted for two years. That breakup resulted in "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" the hit of the debut album of Crosby Stills and Nash. Not long ago they were booked for an AARP event. That chance encounter resulted in a tour that touched down at Tanglewood. On September 22 they will release a studio album "For What It's Earth" titled for a Leonard Cohen song.

Mr. Parker is a touching comedy-drama by versatile theater artist Michael McKeever. The piece, a three-hander, is receiving an impressive world premiere at Island City Stage near Ft. Lauderdale. A trio of actors sparkle in an all-around strong production.

New City Players is offering an explosive, comic production of Yasmina Reza's provocative Art. This comedy focuses on how perception can impact relationships. Actors excel in roles that require seamless shifts between subtlety and big acting choices.