Opening This Month
John Malkovich, who starred as the immoral Vicomte de Valmont in the movie
Dangerous Liaisons, directs a French-language version of
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
presented by the Théâtre de l’Atelier at
Shakespeare Theatre. December 6 through 9.
Georgetown professor and playwright Natsu Onoda Power, whose acclaimed
Astro Boy and the God of Comics was produced this year at Studio Theatre, directs
A Trip to the Moon
at
Synetic Theater. The play is based on a 1902 silent film by Georges Méliès featuring six astronomers
who head to the moon, where they encounter comets, aliens, and the moon goddess Phoebe.
December 6 through January 6.
The
Hub Theatre presents
How I Paid for College, Marc Acito’s world premiere about a Bueller-esque teen who turns to crime to pay
for acting school. December 7 through 30.
Woolly Mammoth welcomes comedy duo the Pajama Men and their show
In the Middle of No One. The
Guardian described the surreal fusion of improv and theater—sold out in London and at the
Edinburgh Fringe—as “comic bliss.” December 11 through January 6.
Just in time for the movie adaptation, the 25th-anniversary tour of
Les Misérables
returns to DC, playing at the
National Theatre. Peter Lockyer stars as Jean Valjean, with Genevieve Leclerc as Fantine. December
12 through 30.
Apples from the Desert, Savyon Liebrecht’s Isreali hit, gets its Washington premiere at Theater J. The show,
about a religious teenager who flees her Orthodox upbringing to follow the man she
loves, was adapted by Liebrecht from her 2000 short story. December 15 through January
6.
Million Dollar Quartet, the Broadway hit about a legendary recording session by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee
Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash, comes to the
Kennedy Center December 18 through January 6. Signature Theatre’s Eric Schaeffer directs.
At
Studio Theatre, artistic director David Muse directs
An Iliad, Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare’s contemporary spin on Homer’s epic. The one-man,
100-minute adaptation stars Scott Parkinson as the poet. December 21 through January
13.
Holiday-Themed Shows
Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
moves into the
Kennedy Center’s opera house for the season. Based on the 1950s film starring Bing Crosby and Rosemary
Clooney, the musical features all the standards: “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,”
“Sisters,” and “White Christmas,” of course. December 11 through January 6.
Edward Gero reprises his role as Scrooge in
Ford’s Theatre’s annual production of
A Christmas Carol. Through December 30.
Paul Morella also reprises his (multiple) roles in
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas, which returns to
Olney Theatre. The pared-down one-man show is based more heavily on Dickens’s original story. Through
December 30.
And once again,
MetroStage presents its annual production of
A Broadway Christmas Carol
by Kathy Feininger. Through December 23.
Faction of Fools stages
A Commedia Christmas Carol, giving the classic, oft-produced tale a commedia dell’arte spin. Through December
23.
Opening December 14 at
Keegan Theatre is
An Irish Carol, Matthew Keenan’s homage to Dickens tale—set in an Irish pub, of course. Through
December 31.
Rep Stage presents staged readings of humorist David Sedaris’s
Holidays on Ice, December 20 through 23.
Theater Alliance presents
The Night Before Christmas, a Scottish black comedy, through December 29; and
Wonderful Life, a Hub Theatre co-production, through December 20.
Washington Improv Theater brings back
Seasonal Disorder, its holiday-themed improv show. December 6 through 29.
Ongoing/Last Chance
The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, presented by the
National Theatre of Scotland and
Shakespeare Theatre at the Bier Baron Tavern,
closes December 9. Read our earlier
review.
WSC Avant Bard’s production of
Six Characters in Search of an Author
also closes December 9.
The Aliens
plays at
Studio Theatre through December 23. Read our
earlier
review.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
plays at
Shakespeare Theatre through December 30. Read
our earlier
review.
Also playing through December 30 is
Cinderella
at
Olney Theatre. Read our earlier
review.
My Fair Lady
is at
Arena Stage through January 6. Read our
earlier
review.
Pullman Porter Blues
also plays at
Arena Stage through January 6. Read our
earlier
review.
Dreamgirls
is at
Signature Theatre through January 13. Read our
earlier
review.
For the Kids
The
Kennedy Center-commissioned
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
plays through December 9 in the Family Theater.
Jon Klein, head of the MFA playwriting program at Catholic University, presents the
premiere of his
Young Robin Hood
at
Round House Theatre. Through December 30.
At
Adventure Theatre through December 31 is
A Little House Christmas, adapted from a Laura Ingalls Wilder story about a storm that interrupts the Ingalls
family’s Christmas dinner.
The
Puppet Co. stages
The Nutcracker
through December 30 in Glen Echo.
At
Imagination Stage through January 6 is
Seussical, which is loosely based on Dr. Seuss’s
Horton Hears a Who! but also incorporates characters from
The Cat in the Hat,
The Lorax, and more.
