Stage

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Christmastown: A Holiday Noir Wayne Rawley’s hard-boiled detective story. Preview Dec. 3, opens Dec. 4. Runs Thurs.-Sun. plus Dec. 22 & 23; see seattlepublictheater.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 24. Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Green Lake Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $17-$34 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Land of the Sweets Most productions of The Nutcracker are definitely family fare, but Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have been presenting a decidedly adult version of the show for the past 10 years. Their burlesque Nutcracker is full of salacious fun in the best tradition, with showgirl snowflakes, a King of the Rats with tearaway pants, and Verlaine herself as the Countess of Coffee, stripping in a steamy cup. If you’re a bit bored with the traditional fare over at PNB, this is a zesty alternative to the G-rated version. (Runs nearly daily through Dec. 27.) 7 & 10 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ The Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$65 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Those Herdman kids are ruining our holiday play! Opens Dec. 12. Runs 2 & 4 p.m. Sat.-Sun. and Dec. 22-24. Ends Dec. 24. Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Green Lake Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $17-$34 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Wednesday, December 23, 2015

This Christmas The holiday threatens to careen out of control (but probably won’t) in Anne Kennedy Brady’s play. Runs generally Tues.-Sat.; see taproottheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 26. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle $20-$40 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Wonderful Life Yes, Frank Capra’s holiday perennial will return to the Grand Illusion next Friday the 11th, but first arrives a new take on the famous 1946 movie. The shorter title is a clue to the recent abridgement by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott: It’s a one-man show, here starring Andrew Lee Creech, in which the storyteller takes on all the roles in Bedford Falls. That means the same guy plays both noble, suicidal George Bailey and the evil banker Mr. Potter, which may seem a rather schizophrenic exercise. Add to that the angel Clarence, faithful wife Mary (the Donna Reed role), and miserable alternate-reality denizens of Pottersville (basically Hell), and Creech will be embodying an entire community. But that unitary spirit is appropriate to the source, Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 self-published short story, first called “The Greatest Gift.” About to leap off a bridge in financial despair, George is granted a vision of his town without him-as if he’d never been born. Yet this show (and the movie) emphasize how the individual and the community are so interdependent; the health of one affects all. And a society’s true prosperity is measured by how we treat those like George who are down on their luck (or “losers,” as Donald Trump would call them). Erin Murray directs. BRIAN MILLER Opens Dec. 3. Runs Wed.-Sun.; see artswest.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $17-$38 Wednesday, December 23, 2015

A Christmas Carol Of SecondStory’s two versions, this is the traditional one. Opens Dec. 11. 8 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. plus Dec. 21-23. Ends Dec. 23. SecondStory Repertory, 16587 N.E. 74th St, Redmond, WA 98052 $27 Wednesday, December 23, 2015, 8pm

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $5 Wednesday, December 23, 2015, 8:30pm

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Thursday, December 24, 2015

A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol Unexpected Productions wants your help with the rewrite. 8:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. plus Dec. 21 & 22; 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 26. Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley $5-$15 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Thursday, December 24, 2015

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Caractacus Potts and his flying car are back. 7 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 5:30 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 27. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $25 and up Thursday, December 24, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Land of the Sweets Most productions of The Nutcracker are definitely family fare, but Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have been presenting a decidedly adult version of the show for the past 10 years. Their burlesque Nutcracker is full of salacious fun in the best tradition, with showgirl snowflakes, a King of the Rats with tearaway pants, and Verlaine herself as the Countess of Coffee, stripping in a steamy cup. If you’re a bit bored with the traditional fare over at PNB, this is a zesty alternative to the G-rated version. (Runs nearly daily through Dec. 27.) 7 & 10 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ The Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$65 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, December 24, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, December 24, 2015

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Those Herdman kids are ruining our holiday play! Opens Dec. 12. Runs 2 & 4 p.m. Sat.-Sun. and Dec. 22-24. Ends Dec. 24. Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse, 7312 W. Green Lake Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $17-$34 Thursday, December 24, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Thursday, December 24, 2015

This Christmas The holiday threatens to careen out of control (but probably won’t) in Anne Kennedy Brady’s play. Runs generally Tues.-Sat.; see taproottheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 26. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle $20-$40 Thursday, December 24, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Thursday, December 24, 2015

Wonderful Life Yes, Frank Capra’s holiday perennial will return to the Grand Illusion next Friday the 11th, but first arrives a new take on the famous 1946 movie. The shorter title is a clue to the recent abridgement by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott: It’s a one-man show, here starring Andrew Lee Creech, in which the storyteller takes on all the roles in Bedford Falls. That means the same guy plays both noble, suicidal George Bailey and the evil banker Mr. Potter, which may seem a rather schizophrenic exercise. Add to that the angel Clarence, faithful wife Mary (the Donna Reed role), and miserable alternate-reality denizens of Pottersville (basically Hell), and Creech will be embodying an entire community. But that unitary spirit is appropriate to the source, Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 self-published short story, first called “The Greatest Gift.” About to leap off a bridge in financial despair, George is granted a vision of his town without him-as if he’d never been born. Yet this show (and the movie) emphasize how the individual and the community are so interdependent; the health of one affects all. And a society’s true prosperity is measured by how we treat those like George who are down on their luck (or “losers,” as Donald Trump would call them). Erin Murray directs. BRIAN MILLER Opens Dec. 3. Runs Wed.-Sun.; see artswest.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $17-$38 Thursday, December 24, 2015

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Friday, December 25, 2015

A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol Unexpected Productions wants your help with the rewrite. 8:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. plus Dec. 21 & 22; 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 26. Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley $5-$15 Friday, December 25, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Friday, December 25, 2015

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Caractacus Potts and his flying car are back. 7 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 5:30 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 27. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $25 and up Friday, December 25, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, December 25, 2015

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, December 25, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Friday, December 25, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Friday, December 25, 2015

Land of the Sweets Most productions of The Nutcracker are definitely family fare, but Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have been presenting a decidedly adult version of the show for the past 10 years. Their burlesque Nutcracker is full of salacious fun in the best tradition, with showgirl snowflakes, a King of the Rats with tearaway pants, and Verlaine herself as the Countess of Coffee, stripping in a steamy cup. If you’re a bit bored with the traditional fare over at PNB, this is a zesty alternative to the G-rated version. (Runs nearly daily through Dec. 27.) 7 & 10 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ The Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$65 Friday, December 25, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, December 25, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Friday, December 25, 2015

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, December 25, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, December 25, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Friday, December 25, 2015

This Christmas The holiday threatens to careen out of control (but probably won’t) in Anne Kennedy Brady’s play. Runs generally Tues.-Sat.; see taproottheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 26. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle $20-$40 Friday, December 25, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Friday, December 25, 2015

Wonderful Life Yes, Frank Capra’s holiday perennial will return to the Grand Illusion next Friday the 11th, but first arrives a new take on the famous 1946 movie. The shorter title is a clue to the recent abridgement by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott: It’s a one-man show, here starring Andrew Lee Creech, in which the storyteller takes on all the roles in Bedford Falls. That means the same guy plays both noble, suicidal George Bailey and the evil banker Mr. Potter, which may seem a rather schizophrenic exercise. Add to that the angel Clarence, faithful wife Mary (the Donna Reed role), and miserable alternate-reality denizens of Pottersville (basically Hell), and Creech will be embodying an entire community. But that unitary spirit is appropriate to the source, Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 self-published short story, first called “The Greatest Gift.” About to leap off a bridge in financial despair, George is granted a vision of his town without him-as if he’d never been born. Yet this show (and the movie) emphasize how the individual and the community are so interdependent; the health of one affects all. And a society’s true prosperity is measured by how we treat those like George who are down on their luck (or “losers,” as Donald Trump would call them). Erin Murray directs. BRIAN MILLER Opens Dec. 3. Runs Wed.-Sun.; see artswest.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $17-$38 Friday, December 25, 2015

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, December 25, 2015, 7pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Friday, December 25, 2015, 10:30pm

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Saturday, December 26, 2015

A(n Improvised) Christmas Carol Unexpected Productions wants your help with the rewrite. 8:30 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. plus Dec. 21 & 22; 7 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 26. Market Theatre, 1428 Post Alley $5-$15 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Saturday, December 26, 2015

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Caractacus Potts and his flying car are back. 7 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 5:30 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 27. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $25 and up Saturday, December 26, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, December 26, 2015

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Land of the Sweets Most productions of The Nutcracker are definitely family fare, but Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have been presenting a decidedly adult version of the show for the past 10 years. Their burlesque Nutcracker is full of salacious fun in the best tradition, with showgirl snowflakes, a King of the Rats with tearaway pants, and Verlaine herself as the Countess of Coffee, stripping in a steamy cup. If you’re a bit bored with the traditional fare over at PNB, this is a zesty alternative to the G-rated version. (Runs nearly daily through Dec. 27.) 7 & 10 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ The Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$65 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, December 26, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, December 26, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, December 26, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Saturday, December 26, 2015

This Christmas The holiday threatens to careen out of control (but probably won’t) in Anne Kennedy Brady’s play. Runs generally Tues.-Sat.; see taproottheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 26. Taproot Theatre, 204 N. 85th St., Seattle $20-$40 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Saturday, December 26, 2015

Wonderful Life Yes, Frank Capra’s holiday perennial will return to the Grand Illusion next Friday the 11th, but first arrives a new take on the famous 1946 movie. The shorter title is a clue to the recent abridgement by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott: It’s a one-man show, here starring Andrew Lee Creech, in which the storyteller takes on all the roles in Bedford Falls. That means the same guy plays both noble, suicidal George Bailey and the evil banker Mr. Potter, which may seem a rather schizophrenic exercise. Add to that the angel Clarence, faithful wife Mary (the Donna Reed role), and miserable alternate-reality denizens of Pottersville (basically Hell), and Creech will be embodying an entire community. But that unitary spirit is appropriate to the source, Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 self-published short story, first called “The Greatest Gift.” About to leap off a bridge in financial despair, George is granted a vision of his town without him-as if he’d never been born. Yet this show (and the movie) emphasize how the individual and the community are so interdependent; the health of one affects all. And a society’s true prosperity is measured by how we treat those like George who are down on their luck (or “losers,” as Donald Trump would call them). Erin Murray directs. BRIAN MILLER Opens Dec. 3. Runs Wed.-Sun.; see artswest.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $17-$38 Saturday, December 26, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Lighter Than Air The band Recess Monkey headlines their family show. Runs 11 a.m. some Sat. & Sun.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $20-$25 Saturday, December 26, 2015, 11am

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Saturday, December 26, 2015, 10:30pm

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Sunday, December 27, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Sunday, December 27, 2015

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Caractacus Potts and his flying car are back. 7 p.m. Thurs.-Fri., 2 & 5:30 p.m. Sat., 11 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Dec. 27. Seattle Children’s Theatre, Seattle Center $25 and up Sunday, December 27, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Land of the Sweets Most productions of The Nutcracker are definitely family fare, but Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have been presenting a decidedly adult version of the show for the past 10 years. Their burlesque Nutcracker is full of salacious fun in the best tradition, with showgirl snowflakes, a King of the Rats with tearaway pants, and Verlaine herself as the Countess of Coffee, stripping in a steamy cup. If you’re a bit bored with the traditional fare over at PNB, this is a zesty alternative to the G-rated version. (Runs nearly daily through Dec. 27.) 7 & 10 p.m. SANDRA KURTZ The Triple Door, 216 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $35-$65 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, December 27, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, December 27, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, December 27, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Sunday, December 27, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Sunday, December 27, 2015

Wonderful Life Yes, Frank Capra’s holiday perennial will return to the Grand Illusion next Friday the 11th, but first arrives a new take on the famous 1946 movie. The shorter title is a clue to the recent abridgement by Helen Pafumi and Jason Lott: It’s a one-man show, here starring Andrew Lee Creech, in which the storyteller takes on all the roles in Bedford Falls. That means the same guy plays both noble, suicidal George Bailey and the evil banker Mr. Potter, which may seem a rather schizophrenic exercise. Add to that the angel Clarence, faithful wife Mary (the Donna Reed role), and miserable alternate-reality denizens of Pottersville (basically Hell), and Creech will be embodying an entire community. But that unitary spirit is appropriate to the source, Philip Van Doren Stern’s 1943 self-published short story, first called “The Greatest Gift.” About to leap off a bridge in financial despair, George is granted a vision of his town without him-as if he’d never been born. Yet this show (and the movie) emphasize how the individual and the community are so interdependent; the health of one affects all. And a society’s true prosperity is measured by how we treat those like George who are down on their luck (or “losers,” as Donald Trump would call them). Erin Murray directs. BRIAN MILLER Opens Dec. 3. Runs Wed.-Sun.; see artswest.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. ArtsWest, 4711 California Ave. S.W., Seattle, WA 98116 $17-$38 Sunday, December 27, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Lighter Than Air The band Recess Monkey headlines their family show. Runs 11 a.m. some Sat. & Sun.; see zinzanni.com/seattle for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 27. Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $20-$25 Sunday, December 27, 2015, 11am

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, December 27, 2015, 1pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Monday, December 28, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, December 28, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Monday, December 28, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, December 28, 2015

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, December 28, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Monday, December 28, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Monday, December 28, 2015

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Preview Nov. 27, opens Nov. 29. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Monday, December 28, 2015, 7:30pm

Sandbox Radio LIVE! Music, storytelling, and new work by Scot Augustson, Juliet Waller Pruzan, and Wayne Rawley. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $10-$25 Monday, December 28, 2015, 8pm

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Tuesday, December 29, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Tuesday, December 29, 2015

A Christmas Carol Keep your parodies and improv shows; ACT dishes the Dickens straight up. Kurt Beattie and Charles Leggett tag-team as Scrooge. Runs Tues.-Sun. plus Mon., Dec. 28; see acttheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 30. ACT Theatre, 700 Union St., Seattle, WA 98101 $27-$37 and up Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Wednesday, December 30, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Jay Hollingsworth’s True Story Hollingsworth asks visiting and local comics to actually explain the stories behind their supposedly true stories. 7:30 p.m., last Wednesday of every month.  The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue see website Wednesday, December 30, 2015, 7:30pm

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $5 Wednesday, December 30, 2015, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Thursday, December 31, 2015

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, December 31, 2015

Dina Martina Christmas Show 2015 An all-new show of warmth and wonder from the incomparable, indefatigable, indescribable entertaineress. Runs nearly every day; see brownpapertickets.com for exact schedule. Ends Dec. 31. Re-bar, 114 Howell St $22-$25 Thursday, December 31, 2015

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Thursday, December 31, 2015

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, December 31, 2015

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Thursday, December 31, 2015

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, December 31, 2015

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Thursday, December 31, 2015

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Thursday, December 31, 2015

Winterfest All kinds of music, dance, circus, and more. Nov. 27-Dec. 31. Seattle Center, 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA 98109 Free Thursday, December 31, 2015

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Friday, January 1, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, January 1, 2016

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, January 1, 2016

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Friday, January 1, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, January 1, 2016

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Friday, January 1, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, January 1, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, January 1, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Friday, January 1, 2016

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Friday, January 1, 2016

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, January 1, 2016, 7pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Friday, January 1, 2016, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Saturday, January 2, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, January 2, 2016

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, January 2, 2016

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Saturday, January 2, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, January 2, 2016

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Saturday, January 2, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, January 2, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, January 2, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Saturday, January 2, 2016

The Edge Bainbridge Island’s own improv troupe.  Bainbridge Performing Arts, 200 Madison Ave. N., Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 $12-$16 Saturday, January 2, 2016, 7:30pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Saturday, January 2, 2016, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Sunday, January 3, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, January 3, 2016

Emma No one gets married during the holiday season, because there are so many other competing parties and family gatherings. So here’s a happy chance to attend the wedding-and prior courtship, and countless preliminary romantic misunderstandings-in this staging of the Jane Austen classic, probably the sweetest work in her canon. Appropriately, Book-It is reviving its 2009 adaptation (by Rachel Atkins, directed by Carol Roscoe) for the bicentennial of Emma’s publication. Back from that production is Sylvie Davison as our heroine, now pitted with the challenge of resisting the handsome, charming Mr. Knightly (Sylvester Kamara). Along the way, of course, Emma is a famous meddler and know-it-all who proves herself wrong in one failed match after another. Yet she blithely steamrolls her way through Highbury and the surrounding countryside, crushing good sense at every turn. The comic disconnect between her intentions and outcomes has been profitably mined on film (with Alicia Silverstone in Clueless and Gwyneth Paltrow in Emma), but Emma’s well-intentioned foolishness never gets old. Like she says, “The most beautiful thing in the world is a match well made.” BRIAN MILLER Runs Wed.-Sun.; see book-it.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3.  Center Theatre at the Armory, Seattle Center $25-$50 Sunday, January 3, 2016

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Sunday, January 3, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, January 3, 2016

My Fair Lady The enduringly popular and hit-filled 1956 Lerner and Loewe musical is directed by our homegrown Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Brian Yorkey, who must love the thing. Runs Tues.-Sun.; see villagetheatre.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. (Runs in Everett Jan. 8-31.) Village Theatre, 303 Front St. N., Issaquah, WA 98027 $38-$70 Sunday, January 3, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, January 3, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, January 3, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, January 3, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Sunday, January 3, 2016

The Sound of Music When this smash Rodgers and Hammerstein musical made its Broadway debut in 1959, Eisenhower was still in office, the Korean War was over, and the Cold War was at its height. American culture would be far different when the Julie Andrews movie came out in 1965 (how most now remember the show, after all). That’s when the fresh-scrubbed von Trapp family saga prompted The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael to call it “the single most repressive influence on artistic freedom in movies.” But if you can place yourself more in the mind-set of 56 years ago, instead of 50, there was reassurance in the musical Austrian clan standing up to the Nazis and belting out songs of strength and virtue. In a real sense, America wanted to believe that its virtue was its national strength: that our goodness (not the A-bomb) was our might, and that our shining moral example would somehow defeat the Commies.

Set in 1938, with the Anschluss around the corner, The Sound of Music can be understood as a war story. Captain von Trapp (Hans Altwies) has been ordered to take a commission in the German Navy. And his governess Maria (Kirsten deLohr Helland) is a de facto drill sergeant over his brood of seven motherless kids. That they become a choir is credit to her stern martial leadership. And songs like “My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” and “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” foster unit cohesion-not for marching into battle, but for facing adversity. David Bennett directs this local production, with Anne Allgood as the Mother Abbess and Jessica Skerritt as the villainous icy blonde Baroness Elsa, my favorite character in the piece because she lacks all of Maria’s smothering benevolence. BRIAN MILLER Runs practically every day; see 5thavenue.org for exact schedule. Ends Jan. 3. [See Nicole Sprinkle’s <a href=”http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/962033-129/surrendering-to-the-sound-of-music” target=”_blank”>review</a>.] 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Ave, Seattle, WA 98101 $29 and up Sunday, January 3, 2016

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, January 3, 2016, 1pm

(Stand-Up Style) Comedy Showcase Every first Sunday, hosted by Kortney Shane Williams. This month, Nigel Larson, Andrew Rivers, and others. Naked City Brewery, 8564 Greenwood Ave NSeattle,WA 98103 $10-$12 Sunday, January 3, 2016, 7pm

Weird and Awesome With Emmett Montgomery “A monthly parade [every first Sunday] of wonder and awkward sharing hosted and curated by mustache wizard Emmett Montgomery. 7:30 p.m. first Sunday of every month. Annex Theatre, 1110 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98122 $5-$10 Sunday, January 3, 2016, 7:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Monday, January 4, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, January 4, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, January 4, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, January 4, 2016

Pagliacci Comedy Night Local and national comics, every first Monday. Beer and wine will be available with ID. 8 p.m., first Monday of every month. Pagliacci Pizza, 426 Broadway Ave. E., Seattle, WA 98102 Free Monday, January 4, 2016, 8pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Three Ring Circus A new stand-­up/improv/sketch comedy show, every first Wednesday. The Grotto at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave. $5 Wednesday, January 6, 2016, 7:30pm

Duo Comedy Showcase Unexpected Productions presents comedians two at a time, 8:30 p.m. Wed. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $5 Wednesday, January 6, 2016, 8:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Thursday, January 7, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Thursday, January 7, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Thursday, January 7, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Thursday, January 7, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Thursday, January 7, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Thursday, January 7, 2016

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Friday, January 8, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Friday, January 8, 2016

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Friday, January 8, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Friday, January 8, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Friday, January 8, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Friday, January 8, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Friday, January 8, 2016

PROK Open Mike Sign up for this generally zany and enjoyable evening, when professionals are also known to drop by.  The People’s Republic Kafe, 1718 12th Ave., Seattle Free Friday, January 8, 2016, 7pm

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Friday, January 8, 2016, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Saturday, January 9, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Saturday, January 9, 2016

ComedySportz Seattle Comedy Group moves their improv show to the former Empty Space. 8 & 10 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 2:30 p.m. Sun. Atlas Theater, 3509 Fremont Ave. N., Seattle, WA 98103 $14 Saturday, January 9, 2016

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Saturday, January 9, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Saturday, January 9, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Saturday, January 9, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Saturday, January 9, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Saturday, January 9, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Saturday, January 9, 2016

TheatreSports Unexpected Productions’ long-running (since 1983!) improv comedy show, pitting two teams against each other in front of a panel of judges. 10:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. Unexpected Productions, 1428 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98104 $15 Saturday, January 9, 2016, 10:30pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Sunday, January 10, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Sunday, January 10, 2016

Hansel & Gretel and Three Bears The Fremont Players’ annual British panto: a fairy tale with lots of music, audience participation, and a dash of camp. 4 & 7:30 p.m. Sat., 1 & 4 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. Hale’s Palladium, 4301 Leary Way NW $7-$13 Sunday, January 10, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Sunday, January 10, 2016

Parlor Live Comedy Club See parlorlive.com for schedule. The Parlor Collection, 700 Bellevue Way N.E., Bellevue $15-$30 Sunday, January 10, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Sunday, January 10, 2016

Teatro ZinZanni: Hollywood Nights Plus-one called it the best ZinZanni show he’s seen, and I see no reason to disagree. In “Hollywood Nights,” the company channels silver-screen glamour as Ron Campbell plays movie director Cecil B. DeGrille, who invades the theater with his crew and inspires dreams of stardom among the performers. In a TZ show, everyone multitasks, and here not only are the cirque stunts as dazzlingly skillful as usual, but the character work overall is a cut above the norm. I wish all opera singers were as comedically ferocious as soprano Juliana Rambaldi, who then turns around and delivers a sumptuous “Con te partiro.”And I still can’t figure out how Wayne Doba makes tap-dancing so affecting; his “Rainbow Connection” number is the show’s emotional high point, and I’ve never even liked the song. (Through Jan. 31.) GAVIN BORCHERT Teatro ZinZanni, 222 Mercer St., Seattle $99 and up Sunday, January 10, 2016

The Book of Mormon Satirically pointed, outrageously profane, and probably the most popular musical of the past decade-should we draw a lesson from that? Opens Dec. 29. 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri., 2 & 8 p.m. Sat., 1 & 6:30 p.m. Sun. Ends Jan. 10. The Paramount, 911 Pine St, Seattle, WA 98101 $58.75-$166.75 Sunday, January 10, 2016

Mama Mia! This 30-minute ABBA sendup is part of the “Mimosas With Mama” drag brunch. Narwhal, 1118 E. Pike St., Seattle $15-$20 Sunday, January 10, 2016, 1pm

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Monday, January 11, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Monday, January 11, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Monday, January 11, 2016

Pink Door Cabaret Trapeze performances (6:15-8:45 p.m.) by Bridget Gunning (Sun.) and Tanya Brno (Mon.). Saturdays, go “Behind the Pink Door” (11 p.m.,). See thepinkdoor.net for full details.   The Pink Door, 1919 Post Alley, Seattle $20 cover Monday, January 11, 2016

Can Can Cabarets Seattle’s center for neo-burlesque presents shows and/or live music nearly every night; see thecancan.com for full details and ticket prices. Can Can, 94 Pike St., Seattle, WA 98104 see website Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Comedy Underground See comedyunderground.com for complete schedule, including their “Monday Madness” open-mike night, 8 p.m. Comedy Underground, 109 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98104 $6 Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Comedy Womb This “female-focused but not female-exclusive” show includes a headliner and an open-mike segment, in the Grotto underneath the Rendezvous. See comedywomb.com for complete schedule. JewelBox Theater at the Rendezvous, 2322 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121 $5 Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Laughs Stand-up and other comedy. See laughscomedy.com for complete schedule, including open-mike night, 8 p.m. Wed. Laughs Comedy Spot, 12099 124th Ave. N.E., Kirkland, WA 98034 $10-$20 Tuesday, January 12, 2016