WATERBURY'S SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE WELCOMES 2025 WITH LAUGHTER

What better way to end 2024 and welcome in 2025 than with laughter! Waterbury’s Seven Angels Theatre has booked a trio of comedians straight from the Big Apple for just such an auspicious occasion on Tuesday, December 31 and please consider yourself cordially invited to either the 5 p.m. or 8 p.m. performances, with a glass of complimentary champagne to toast either after the 5 p.m. show or before the 8 p.m. show. Welcome 2025 in style.

Plan to spend New Year’s Eve at Seven Angels Stand Up Countdown: Comedy Night. Leading the merry parade is one of Seven Angels’ favorite mistress of ceremonies Michelle Gotay, who just finished another stint as the hilarious Earlene Babcock, the proprietress of Pottsville’s jovial diner, tavern, motel and cabaret. For more than three decades, Michelle has put on her special entertainment hats as a variety of humor divas and pushed her extraordinary envelope to all kinds of outrageous lengths. She is sure to punch up her emcee talents to hysterical limits.

Joining her will be headliner Steve Shaffer known for clean humor and popularity on college campuses, country clubs, cruise ships and corporate retreats. His credits include dozens of comedy television gigs and appearances with such stars as George Carlin, Paul Anka and The Beach Boys.

A regular on the Seven Angels stage will be John Iavarone, hailing from the Bronx, who has been described in one big word: honest and original and animated. Whether he is appearing at comedy clubs or casinos, his audiences find him hysterically funny and you will surely do too.

Completing the comic lineup, come meet Rich Francese, a man with a sure fire delivery, a fast improvisational style and the ability to spit out great original material. His writing for Colin Quinn as a full time staff member led to him being described by Quinn: “Rich is one of the greatest minds in popular comedy” and by Conan O’Brian as “a truly accomplished triple threat.” High praise indeed, a “must see.”

For tickets ($50), call Seven Angels Theatre, 1 Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at boxoffice@sevenangelstheatre.org.

Don’t miss this great and glorious opportunity to start off 2025 with a smile in your heart and a hearty laugh on your lips…both with the delicious flavor of champagne.

GOODSPEED MUSICALS HAS A FESTIVAL FOR YOU IN JANUARY!

If skiing or iceskating, sledding or snowman building aren’t on your list of requirements for winter activities, then please consider joining me at an indoor event that rocks my personal world, one where blazing excitement reigns supreme. For the nineteenth year, Goodspeed Musicals is once again bringing new and innovative musical theater to the stage, this year for the weekend of Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19. Due to renovations at Goodspeed in East Haddam, the Festival of New Musicals will be held at The Terris Theatre just down the street in the charming town of Chester.

Over the years, this festival has launched fifty new musicals to Broadway and the world on this winter weekend of panel discussions, seminars, new musicals and cabarets, showcasing the future of musical theater with staged readings, like the wildly successful “Come From Away.” First up is "R & J: Fire on the Bayou” at 7:30 p.m. Friday at The Terris, conceived by Kevin Ramsey, adapted by Kevin Ramsey and Nygel D. Robinson, with music and lyrics by Kevin Ramsey and Nygel D. Robinson. Set in modern day Mardi Gras, welcome R & J to the stage for a jazz-and-blues flavored romantic score that embellishes New Orleans and transforms this age old tragedy to today’s times. How will these star-crossed lovers fare among modern beads and baubles, costumes and chaos?

Following at 10:30 p.m. is Oliver Houser’s musical the “Wunderkind” about a young American Jewish piano prodigy searching to escape his father’s stranglehold grip on his future in order to establish his personal and individual musical voice. Can he become free of these bonds, find forgiveness and redemption to become who he needs to be?

On Saturday from 1 p.m to 4:30 p.m., the Chester Meeting House at 4 Liberty Street, two blocks from the Terris, will host an exclusive Gold Package Event of festival seminars. With book, music and lyrics by Bonnie Gleicher at 7:30 p.m. at The Terris, get ready for “Oy Band,” when a quartet of Orthodox Jewish girls from Brooklyn encounter a regulation that prohibits them from performing in front of men due to their age and sex. To enter this now forbidden world, they disguise themselves as a boy band and risk their future or, perhaps, allow themselves to claim it.

At 10 p.m. at The Terris, come welcome Singapore’s singer and songwriter Cheeyang Ng in “Legendary” as he takes us on a journey of discovery to a new land alone with little possessions, attempting to prove that it is a worthwhile flight. His immigrant, Asian and queer loss and acceptance will be illuminating.

The final entry into this year’s festival has book, music and lyrics by Nevada Lozano at 1 p.m. Sunday with “The Carol of the Bells,” a special occasion and the most favorite of the Bell family. Unique circumstances may doom this Christmas celebration to be the very last one and Silver, the youngest daughter, is set on reuniting the whole family for the best one ever.

Meet the writers for questions and answers will follow at 3:30 p.m., an exclusive Gold Package event, when the composers of all three musicals will talk about their inspirations. For $125, you can purchase the Gold Package for tickets to all three musicals, three seminars, both cabarets and Meet the Writers. The $75 Silver Package includes all three staged readings, while add ons for $20 include the Friday and Saturday night cabarets. Single tickets can be purchased for the staged readings, $30 adult, $15 students and cabarets $20. Call 860-878-8668.

VIP seating and special perks are yours if you become A Friend of the Festival, with a special Kick off Cocktail Party to meet writers and performers, Sunday Brunch with students special recognition and select festival rehearsals, all for $500. Contact Yz Josa at yz@goodspeed.org or 860-873-8668, ext.333.

Forget the snow balls and winter gear and plan to stay toasty and warm as you let the Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals, this year in Chester at The Terris Theatre, entertain you royally with the newest musical theatre offerings on the planet.

MYSTERY AND MAGIC ABOUND IN TALE OF SCROOGE AND SHERLOCK AT WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE

Artistic Director and playwright/director Mark Shanahan at Westport Country Playhouse has cleverly combined two classic tales,Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tale of Sherlock Holmes, detective extraordinaire, into one delightful production. What a coincidence…they both begin with a death in the first line: “Marley was dead to begin with” and “Moriarty was dead to begin with.” Both men are clearly dead as a doornail and will stay so until Sunday, December 22.

The similarities don’t end there. No Sir! The major figures in “A Christmas Carol” like Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Dr. Watson, Cratchit, The Fezziwigs, Mrs. Dilber and a few others pay visits to Sherlock Holmes and continue their journeys in a new place, a place where dastardly deeds may just happen.

Kudos to Mr. Shanahan and Westport Country Playhouse who opened this novel literary door to 221B Baker Street, London where a skeptical Sherlock (Drew McVety) finds himself in a most haunting of ghost tales, especially when he firmly believes there are no such creatures as spirits. Once again it’s Christmas Eve and our old friend Tiny Tim, now all grown up, shows up at Sherlock Holmes’s house to beg the great detective to solve a peculiar murder: the death of Ebenezer Scrooge (Byron St. Cyr). Will the ghosts of past, present and future appear? Of course!

What do you get when you combine a mystery with some ghosts and a heartwarming family holiday story? Just ask writer and director Mark Shanahan where his new play “A Sherlock Carol” will be playing until Sunday, December 22 how it all came to pass. To Shanahan, Charles Dickens wrote the best ghost story ever, calling it "astounding.” He combined that love with an admiration for the old Basil Rathbone movies starring that great detective Sherlock Holmes that his dad took him to when he was a child growing up in New York’s East Village.

Fortuitively, he has mixed these two favorite characters together into a holiday play for the whole family to enjoy, ages 7 and up. He likens it to "a dinner party, inviting friends from different social circles…and hoping like heck they’d get along.” To that end, he has placed these iconic characters by Doyle and Dickens in a new inventive stage mystery.

Come see such unique innovations as a talking door knocker, the spooky elements that resonate throughout, a reimagined holiday classic, a murder mystery set in London in 1894, the deaths of two famous characters like Holmes’ great enemy Professor James Moriarty and, unexpectedly, Ebenezer Scrooge. Can Holmes follow the clues to find the dastardly perpetrator or is he doomed to become the town's new miser himself? How will a grown-up Tiny Tim, now a doctor and Scrooge’s benefactor, influence the outcome? Come meet Joe Delafield as Dr. Watson and others, Dan Domingues as Crotchet and others Isabel Keating as the Countess and others and Sharone Sayegh as Emma Watson and others.

Also playing a huge part in writing the play, Shanahan was intrigued by the mission of Paul Newman’s The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp created in Ashford, Connecticut in 1988 to serve children with serious illnesses. Newman established a special place, a wonderful and free camping experience that is now in many places around the world. Donations to the camp and to the Westport Home with Hope food pantry drive will be benefactors from the production. Patrons are also encouraged to take a photo in the lobby at Sherlock Holmes' house, 221B Baker Street, London.

Shanahan was inspired to envision Tiny Tim as “someone with a little help from a certain benefactor, who battled illness and went on to help others do the same. Just like Scrooge did, we can all keep Christmas in our hearts throughout the year by donating to these remarkable organizations.”

For tickets ($35-80, students call the box office for discounted tickets), call the Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport, off route 1 at 203-227-4177 or online at www.westportplayhouse.org. Performances are today-Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Bring the family to the Westport Country Playhouse for a novel look at two classic tales with all the mystery and magic that the Christmas holiday demands.

"THE UGLY X-MAS SWEATER MUSICAL" GLOWS AT PLAYHOUSE ON PARK

Do you own an ugly holiday sweater or at least one that has been judged as barely wearable in public? If so, you are clad appropriately for Playhouse on Park’s northeast coast premiere of the current clever dancing and singing offering “The Ugly X-mas Sweater Musical.” Until Sunday, December 22, the singing and dancing will continue at the corporate office of the American Regalia Uniforms Company. Michelle Jennings’s head of Human Resources Cheryl is upset, anxious, disturbed, angry, frustrated, out-of-control and panicked that her beloved company may close its doors forever.

Knitted tightly together by Dan Knechtges and Megan Larche Dominick, based on an idea by Dan Knechtges, this is a wildly different take on the holidays. Cheryl is in trouble and clearly at the wrong time of year: Christmas. She is genuinely alarmed that all her trusty employees will lose their jobs and she won’t be able to save them from a dreaded enemy in the personage of Laura Yen Solito's Olga, a German villain who holds all their fates in her greedy hands.

To add to the company’s trauma its current CEO has absconded to Tahiti with all the funds and double crossed his crew, Jef Canter’s Charlie, Miles Messier’s Ben, Marcel Werder’s Doug/Niles and Cheron Whittley’s Misty/Kelli. He blames his divorce for all his problems. How will Cheryl save the day or can she? What new idea for a uniform can they create when Olga is snapping her whip of authority? With sheer creativity and imagination magically materialize the solution?

The team needs a crew of elves faster than you can say “candy cane creations” three times over, plus a troupe of volunteers from the audience to hop on board to model their Christmas clothing innovations, some ugly holiday sweaters if you will. With the trio of rules of construction, fitting and runway, and classic ideas like gingerbread, figgy pudding, heavenly bodies like angels, shake-shake-shake your snowglobes, evergreen trees and stocking stuffers, with the help of the audience a solution might be magically discovered. Hallelujah!

For tickets ($45-55, discount for senior, military, students), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext. 10 or online at www.playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m followed by a talkback. The lobby has many ugly sweaters on display as well as a cabinet cubbyhole to purchase new innovative creations to take home.

Get into the Christmas spirit by donning a colorful version of woolen, tinsel, reindeer, candy cane, or ornamental finery to proclaim your holiday happiness. And if you are invited to an ugly Christmas sweater contest, you just might win a prize.

SEVEN ANGELS THEATRE WELCOMES YOU TO "LAST CALL FOR CHRISTMAS AT EARLENE'S DINER"

There’s always some exciting doings at Earlene’s Friendly Diner, Motel and Cabaret, at least for the last fifty years, in Pottsville, especially at Christmas time and this year is no exception. The only new situation is that our jolly, happy proprietress, Earlene Babcock, is depressed and a sudden blizzard on Christmas Eve is not helping. Her precious business property is being threatened to be taken away after decades of family enterprises and may soon close forever. Earlene is about to give up and move to live with her Aunt Louise and close a huge door in her enterprising and fully satisfying life forever. Thanks to the Winter Community Stage of Seven Angels Theatre in Waterbury, you’re cordially invited to join Michelle Gotay as the endearing Earlene in “Last Call for Christmas at Earlene’s Diner” until Sunday, December 22 for one merry holiday of fun and festivities, as written and directed by Artistic Director Semina DeLaurentis.

Due to an excess of snow, Earlene is ready to do just about anything to be cheered up. The cast of the Sarah Day television show has been sidetracked and finds itself stranded at Earlene’s unable to reach its destination and Earlene finds herself a reluctant master of ceremonies. The show’s director Marcia Maslo’s Suzie Devine runs a tight sleigh and pushes the cast to produce, produce, produce, singing, dancing, telling jokes, and even making prize winning fruitcake. While the broken truck for transportation is being repaired, the talented cast from little ones to seniors works hard and with spirit to get the television show produced, from “We Need a Little Christmas,” I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” “I Wish You a Merry Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “My Favorite Things,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and a new unique version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” all like a string of holiday lights. In between we have a Grinch chasing Santa, a visit from Elvis, a cautionary tale about falling in love with an elf, traditional hymns like “Silent Night” and “Mary, Did You Know?" and old favorites like "Winter Wonderland” and a Hawaiian tribute to the holiday in grass skirts.

Along the way, old theater favorites like Jimmy Donohue as Sam, Timothy Cleary as Santa, Joyce Follo Jeffrey as Priscilla, and Tom Chute asTommie keep the merriment jumping, with a whole troupe of community players enthusiastically participating.

For tickets ($30 and 35, children under 18 $20, 4 pack adults save $20), call Seven Angels Theatre, Plank Road, Waterbury at 203-757-4676 or online at SevenAngelsTheatre.org. Performances are Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Watch for the specialty nights before certain shows. Now is the time to reserve your seat for the Stand Up Countdown! New Year’s Eve Comedy Night on Tuesday, December 31 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. with Michelle Gotay as host and comedians Steve Shaffer, John Iavarone and Rich Francese ready and anxious to bring you laughter.

Gallop into the holiday spirit thanks to Earlene and her wreath of friends to make your Christmas 2024 extra special.

LONG WHARF THEATRE OFFERS EARLY VALENTINE IN MUSICAL "SHE LOVES ME"

It may be a little early for Valentine’s Day but Long Wharf Theatre has recreated a sweet, old fashioned slice of romance that is sure to gladden your heart and please your heart strings. Unrest may be evident in 1937 Austria as the historic horror of World War II looms on the horizon, but in one elegant perfumery in Budapest there is an abundance of unrest among the employees. Written originally by a Hungarian playwright, “She Loves Me” is a delightfully tender musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick that has enjoyed many iterations over the years. It has resurfaced as a 1940 film "The Shop Around the Corner,” a 1949 musical version “In the Good Old Summertime” and then the more modern take, with emails, the 1998 Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie “You’ve Got Mail.”

Now Long Wharf Theatre, at its community location at The Lab at ConnCORP in Hamden in honor of its 60th anniversary, has masterfully and magically, thanks to Artistic Director and production director Jacob G. Padron, produced one of the originals for a triumphant revisit that is guaranteed to please, now extended until Sunday, December 30. “She Loves Me” takes place in a perfume shop, where dedicated clerks provide creams and lotions, and all manner of cosmetics to the local establishment, with shoppers like Jacob Heimer, Kara Mikula, Aurelia Williams and Sumi Yu. Everyone at Maraczek’s gets along beautifully, like scented powder on silken skin, except for Julius Thomas III’s Mr. Nowack and Alicia Kaori’s Miss Balash who clash instantaneously upon first encountering each other at work.

Miss Amalia Balash has just proven her worth to the shop owner, Raphael Nash Thompson, to hire her after convincing a customer to purchase a cigarette case that it’s really a musical candy box, one that sings “no more candy” each time it is opened. It earns her a job on the spot and that is when her conflicts with Mr. Nowack begin. What neither of them realize it that they have been each other’s secret pen pals in a lonely-hearts club and have been writing to each other as “Dear Friends” for months.

The plot skips along as Mariand Torres’s Miss Ritter carries on an affair with the fast talking clerk, Graham Stevens’s Mr. Kodaly, the aging Danny Bolero’s Mr.Sipos fears for the security of his job, the young delivery boy Felix Torrez-Ponce’s Arpad Laszlo wants desperately to advance his position to clerk and Mr. Maraczek receives an unsigned letter that his wife is carrying on with one of his employees. Musical scenes like “Tonight at Eight,” “Will He Like Me?," “Try Me,” “Where’s My Shoe,” “Vanilla Ice Cream,” ”Twelve Days of Christmas” and “She Loves Me” are wonderfully rendered, with the help of a small band on stage.

For tickets ($49 and up), call the Long Wharf box office at 203-693-1486 or online at longwharf.org/events/she-loves-me. Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. From Thursday, December 26 to Monday, December 30 tickets will be the gift of $1.

Delight in this musical love story that fills your heart with joy, as this wonderful cast takes you on a romantic adventure that turns out so beautifully pleasing.The only thing that could have improved it would be if the audience received a small cup of vanilla ice cream and wooden spoon, from chidhood memories, at the start of the second act to share the treat with Amalia.

MTC WRAPS UP "IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS" AS A DELIGHTFUL HOLIDAY GIFT

Think of a giant snow globe of winter wonderland you can shake and you have an idea why ”Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” is so magical.

Do you have room on your holiday wish list? If so, be sure to add the Music Theatre of Connecticut's delightful present of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas." Just in time to usher in the New Year, it will play until Sunday, December 22, and what better way to begin 2025. In 1954, “White Christmas” was made into a movie of the same name starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen. Now it is coming to the stage in all its sentimental glory, with book by David Ives and Paul Blake.

Irving Berlin, the immigrant son of a Russian cantor, wrote a significant portion of America’s Songbook. Capable of composing one song, music and lyrics, every day, he would begin writing at 8 p.m. and frequently continue until 4 or 5 in the morning. Ironically, Berlin, a Jew, is credited with two of the greatest holiday songs, “Easter Parade” and the world favorite “White Christmas,” as well as with the grand patriotic anthem “God Bless America.”

The stirring musical, “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” is set when the world was struggling with the repercussions of World War II. It tells the tale of two charming and talented soldiers, as Bob Wallace(Josh Powell)and his pal Phil Davis,(Derek Luscutoff) who enjoy entertaining the troops with a holiday variety show. This song-and-dance team continues their act after the war and meet up with a singing sister duo, (Elena Ramos Pascullo) as Betty Haynes and (Elissa DeMaria) as hersister Judy. About to part company, the guys heading to Florida to work and the girls going north, a swift change of train tickets finds all four at an inn in Vermont for Christmas.

A lack of snowfall, a need for guests, a little romance, an avalanche of singing and dancing and a reunion with General Waverly, played by Scott Mikita from their army days, all combine into a whirlwind of fun. Songs like "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep," "Sisters," "Blue Skies" and "White Christmas" are all guaranteed crowd pleasers, especially with the whirlwind of dancing feet thanks to Mallory Davis, choreographer and eoaborate costuming by Diane Vanderkroef.

The show is a big movie musical that will make you feel good and smile throughout. It was originally written when the country was in bad shape and needed to feel better and be entertained, a situation not so different today. Kevin Connors directs this sparkling show, with an adorable Ella Cahill shining as the General’s granddaughter, as well as Quinten Patrick Busey as Ralph Sheldrake and Kirsti Carnahan as Martha Watson. Can his battalion save the General's inn? They can sure give it a four star try.

For tickets ($50-60), call the Music Theatre of CT, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk at or online at admin@musictheatreofct.com to check the wait list.. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m.on December 19, Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m. December 15. Now is the time to contribute to the annual appeal to help MTC reach their financial goals for the 35th season.

End your 2024 on a high note or start 2025 with a bang by making the MTC your stepping off point for a joyous holiday celebration with enough music and dance to fill an inn in Vermont to the brim of exciting entertainment.

THE HARTFORD BUSHNELL HAS A THRILLER: "MJ THE MUSICAL" UNTIL DECEMBER 15

Turn your entertainment clocks back more than three decades to a time when Michael Jackson was “thrilling” audiences as only this unique, accomplished and unparalleled icon of the stage could. "The King of Pop,” Michael Joseph Jackson was a bigger than life legend for virtually all of his fifty one years of incredible verve, vitality and vigor. His distinctive style was evident from the time he was a mere six years old, debuting in 1964 with his four older brothers as a member of the Jackson 5. He quickly became lead singer before he launched his solo career as an American singer, songwriter, dancer and philanthropist. Along the way to world fame he became a controversial figure, cloaked in speculation and puzzlement due to his lifestyle and often bizarre behavior.

To relive all the hype and highlights of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, moonwalk backwards to Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts until Sunday, December 15 for “MJ The Musical.” This Tony Award winning electrifying creation is by Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage. Definitely one of a kind, with no danger of cloning or reproduction, Michael Jackson had millions of magical moves that marked him as a master of his craft.

Michael Jackson’s legacy keeps growing, even earning him more after his death. The show focuses on who he became to satisfy his fans, sharing with them all his fantastic folklore. Watch Michael Jackson spring to an electrifying existence with mountains of moves characteristically his own and with songs on his lips that stir the soul. Witness the magical tour destined to benefit his Heal the World Foundation, with the goal of raising $100,000,000 for children and ecology across the globe, to take care of the planet and its children.

Despite his trials and triumphs, no one can dispute that Michael Jackson was a larger than life legend that gave much to the world, but his goal of perfection became a giant obstacle along the way. His lasting powerful presence made him refuse the ideas of any one, especially his father, over his own. Jamaal Fields-Green is outstanding as the star.

For tickets ($39 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capital Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances, for those 8 years and older, are Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

Grab a white glove, his trademark hat, and get your legs in limber mode gyrating in moves known around the world over of Michael Jackson’s life, never experienced by another performer before or since. Let the Technicolor neon lights projection carry you to a new dimension of excitement.

COME FOLLOW "DOROTHY'S CHRISTMAS IN OZ" THANKS TO PANTOCHINO PRODUCTIONS

In 1939 the world met and fell in love with a little lass from Kansas named Dorothy and her sweet pup Toto and the adoration has never stopped more than eight decades later. L. Frank Baum’s American fairy tale about witches, both good and bad, adventures down a mysterious yellow brick road, Munchkins and monkeys, a scarecrow who wants a brain, a tin man who craves a heart and a lion who needs courage, a Wonderful Wizard of Oz and a pair of valuable magical ruby slippers have fascinated millions. Now thanks to Pantochino Productions, you are invited to visit Dorothy and Toto and her Aunt Em for a new adventure “Dorothy’s Christmas in Oz” at the Milford Arts Center until Sunday, December 22. Just click your heels and you will be instantly transported there.

As always, this is an original creation, conceived by Bert Bernardi for delightful book and lyrics, Justin Rugg for inspiring music, Jimmy Johansmeyer for fantastic costuming, and a world of greenery in the set designed by Von Del Mar. Come meet Ella Bedenbaugh’s insistent Dorothy who is sure she doesn’t want to spend Christmas in boring Kansas, she wants to travel by any means possible to the fascinating land of Oz where her mother, Mary Mannix, had such incredible adventures long ago.

Before you can say “Glinda, Linda, Glinda” three times fast, Dorothy gets her wish and finds herself in the company of Jimmy Johansmeyer’s Scarecrow praying for a brain, Justin Rugg’s Tin Man yearning for a heart and Killian Meehan wanting to summons up some courage. Soon Valerie Solli’s Aunt Em and her daughter Dorothy, still Mary Mannix, are on her trail to protect her, before they even discover that the Wicked Witch of the West, a scary Shelley Marsh Poggio, kidnaps young Dorothy in the hopes of stealing her ruby slippers. Watch for the Wizard, Davis Burkem and the special guest Don Poggio to appear. Justin Amaro, Chad Celini, Katie Durham and Leanne Onofrio will also add to the fun.

Have no fear, however, as the good witch Glinda, a stylish Victoria Sautee, and her daughter Brennan Simonelli as well as another good witch Linda from the North Pole, Maria Berte, are all ready to protect any one in danger. Tunes like “There Ain’t No Christmas No More,” “There’s No Place Like Christmas,” “We Believe” and the Wicked Witch’s rant “My Pretty” carry the action merrily along.

For tickets ($35), go to pantochino.com. Remember this is cabaret so bring goodies to share at your table. The show is at The MAC, 40 Railroad Avenue, Milford Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Invite Dorothy to your Christmas celebration and cheer her on as she works to make her wishes come true for a big party in the land of Oz.

"CHRISTMAS ON THE ROCKS" GOES DOWN SMOOTHLY WITH LAUGHTER AT THEATERWORKS HARTFORD

If you give it some thought, I’m sure you can recall one or three or a dozen favorite characters from Christmas song and story from when you were a child, like Frosty the Snowman or that cute Red Nosed Reindeer. Wouldn’t you like to know where they are now, how they grew up, and if they are still inspiring Christmas cheer?

They were your heroes and heroines of Christmas lore long past. Thanks to a classic series of vignettes courtesy of Hartford TheaterWorks, “Christmas on the Rocks” reappears for its annual viewing for the twelfth inspired time until Sunday, December 22. This is Hartford TheaterWorks’s traditional gift to the theater community and it has been a comic delight for years and years in a row. The ingenious concept of Producing Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero, it involves the original creative genius of seven playwrights whose works have been produced here on stage. Each has selected a favorite Christmas character, like Tiny Tim and Scrooge and Charlie Brown, and fashioned a visit to a local bar on Christmas Eve to tell their story.

It’s high time to belly up to the bar If you've ever wondered if Tiny Tim got to throw away his crutches or if Scrooge really had his hard heart melted in a vat of milk chocolate. Every year the vignettes change but be reassured that "Christmas on the Rocks” is likely the perfect theatrical gift to give yourself.

Have you ever cared how they have fared? Have the years been kind or cruel? Are there any surprises in their life plans? The minute you step into the friendly neighborhood tavern on Christmas Eve, the fun begins. Midge, Barbie’s BFF confesses she is no longer relevant and has been replaced. Boo woo! But have no fear, the new visitors will knock themselves out to be great company.

The bar’s friendly bartender, a genial Richard Kline of theatrical fame is prepared to listen to a series of tales of woe. up first is Kevin who believes he made his whole family disappear when they go off on vacation and leave him “home alone.” As told by Matthew Wilkas, Kevin is now an enthusiastic security system expert with a bag of death and boogy traps, ready to catch the latest gang, the Stinky Bandits. Can he sell Larry, the bartender on his scary wares?

One of the newest members of the Christmas season is a little creature that sits in your home, anywhere it is placed and tries to spy on your children to see if they are nice or naughty. Come meet the truly acrobatic Elf on the Shelf, the creation of Jenn Harris, her personal “Snitch.” Come be amazed by her gyrations as she jumps and flies to impossible heights.

To experience the quality of Jeffrey Hatcher's humor, come meet an elf who feels he is a misfit and just wants to belong in "Say It Glows.” Hermie wants to be a dentist and perform root canals, not be stuck in Santa’s workshop making toys. He clearly has a thing about Rudolph and his shiny nose and may just be heading for a breakdown over his past guilty deeds.

Jenn Harris and Matthew Wilkas proclaim “My Name is KAREN!” as the cartoon girl Karen enters the bar with a hair dryer. She takes full credit for creating Frosty the Snowman and equally gleeful credit for his demise. The police are at the door and her arrest may be imminent. Go, Karen, go!

A little religious commentary intrudes when Judy Gold and Jacques Lamarre introduce “Drumsticks and Chill” where we discover that Jews love Christmas, even more than Chanukah.The Little Drummer Boy has been traumatized with his extreme drum playing and is now trying to recover and just chill out. Will he succeed? "Still Nuts About Him" by Edwin Sanchez focuses his talents on Clara, the ballerina, who is now married to the Nutcracker, her personal and infuriating czar of love. She fears he is cheating on her and uses her toy nutcracker to annihilate all the bar nuts in the tavern. Last but certainly not least, Jacques Lamarre is serving up "Merry Christmas, Blockhead.” Here he is the psychiatrist/coach/love counselor for Charlie Brown and the little red haired girl of his youth. Good grief, the evening ends on a sweet and sentimental note. All the female roles are portrayed by Jen Cody and the male roles by Harry Buoy and, with Richard Kline tending bar, they are all wonderful. Director Rob Ruggiero keeps the insanity and laughs rolling merrily along. For tickets ($20-78), call Hartford TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at www.twhartford.org. Performances are Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. For a cynical, quirky and sentimental look at Christmases past, let "Christmas on the Rocks" serve you a flavorful cocktail of tasty potent potables.

BRANFORD'S LEGACY THEATRE WELCOMES A MUSICAL "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" UNTIL DECEMBER 15

The holiday of Christmas is a wonderful time to honor gratitude and good deeds. to celebrate all we are thankful for and to make family gatherings a joyous time for all that is truly special in our lives.

The Legacy Theatre of Branford will joyfully welcome the holiday season once again with “A Christmas Carol” adapted from the classic by Charles Dickens, with original music by Keely Baisden Knudsen and David Bell, who also directs the music, until Sunday December 15. Gather the whole family for this traditional holiday favorite. Its length is a perfect way to introduce little ones to the wonders of the theater.

As Charles Dickens has previously warned Ebenezer Scrooge, he has really worked hard to earn the titles as the crankiest, crabbiest curmudgeon during the Christmas season. As the "bah humbug king,” Scrooge reeks with mean spiritedness. That is until he is forced to reexamine his life and his deeds with the help of the personages of a trio of ghosts. This is after a timely visit from his old business partner Jacob Marley, (Christopher Lemieux) who was dead as a doornail lo these last seven years and is eager to save Scrooge from his own tragic fate. Has he arrived in time?

Come meet Rod Brogan’s Ebenezer Scrooge as he happily counts his coins and denies giving charity to help the orphaned and poor, tries to deny his employee Bob Cratchit (Josiah Rowe) a proper day off to observe Christmas and refuses the kind invitation of his nephew Fred (Dan Frye) to spend dinner at his home. Brogan is wonderfully and definitely awful as the dastardly downer of the delightful day. What a lot he has to learn, and so quickly!

When the ghosts appear to do their seemingly impossible magic, the Ghost of Christmas Past (Christine Voytko), the Ghost of Christmas Present (Christopher Lemieux), and the most fearful of all, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Indiana Weaver), Scrooge is forced to reckon with all the mistakes he made in his life. With the help of Fan (Kiersten Bjork) his love from the past, the heartfelt needs of Tiny Tim (Reeves Knudsen), the loving concerns of Tiny Tim’s older sister (Viviana Knudsen),the musical skills of the Clock Chime Singers (Kiersten Bjork and Epiphany Meeks) and the happy arrival of the Boy who announces it is still Christmas Day (Reeves Knudsen), the redemption of Ebenezer is complete.

Keely Baisden Knudsen lovingly directs this special production, with original costuming by June Gold and even more by Jimmy Johansmeyer, original choreography by Jennifer Buonfiglio, and scenic and lighting design by Jamie Burnett.

For tickets ($26.50-51.50), call the Legacy, 128 Thimble Islands Road, Branford at 203-315-1901 or online at LegacyTheatreCT.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Thursday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., and Saturday, December 14 at 11 a.m. Watch for the announcement of a series of seven Broadway Concerts coming soon on Sundays.

Witness the magical transformation of Ebenezer as he learns the true meaning of the holiday spirit and embraces it with a whole and grateful heart. We can all bask in his wonderful redemption and appreciate the holiday even more.

DOWNTOWN CABARET OF BRIDGEPORT CREATES A HOLIDAY ROMP WITH "SANTA STORY 2" UNTIL DECEMBER 29

Everybody knows that Santa Claus has a special list for boys and girls who are Nice and Naughty so he knows which deserve toys or lumps of coal. But did you know that there’s one person who is keeping a list on Santa Claus and is judging him definitely not Nice and decidedly Naughty. It seems when Santa stopped on his travels last Christmas to eat the regulatory cookies and milk, he took a big bite of the Gingerbread Man’s leg and now Jimmy, a convincing Ashley DePascale, has to walk with a candy cane cane and Jimmy, also known as Jelly Bean when he gets a job at Santa’s workshop, is out for revenge. He has changed his name to a sweet Jelly Bean but his intention is clear.

Thanks to the Downtown Cabaret of Bridgeport you are invited to witness the shenanigans that Jimmy has plotted to show Santa the errors of his ways in “Santa Story 2” written, directed and choreographed by Carly Jurman who also manages to inhabit Mrs. Kringle too. Jimmy is plotting and scheming to exact his idea of punishment for the Big Man. Weekends until December 29, you can get into the Christmas spirit even if it is a little unnice, as Mr and Mrs. Clause, Andrea Pane and Carly Jurman, go off on a Hawaiian vacation, and Santa’s trusty elves, Jolly and Joy, Josh Devellis and Emily Pisarra, are left in charge of Santa’s workshop and soon find themselves up to their Christmas stockings in Jimmy’s hijinxs, Did I forget to mention there is a winter blizzard ranging at the North Pole and Eddie the Yeti, Karen Hanley, is out to do some damage?

Will the big guy’s Christmas celebration be ruined? Will Santa drive his sleigh that night? Will the distraught cookie enlist his friends to join him in his holiday ruining scheme? What will happen when Jolly and Joy find themselves in New York City trying to save the day? Will Santa or Kris Kringle as he is also known be back at the North Pole to deliver the toys the elves have diligently made for all the good little boys and girls? So many questions and so little time to answer them.

In amazing Technicolor magic, with wonderful projections by Sasha Mishaman to add to the excitement, come dreams of pumpkin pies, tinsel, stockings on the fireplace, candy canes, one important broken gift wrapping machine, wreaths, decorated trees, dancing Rockkettes, a pregnant Mrs. Kringle, gumdrops, laughter, Christmas joy, and a long overdue message of forgiveness. There is definitely something for everyone in the family at this new version of Christmas merriment.

For tickets ($ 33-39), call the Downtown Cabaret, 263 Golden Hill Street, Bridgeport at 203-576-1636 or online at tickets@mycabaret.org. Performances are Saturdays at noon and 2:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., plus at noon on December 15 and 22. Don’t forget this is cabaret so bring goodies and drinks to enjoy at your table or plan to buy them at the concession stand in the lobby. Bring a dollar or a five or ten to play lucky bucks and win a gift certificate to a future performance. Remember we all “Need a Little Christmas” and this show will deliver it in red, green and gold glory. Come cheer on the elves as they work hard to save the most fun of festivities Christmas from one very angry Gingerbread Man.