It’s the final weekend for several holiday productions, with the following shows closing on Sunday: Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere has been doing extremely well for Know Theatre; the hilariously interactive Evening with Groucho at the Cincinnati Playhouse’s Shelterhouse is wrapping up; and Footlighters’ staging of The Great American Trailer Park Christmas Musical gives its final performances at the Stained Glass Theatre in Newport. There’s one more week for Annie (Covedale Center for the Performing Arts); Ensemble Theatre’s The Dancing Princesses continues through Dec. 30 and the Cincinnati Playhouse’s production of A Christmas Carol will be onstage through Dec. 31.
Next week you might consider catching The Naughty List, OTR Improv’s holiday offering on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays through Dec. 28, at Arnold’s Bar & Grill in Downtown Cincinnati or Cincinnati’s Shakespeare’s 12th season for Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some) at its new Over-the-Rhine venue. (It opens next Thursday.) Both offer entertaining evenings — but not for anyone still believing in Santa Claus.
If you missed the recent engagement of A Christmas Story’s tour that was at the Aronoff through last Sunday, you can watch a live televised version of the show telling the story of nine-year-old Ralphie and his hopes to receive an air rifle for Christmas. It airs locally on WXIX-TV 19 on Sunday evening, 7-10 p.m. The broadcast production features two new songs by composer Benj Pasek and lyricist Justin Paul, who’ve become well known for their Broadway hit Dear Evan Hansen and their Oscar-winning song “City of Stars” for the movie La La Land. Two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick will be the show’s narrator
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
