Quite a few Christmas holiday films have risen to the level of “classic.” Perhaps the most famous is “Miracle on 34th Street.”  Others include “White Christmas,”  “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Elf” and, of course, “The Santa Clause.”

But “It’s a Wonderful Life” is still the gold standard of celluloid holiday flicks. Crafted by director Frank Capra in 1946, the film doesn’t just memorialize Christmas, it also underscores the importance of every individual on this earth and how tragic this planet would be if just one of them were to have never existed.

Originally slated during the 2021-2022 Broadway in Miami series, Hadestown found itself opening shortly after the end of the previously slated season, the 2022-2023 season, at the Adrienne Arsht Center way down in Miami. As one can guess from the title, this critically-acclaimed musical derives its story from classic Greek myths, but Hades is not the main character. Hadestown is an American folk retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in steampunk railway stations. South Florida Theater boarded the last train and has returned to tell you: “Keep going. Don’t look back.”

Before I begin, it should be noted that I accepted an invitation to go review the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s current production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum sincerely expecting to enjoy it. After all, I have relatively fond memories of the first time I saw the musical in MNM Theatre Company’s 2019 production, and who can ever go wrong with Sondheim, right?

Last July, I got a chance to chat with a few of the Victory Dolls as well as with the group’s producer Kevin Barrett when putting together this piece exploring their impact. But this past Monday is actually the first time I got to see them in action for their Victory Dolls Holiday Show at the Delray Beach Playhouse.

The musical stylings and aesthetics of the Dolls are most heavily inspired by those of the Andrew Sisters, making their opening medley of some of the girl group’s best known songs a great scene-setter. Throughout the show, renditions of 40s hits like these are interspersed with some informational sequences exploring the war-time context that made this music so meaningful to so many, which also feature projections of photographs to illustrate these asides. 

This past weekend was the opening for RED SPEEDO by Lucas Hnath, presented by Ronnie Larson at The Foundry, and directed by Stuart Meltzer. It is a quick 90 minute ride that Hnath has crafted, a morality play set in the world of swimming as Ray, played by Gabriell Salgado, has dedicated his life to the sport and is preparing for the upcoming Olympic qualifier, but it all comes to a possible halt when a cooler full of drugs are found in the swim club refrigerator. Ray tells his coach(Jerry Seeger) they aren’t his, and his brother Peter(Chris Anthony Ferrer) – who has also taken on the role of his manager – voraciously defends him right at the top of the play. That’s how the play starts, with a monologue that doesn’t give you time to sit back as it “drags” on, because it doesn’t. Neither Hnath nor Ferrer give it the chance to. This leads to the rest of the play as to what it means to do good, bad, and if even such a thing exists if we can at least come out happy on the other side.

Cinderella, the timeless tale of a raggedy young woman who uses her beauty, brains and magical intervention from a fairy godmother to help snag a handsome prince, is being retold in sophisticated, elegant and high-tech style through Christmas Eve at the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton.

“This is the most complicated and technical show” performed at the Wick since it opened nine years ago, said Marilynn Wick, executive managing producer. She has pulled together a skilled production team and lots of singers, actors and dancers to make the performance move and shine.