Writing to his 'possums" New York critic Fast Eddy was gobsmacked by the PBS documentary of author Louisa May Alcott. "This beautifully acted documentary (Elizabeth Marvel Plays The Mature Louisa) brings back Louisa, her times, her family and her good friends - both gods in my pantheon -  Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)."

Recently I had a chance to revisit the most spectacular theater experience I’ve ever had. It took place on a weekend in February 2007. Over the course of two days, I experienced all nine hours of The Coast of Utopia, Tom Stoppard’s trilogy on 19th century Russian intellectuals and revolutionaries.

Broadway soprano Rebecca Luker died on Wednesday, Dec. 23 at a Manhattan hospital from A.L.S. Luker received Tony Award nominations for her work in Show Boat, The Music Man, and Mary Poppins. Luker announced in February that doctors diagnosed her with A.L.S. Her last appearance came in June via Zoom.

The Vienna State Opera has recently  streamed their live production of Hans Henze’s The Sea Betrayed, a title translated with the approval of Yukio Mishima, the famed author of the novel on which the opera is based.  The opera premiered in Berlin in May of 1990.  Audiences in this country were not initially attracted when it was produced the following year by the San Francisco opera. The War Memorial Opera House was half empty. The opera is a masterpiece.

Socially-distanced, mask-clad audience members are taking in 'Seven Deadly Sins,' a production of short plays in Miami Beach. Miami New Drama is staging 'Seven Deadly Sins' live and in person, with COVID safety protocols. 'Seven Deadly Sins' runs through Jan. 17 on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road, an outdoor shopping and dining promenade.

Home alone for the holidays. Decorating and cooking for two.

David Bowie's Lazarus. As luck will have it, the London Production, filmed in 2017, is available for streaming from January 8 - January 10.

Ann Reinking died in her sleep at age 71. The late Broadway star's extensive work in musical theater included playing Roxie Hart in 'Chicago.' She performed on Broadway for three decades.

Previously, Denzel Washington produced and co-starred (with Viola Davis) in August Wilson's "Fences." Now he has produced Wilson's "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" with the late Chadwick Boseman. Washington plans to film the other eight plays in Wilson's iconic Pittsburgh or Century Cycle. For the decade of the 1920s Wilson took a side trip to Chicago and a recording session with the Mother of the Blues the great Ma Rainey. The best news is that the new release is available to stream on Netflix. The production is destined for a bundle of nominations during awards season.

Holiday greetings from Allyn Burrows the artistic director of Shakespeare & Company. With hope for a New Year and a lively summer season.

A year like no other, let me wish you a warm home, enough to eat, company however virtual and safety from this deadly virus with the good fortune to come through this plague sometime in 2021 or 2022. Thank you for connecting globally on ZOOM, FaceBook + Messenger video calls.  Erica H. Adams is a photographer, artist and activist who lives on Cape Cod. We regularly enjoy her social media posts that keep us amused and connected.

As an institution that seeks to unite people and communities by celebrating cultural diversity in dance, Jacob’s Pillow has an ongoing responsibility to challenge white supremacy and to disrupt systems of bias and oppression. For the Pillow, this includes bringing under-recognized artists and stories to our stages, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), people with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ artists, as well as increasing support to women choreographers and leaders of companies, and ensuring that people of color who have historically had limited or restricted access have robust opportunities to present, study, and develop work. 

For more than five decades artist Hunt Slonem has been painting and reimagining his obsessive motifs:  butterflies, birds, bunnies, and portraits of Abraham Lincoln, whom he refers to as his Marilyn. Repetition plays a huge role in his work. Excess and extravagance define his life and art.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) today announced $32.8 million in grants to support 213 humanities projects in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

The late Kahlil Gibran created a sculpture for a mini-park in his South End neighborhood. It has been decorated for the holidays with a festive, bright red bow and flowers.

Seasons Greetings and an appeal from Hancock Shaker Village.

Brandeis University has named Gannit Ankori as the Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum, effective January 1, 2021. Ankori, a professor of art history and theory in the departments of Fine Arts and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, has been serving as interim director at the Rose since July 2020.

Faced with a spike in new cases of the coronavirus Mayor Marty Walsh has taken action to flatten the curve. Starting tomorrow categories of businesses and cultural institutions will be closed for the next three weeks. Even with vaccines it is too early to say if there will be business as usual for the arts this summer in the Berkshires.

NCRT latest foray into filmed stage plays which ‘opened’ on December 9th is streaming the play “An Iliad” through January 3, 2021.  The play, freely, adapted, by Lisa Peterson and Denis O’Hare from ancient Greek playwright Homer, creates a modern dress production of Homer’s “Iliad’.  Deftly directed by savvy NCRT artistic director David Ellenstein, “An Iliad” stars award winning actor Richard Baird in a powerful, mesmerizing, tour-de-force, performance that leaves the streaming home audience in a state of awe.

The Irish Repertory Theatre has brought superb streamed theatre to the public this fall. Their most recent production, streaming now, is Meet Me in St. Louis. It is just the right champagne for the holiday season.

Virtual theater has come in many forms during the last eight pandemic months. Our most recent theater review was actor/clown Bill Irwin’s new version of his bravura performance of On Beckett adapted for livestreaming by Irish Repertory Theatre. In this article, we look at how virtual theater is faring in Chicago and beyond.

For the first time in its 44-year history, American Conservatory Theater’s holiday tradition, A Christmas Carol, comes to life as a radio play.

Norm Lewis: Christmastime Is Here premieres Thursday, December 17 at 8PM and streams on demand through December 31. It is part of the 54 Below Premieres series. Previously he co stared with Audra McDonald in Porgy and Bess at American Repertory Theatre.  

Tony Award-winning Broadway actor Jefferson Mays plays more than 50 characters in an online streaming version of A Christmas Carol. This production is a filmed version of Geffen Playhouse's 2018 production. Streaming continues thru early January.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), is pleased to announce the first round of Spark Grants of $2,500 each to eleven artists with whom Barrington Stage Company has either collaborated with on past work or looks forward to collaborating with in the future. Each recipient was awarded the grant under the single condition that the money be used to spark the artist’s creativity.