Today’s Highlights:
Death on the Nile, adapted by Ken Ludwig, directed by Hana S. Sharif, featuring Felicia Curry (Annabelle Pennington), Eric Hissom (Sir Septimus Troy), Nancy Robinette (Salomé Otterbourne), and Sumié Yotsukura (Rosalie Otterbourne), Olivia Cygan (Linnet Ridgeway), Armando Durán (Hercule Poirot), Katie Kleiger (Jacqueline de Bellefort), Jamil A.C. Mangan (Colonel Race), Ryan Michael Neely (Ramses Praed), Robert Santon (Atticus Praed), and Travis Van Winkle (Simon Doyle), opens at DC’s Arena Stage.
Mrs. Dilber’s Christmas Carol, by Arthur M. Jolly, directed by Michael Houston, featuring Bita Arefnia, Thomas Ashworth, Lara Blanco, Cassandra Carmona, Jennifer DeRosa, Raymond Donehey, Kyle Elzey, Julieta Gerlein, Carlos Gomez, Jr.,Barbara Ann Howard, Robert Jolly, Brieyonna Monét, Sarah Nilsen, Bree Pavey, Rosie Ryden, Matthew Scheel, and Christopher Leon Simms, opens at North Hollywood’s Loft Ensemble.
Pen Pals, by Michael Griffo, directed by SuzAnne Baraba, featuring (rotating cast) Johanna Day, Nancy McKeon, Catherine Curtin, Sharon Lawrence, Nia Vardalos, Mary Beth Peil, and Pauletta Washington, begins previews at Off-Broadway’s Theater at St. Clement’s.
The Troubies’ Home Alone-ly Hearts Club Band begins previews at Burbank’s Colony Theatre.
Hugh Panaro: Man Without a Mask concert, at 8:30 PM at Hollywood’s Catalina Jazz Club.
Pam Tillis & Lorrie Morgan: Grits & Glamour Tour concert, at 7:30 PM at CA’s La Mirada Theatre.
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MD’s Olney Theatre Center (link TBA) has announced its Vanguard Arts Fund week-long workshops during its 24-25 season:
In Danomey (Dec. 9-15) by Monty Cole & Breon Arzell. 
A resurrection of the first musical, performed on Broadway, written by and starring African Americans. The 1903 hit was a satire on the American Colonisation Society’s Reconstruction-era efforts to send formerly enslaved people “back to Africa.” This new revival is a way to honor the legacy of what has been written and bring it into the present.
Artificial (Mar. 3-9), by Prince Gomovilas, directed by Jeff Liu. After a failed career in standup comedy, Simon has taken a soul-sucking job as an AI engineer at his younger brother Jetsada’s thriving chatbot company. But when the artistic bug bites again, Simon decides to leverage the company’s AI technology to write jokes, and he hits open mic nights once again—much to Jetsada’s dismay. The sparring brothers’ sibling rivalry reaches epic proportions in this timely yet timeless exploration of a fractured Thai-American family, the uneasy intersection of art and technology, and the question of what it means to be human in the modern age.
Okuni (Mar. 31 – Apr. 5), by Naomi Lizuka & Paul Hodge, directed by Lisa Portes. Kabuki’s untold story is that it was in fact founded by a woman: Okuni. Though centuries separate us from 16th-century Japan, Okuni’s life sets in motion questions that speak to our present-day in uncanny ways: what is the role of the artist in a totalitarian regime? What does it mean to be a woman in a man’s world? How do you survive the vicissitudes of politics, war, and economic unrest? And beyond surviving, how do you make sense of and challenge a corrupt status quo? Okuni’s story explores these questions and more in compelling, thought-provoking ways.
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Jocelyn Bioh’s Rebel with a Cause: The Artistry and Activism of Nina Simone, will run Dec. 7-9 at NYC’s 92NY, directed by Reggie D. White, with music direction by Michael O. Mitchell.
Amber Iman.
A Juilliard-trained classical pianist, the “High Priestess of Soul,” Nina was a defining voice of the Civil Rights Movement, who defied categorization, influencing artists from Aretha Franklin to John Legend with her voice – and her vision.
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A reading of James Baldwin at 100, written by & featuring Chukwudi Iwuji’s,will take place Wed. Dec. 11 at 6:30 PM at NYC’s McNally Jackson Seaport (4 Fulton St). 
here.
The reading marks the centenary of James Baldwin. Iwuji, who has been immersed in Baldwin’s work as part of a forthcoming project, will be reading selections of special personal meaning.
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A screening of Peacock’s “The Day of the Jackal” , followed by a conversation, will take place Tues. Dec. 10 at 7:30 PM at NYC’s 92NY.
Eddie Redmayne
An elusive spy assassin, who is a master of disguise, to thrilling results.
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Mark Wilding’s the Goddam Couptole Down the Hall (Oh… and Merry Christmas) continues through Dec. 15 at Theatre West, directed by Charlie Mount.
Cecil Jennings, Presciliana Esparolini, Sam Gregory, Dave Kumar, John Combs, Steve Nevil, Jill Remez, and Liv Denevi
It’s Christmas Day in Pasadena, and the Woodruff clan has gathered to celebrate. What promises to be a beautiful day full of good cheer gets turned on its head by the foul-mouthed couple down the hall, who subject the Woodruffs to one screaming match after another. The question soon arises: Has the couple’s mutual hatred escalated to murder?
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“The Day of the Jackal,” the new spy-thriller series, is now available on Peacock.
The series follows an elusive assassin, the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne), who meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer (Lashana Lynch). An action-packed, cat-and-mouse chase across Europe — a sleek, 21st century update on the classic 1973 big screen spy thriller.
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An industry presentation of Travis Russ’ The Gorgeous Nothings will take place Fri. Dec. 6 in NYC, directed & choreographed by Danny Mefford.
Taylor Trensch, Allan K. Washington, John Cariani, Arnie Burton, K. Todd Freeman, and Ken Barnett.
The forgotten story of an isolated wing at the Welfare Island Men’s Penitentiary reserved for inmates convicted of homosexuality during the 1930s. With a book by Travis Russ, the musical weaves six inmates’ stories to expose a secret, fabulous, underground world that was never supposed to exist. The show got an industry reading earlier this year, and was presented as a streaming concert on Playbill in 2020.
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Cast changes have been announced for Broadway’s Hadestown at the Walter Kerr Theatre, beginning Tues. Jan. 14
(new) Hailey Kilgore (Eurydice), Carlos Valdes (Orpheus), and Tom Hewitt (Hades).
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Liza Minnelli‘s earlier announced memoir, “Kids, Wait ‘Til You Hear This,” to be published by Grand Central Publishing in Spring 2026, may, be hitting the small screen. Variety reports that Warner Bros. TV and Magnolia Hill have joined forces to option the project. Minnelli’s former agent, Sam Haskell, also the founder of Magnolia Hill, will lead the development of the TV series.
The memoir and series will be a candid review of Minnelli’s life, both professionally and personally, from her childhood in the spotlight as the daughter of Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli to her breakout successes in Cabaret and Liza With a Z, and through her marriages and struggles with substance abuse disorder. The audio edition of the memoir will include bonus content with never-released autobiographical recordings and musings that Minnelli and Feinstein have been working on for 15 years.
Video: Sneak peek at the documentary, which features archival materials and Minnelli’s own input.
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Steve Carter’s Eden will run Jan. 16 – Feb. 8 (opening Jan. 23) at CT’s Yale Rep, directed by Brandon J. Dirden.
Chaundre Hall-Broomfield, Russell G. Jones, Juice Mackins, Prentiss Patrick-Carter, Alicia Pilgrim, Christina Acosta Robinson, Heather Alicia Simms, and Lauren F. Walker.
1927, San Juan Hill, a six-block stretch of Manhattan where tensions run deep between its populations of Black Americans and Caribbean immigrants. Eustace, recently transplanted from the South, falls in love with the girl next door, Annetta. But her ironfisted father, Joseph, an ardent Garveyite, has arranged for her to marry another man from the West Indies to protect his bloodline. In Steve Carter’s blistering saga, Eden, clashing ideologies and youthful passions threaten dangerous consequences for two families and their community.