A CHRISTMAS CAROL starts November 17 at Ford’s Theatre

DON’T MISS

• It’s time for two productions of A Christmas Carol: Ford’s Theatre’s starts November 17, while a competing production at Olney starts November 25.
• In other holiday fare, there’s Theatre Alliance’s Black Nativity (Nov. 23), It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play from Washington Stage Guild (Nov. 25), The Austin-inspired Miss Bennet’s Christmas at Pemberley at Round House (Nov. 23),The Second Shepherd’s Play at Folger (Nov. 27) and the comedic Silver Belles at Signature (Nov. 22).
• Playwright Young Jean Lee takes on the all-suffering plight of Straight White Men at Studio (Nov. 9).
• If you can imagine that language was rationed and silence is king, head to Where Words Once Were at The Kennedy Center (Nov. 5)
• The dramatic fallout of a controversial sermon is shown through The Christians at Theater J (Nov. 16).
• The Taming of the Shrew has never looked quite like Tame from WSC Avant Bard (Nov. 3).
• A nun and a thief are thrown together in Solas Nua’s Little Thing, Big Thing (Nov. 10).

Kasey Foster in MOBY DICK, opening at Arena Stage on November 18 (Greg Mooney)

ALSO OPENING

• Teenage pregnancy has an impact on a circle of friends in Milk Like Sugar at Atlas Performing Arts Center (Nov. 2).
• 1st Stage tackles Neil Simon’s autobiographical Broadway Bound (Nov. 10).
• Theater fans who follow human orchestra Tom Teasley can see him score Fritz Lang’s Metropolis at Constellation (Nov. 16; limited run).
• Arena Stage, in conjunction with Lookingglass Theatre Company, takes on the Melville classic with a production of Moby Dick (Nov. 18).
• In other classic productions, it’s Oliver Twist time at Creative Cauldron (Nov. 4).
• Essential Theater presents A Night with Jackie “Moms” Mabley (Nov. 10).
• Faction of Fools’ latest Shakespearean adaptation is The Merchant of Venice (Nov. 18).
• The Welders’ Girl in the Red Corner chronicles the journey of a woman MMA fighter (Nov. 3).
• Second City’s back at Woolly, with an all-African American cast in Black Side of the Moon (Nov. 12).
• Shakespeare Theater Company takes a picturesque journey into The Secret Garden (yes, the musical version) (Nov. 15).
• The tale as old as time, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, visits Imagination Stage (Nov. 19)
• From film to Broadway to the National Theatre comes the romantic musical Once (Nov. 25).
• The Tony-winning production of A View from the Bridge stops at Kennedy Center (Nov. 18).
• Everyone is connected in Keegan’s Six Degrees of Separation (Nov. 5).
• Bring the kids to Mary Poppins at Olney (Nov. 2).

BEERTOWN closes November 7 (Ryan Maxwell)

LAST CHANCE

• Theatregoers can still take a trip to Beertown with dog and pony until November 7. We wrote that the production “radically discards the conventions of a more traditionally formatted piece, and creates an experience that is far more powerful than your typical night at the theater.”
• Two biggies are still playing at Arena Stage: the classic Carousel, which runs through December 24; and Kathleen Turner in The Year of Magical Thinking, which runs through November 20. Of the latter, we wrote that, “because its language seems unnatural at times, [it] may still work better as a book than in a theater.” But Turner’s performance still makes it worth seeing.
• Folger’s acclaimed production of Sense and Sensibility wraps up November 13. We wrote that, “director Eric Tucker’s high-energy pacing keeps the play moving at a clip audiences might not expect from a story that features polite tea and long walks through the English countryside.”
• There’s still time to see two interesting offerings from Signature: the well-received The Gulf (Nov. 6) and the new musical Freaky Friday (Nov. 20).
• Get to the farcical Kiss at Woolly Mammoth by Nov. 6.

LOOKING AHEAD

• December brings the promise of Into the Woods and Wicked at Kennedy Center, Titanic the Musical at Signature, Sleeping Beauty from Synetic, and much more.