The DC theater community is starting the year off right with…no more productions of A Christmas Carol. Seriously, there’s plenty to like in January, from gutsy works to brand-new musicals. The Neo-Futurists (pictured) are back! Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind, which our critic Chris Klimek loved, makes a return engagement at Woolly Mammoth (Jan. 4). Stick ’em up! The American Century Theater gets nostalgic for police dramas with their production of Cops…

The American Century Theatre’s update of the FDR-era Broadway smash Hellzapoppin’ kicks off with a terrible joke: An announcer on the P.A. who thinks he’s there for another show throws a fit when he sees the copy he’s supposed to read. It’s forced. It’s painful. It’s not funny. Then — Mercy! — a man in a gorilla suit shows up. Man in gorilla suit = crazy hilarious. But if you don’t agree, then perhaps…

Thank god for the Capital Fringe Festival. The event, now in its second year, makes sure that our July isn’t totally barren when it comes to edgy, exciting theater. We’ll be giving you a more detailed report on what the Fringe has to offer this year (hint: Avenue Q and Harry Potter parodies, Chocolate Jesuses and an operatic Lysistrata are among the choices), but here’s what the less fringified theaters around here will be up…

Just as it’s back-to-school time for area students, it’s back-to-the-boards time for the area’s theatre community. September brings with it a host of new productions to get you through the lingering heat. Arena Stage bids us Willkommen, Bienvenue and Welcome with their inaugural production of Cabaret (Sept. 8). The presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson was just crying for a Shakespearean take, at least according to American Century Theatre, who will stage Macbird! (Sept. 8). Two…

Lillian Hellman’s The Autumn Garden, now being staged at American Century Theater, is a slow-moving but well-executed drama with enough moments of humor and truth to complement a lazy, reflective Sunday afternoon. The play is set in a summer home near New Orleans, where Constance (Deborah Rinn Critzer) is staying, along with the Ellis family of Carrie (Jan Boulet), son Frederick (Joshua Drew) and mother Mary (Linda High), among others. Constance’s niece Sophie (Maura Stadem)…