Roundup

December

• Dec. 3: Music Theatre of Idaho presents Annie, the musical about a Depression-era orphan who, with the help of the rich Oliver Warbucks and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, searches for her parents and foils a plot to claim her for reward money. The show runs at 7:30 Dec. 3-5 and 10-12 and 1:30 Dec. 5 and 12 at the Nampa Civic Center.
  
• Dec. 4: Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theater presents A Season of Hope, the theater's annual selection of Christmas skits, readings and music. The show runs Dec. 4-5, 10-12 and 17-19 at 7:00 Thursdays and 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays at the theater on Ninth Street between Front and Myrtle. Dinner is served at 7:00 Fridays and Saturdays.
• Dec. 4-5: The Encore! Players present The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 4 and 7:00 Dec. 5 at the Morrison Center at Boise State University.
  
• Now through Dec. 5: The Boise State University Theatre Majors Association presents subUrbia, a dark comedy about aimless 20-somethings who meet a high school classmate who is now a famous musician at a gas station. The show runs at 7:30 Dec. 2-5 at the Danny Peterson Theatre in the Morrison Center on the BSU campus.
  
• Dec. 5-6: Opera Idaho presents Amahl and the Night Visitors, the story of a crippled boy who is healed during a visit with the Magi on their way to see Jesus. The show runs at 7:30 Dec. 5 and 2:30 Dec. 5 and 6 at the Egyptian Theater on Capitol and Main in Boise.
  
• Dec. 5: The Boise Art Museum opens Lasting Legacy, an exhibit of works from the museum's permanent collection.
• Dec. 6 and 13: Boise Contemporary Theater presents A Christmas Carol as part of its Family Reading Series at 2:00 at the Fulton Street Theater on Fulton and Ninth.
  
• Dec. 9: Alley Repertory Theater presents SEX a.k.a. Wieners and Boobs, about the new sheriff of a corrupt town run by a crime boss who operates brothels. The show runs Dec. 9-12 and 16-19 at 8:00 at the Visual Arts Collective on Osage behind the Woman of Steel Gallery on Chinden in Garden City.
• Dec. 11-13: Ballet Idaho and the Boise Philharmonic presents their annual production of The Nutcracker at 8:00 Dec. 11-12 and 2:00 Dec. 12-13 at the Morrison Center at Boise State University.
• Dec. 16: Company of Fools presents A Year with Frog and Toad, a musical based on the popular childrens' books by Arnold Lobel in which Frog and Toad learn life lessons and the value of friendship. The show runs at 7:00 Dec. 16-19, 22-23, 26, 29-30, and Jan. 2, at 3:00 Dec. 20, 24, 27, 31 and Jan. 3, and at 11:00 a.m. Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 at the Liberty Theater on Main Street in Hailey. The show also runs for two days in Twin Falls at 7:00 Jan. 8-9 and 11 a.m. Jan. 9 at the College of Southern Idaho Fine Arts Theatre.
  
• Dec. 18 and 20: Boise Master Chorale performs Handel's Messiah at 8:00 Dec. 18 at Valley Shepherd Church of the Nazarene on 150 Maestra St. off Meridian Road in Meridian and at 2:00 Dec. 20 at First United Methodist Church Cathedral of the Rockies at 717 N. 11th St. in Boise.
• Now through Dec. 19: Boise Contemporary Theater presents Animals out of Paper, a show about an origami artist, a calculus teacher and a talented student who are brought together by their love of origami. The show runs at 8:00 Dec. 2-5, 9-12 and 16-19 and 2:00 Dec. 5, 12 and 19 at the Fulton Street Theater at Ninth and Fulton in Boise.
• Now through Dec. 19: Boise Little Theater presents A Christmas Story, a comedy about a boy who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The show runs at 8:00 Dec. 4-5, 11-12 and 18, at 7:30 Dec. 3 and 10, and at 2:00 Dec. 6, 12 and 19 at the theater on Fort Street near Broadway.
• Now through Dec. 12: Stage Coach Theatre presents Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge as told by his former partner Jacob Marley, who must redeem Scrooge in order to redeem himself. The show runs Dec. 3-6 and 10-12 at 7:30 Thursdays, 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 Sundays at the theater in the Hillcrest Shopping Center at Orchard and Overland.
• Now through Dec. 27: Prairie Dog Productions presents The Xmas Files! or Miracle at Area 51! at 7:15 Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 and 25-26 and 2:00 Dec. 13, 20 and 27 at 3820 Cassia in Boise.
• Now through Jan. 9: Starlight Mountain Theatre presents Irving Berlin's White Christmas, a musical about two friends in show business who find love while putting on a show at an inn in Vermont. The show runs Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 and 26, and Jan. 1-2 and 8-9 at 7:30 at 1851 Century Way in Boise.
  
• Now through Jan. 17: Boise Art Museum presents A Survey of Gee's Bend Quilts, a collection of abstract quilts created by women in the African-American community of Gee's Bend, Alabama.
  
• Now through March 14: Boise Art Museum presents Patchwork, a collection of quilts from the early 1800s through the mid-20th century.
• Now through April 18: Boise Art Museum presents Idea as Art: Contemporary Works on Paper, a selection of abstract drawings by such artists as Sol Lewitt and Mel Bochner.

Three Tall Women

Pulitzer Prize-winning script, excellent dramatic tension, fine performances, yadda yadda yadda ... What you need to know about this show is that, despite the fact that it's a drama, it's hilarious.

In less skilled hands, with less polished timing and delivery, the play could have been a lot of rambling monologues about riding horses. But Mikenzie Ames, Patti O'Hara and especially Nancy Suiter bring humor to almost every aspect of the play.

Just watching Suiter's maudlin sobbing was enough to make the audience hysterical, let alone when she tells naughty stories and uses racial slurs. I really think her repetitive monologues about riding could have been dull delivered by most actresses, but she makes even them entertaining.

O'Hara shows a nice range, portraying the consummate, patient caretaker -- even laughing off Suiter's accusations that she's been stealing from her, and excusing the old woman's myriad faults -- all through the first act, then suddenly turning to fury and outrage when her son comes back in her life.

It would be hard to keep up with these two, but Ames did a great job, telling her sex stories with relish and approaching the two other women with a sort of superior, righteous indignation that occasionally relaxes into warmth before she remembers why she can't stand them.

The Alley Repertory show closes this weekend at the Visual Arts Collective behind the Woman of Steel Gallery on Chinden. It starts at 8:00 Friday and Saturday (not at 7:00 as I mistakenly posted earlier in my roundup).

Roundup

November

• Now through Nov. 7: Boise Contemporary Theater presents The Pavilion, a show about a man and his high school sweetheart who split up years ago and are meeting again at their 20th reunion. The show runs Nov. 4-7 at 8:00 Wednesday through Saturday and 2:00 Saturdays at the theater on Fulton Street.
• Now through Nov. 8: Company of Fools presents The Syringa Tree, a one-woman show about the love between two families, one black and one white, who share a house and whose children grow up together under apartheid in 1960s South Africa. The show runs Nov. 4-5 at 7:00, Nov. 6-7 at 8:00, and Nov. 8 at 3:00 at The Liberty Theatre on Main Street in Hailey.
• Now through Nov. 8: Boise Art Museum exhibits sculpture by Ann Weber called Corrugated. The pieces are made from cardboard, are woven into giant gourd-like spires, and are up to 16 feet tall.
• Now through Nov. 14: Starlight Mountain Theatre presents Little Shop of Horrors, a musical about a carnivorous plant named Audrey II, at 7:30 Nov. 7 and 13-14 and at midnight Nov. 6 at The Star Theatre at 1851 Century Way.
• Now through Nov. 14: Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theatre presents the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic The Sound of Music about a would-be nun who becomes governess to seven children around the time of the Nazi invasion of Austria. The show runs Nov. 5-7 and 12-14 at 7:00 Thursdays and 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays at the theater on Ninth Street between Front and Myrtle. Dinner is served at 7:00 Fridays and Saturdays.
• Nov. 15: As part of its Family Reading Series, Boise Contemporary Theater presents Robin Hood at 2 p.m. at the Fulton Street Theater at Ninth and Fulton in Boise.
  
• Nov. 15: The Boise Baroque Orchestra presents a concert of selections by Corelli, Vivaldi, Handel and Rameau at 2:00 at the First United Methodist Church/Cathedral of the Rockies on 11th Street in Boise.
  
• Now through Nov. 15: Boise Art Museum presents Kid Stuff, an exhibit of art geared toward children by artists Deborah Barrett, Alexander Calder, Michael Corney, Benjamin Jones, Marianne Kolb, Marilyn Lanfear, David Gillhooley, Marilyn Lysohir, Renda Palmer and others.
• Nov. 20-21: The Boise Philharmonic presents a concert of Tchaikovsky music at 8:00 Nov. 20 in the Swayne Auditorium at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, and at 8:00 Nov. 21 at the Morrison Center at Boise State University. The Philharmonic will also present a shortened version of the concert at 11:00 a.m. at the Morrison Center Nov. 21.
  
• Now through Nov. 21: Alley Repertory Theater presents Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, about a young lawyer, a middle-aged caregiver and a rich, bitter elderly matron who are uniquely intertwined. The show runs Nov. 13-14 and 19-21 at 8:00 at the Visual Arts Collective behind the Woman of Steel Gallery on Chinden in Garden City.
• Now through Nov. 21: The College of Idaho Theatre Department presents Season's Greetings, a story about a tense household on Christmas Eve and a newcomer who arrives with a bag of surprises. The show runs Nov. 12-14 and 19-21 at 7:30 and Nov. 22 at 2:00 at the Langroise Studio Theatre at C of I in Caldwell.
  
• Nov. 22: The Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra performs works by composers including Mozart and Dvorak at 7:00 at Borah High School on Cassia and Curtis Road.
• Now through Nov. 22: Boise State University's Theatre Arts Department presents Shakespeare's As You Like It, a comedy about the daughter of a duke who flees to the Forest of Arden and dresses up as a boy when her uncle usurps the duchy and exiles her father. The show runs at 7:30 Nov. 13-15 and 18-22 at the Danny Peterson Theatre in the Morrison Center.
  
• Nov. 24: Boise Contemporary Theater presents Animals out of Paper, a show about an origami artist, a calculus teacher and a talented student who are brought together by their love of origami. The show runs at 8:00 Nov. 24-25, 27-28 and Dec. 2-5, 9-12 and 16-19 and 2:00 Dec. 5, 12 and 19 at the Fulton Street Theater at Ninth and Fulton in Boise.
• Nov. 27: Boise Little Theater presents A Christmas Story, a comedy about a boy who wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. The show runs at 8:00 Nov. 27-28 and Dec. 4-5, 11-12 and 18, at 7:30 Dec. 3 and 10, and at 2:00 Dec. 6, 12 and 19 at the theater on Fort Street near Broadway.
• Nov. 27: Stage Coach Theatre presents Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol, the story of Ebenezer Scrooge as told by his former partner Jacob Marley, who must redeem Scrooge in order to redeem himself. The show runs Nov. 27-28 and Dec. 3-6 and 10-12 at 7:30 Thursdays, 8:00 Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 Sundays at the theater in the Hillcrest Shopping Center at Orchard and Overland.
• Nov. 27: Prairie Dog Productions presents The Xmas Files! or Miracle at Area 51! at 7:15 Nov. 27-28 and Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 and 25-26 and 2:00 Dec. 13, 20 and 27 at 3820 Cassia in Boise.
• Nov. 27: Starlight Mountain Theatre presents Irving Berlin's White Christmas, a musical about two friends in show business who find love while putting on a show at an inn in Vermont. The show runs Nov. 27-28, Dec. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19 and 26, and Jan. 1-2 and 8-9 at 7:30 at 1851 Century Way in Boise.
  
• Now through Jan. 17: Boise Art Museum presents A Survey of Gee's Bend Quilts, a collection of abstract quilts created by women in the African-American community of Gee's Bend, Alabama.
  
• Now through March 14: Boise Art Museum presents Patchwork, a collection of quilts from the early 1800s through the mid-20th century.
• Now through April 18: Boise Art Museum presents Idea as Art: Contemporary Works on Paper, a selection of abstract drawings by such artists as Sol Lewitt and Mel Bochner.