Albuquerque Theatre Guild announces their December 2011 performance calendar.
Thru December 4 | Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2. No performance November 24.
Vessels: A Modern Retelling of A Streetcar Named Desire - by Kevin R. Elder, directed by Kent Kirkpatrick, musical direction by Casey Mraz. Tricklock Company's latest is a twisted look at Tennessee Williams' 1950's classic, carrying the weight of the original, with a haunting and darkly hysterical take on true love, family obligations, and sexual dynamics. Everything you remember and love about Streetcar is still there; Blanche flees from Belle Reve to impose herself on her sister Stella in New Orleans, Stanley grapples with what it means to be a real man, and Mitch is every bit (and more) the mamma's boy. Elder and Tricklock have created a shocking and perverse world that runs parallel to the classic, exploring the American psyche of the last 60 years and how it has been wrung and stretched, leading to our current understanding of entertainment and storytelling. Info: UNM's Theater X, UNM Performing Arts Center, 928-5658, http://www.tricklock.com Price: $15 General, $12 Seniors, $10 Students.
Thru December 18 | Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2.
The House of the Spirits - a play with songs, by Caridad Svich, directed by Valli Marie Rivera. "The House of the Spirits" charts the rise and fall of a family in an un-named Latin American country (reminiscent of Chile) from the 1920s through the 1970s, as the country experiences enormous social and political changes culminating in a devastating dictatorship. This adaptation of Isabel Allende's bestselling novel includes magical realism, video, and song. Info: The Vortex Theatre, 2004 1/2 Central SE, 247-8600, http://www.vortexabq.org Price: $15, $10 Students (student rush 10 minutes before curtain).
Thru December 18 | Fridays & Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2.
The Long Christmas Ride Home - by Paula Vogel, directed by Rose Provan. This one-act full-length play by American playwright Paula Vogel was first performed in 2003. It dramatizes a road trip by two parents and their three young children to visit grandparents for the Christmas holiday, as well as the emotional turmoil undergone by various members of the family. A significant element of the production schema is a Western, contemporary employment of bunraku, an ancient form of Japanese puppetry. Info: Desert Rose Playhouse, 6921 Montgomery Blvd. NE, 881-0503, http://www.desertroseplayhouse.com Price: $12, $10 Students, Seniors & ABQ Theatre Guild members.
Thru December 18 | Fridays & Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2. Dec. 17 at 7, Dec. 18 at 6.
The Carroll's Christmas -or- Please Do Not Break the Ornaments - by Cliff Gravel, directed by Leslie Joy Coleman. Join the Carroll's for a Christmas celebration at their Inn in the English Countryside. The impoverished Carroll's are in jeopardy of losing the family inn. The villains are in search of a fabulously valuable ruby that has been hidden in one of the new Christmas ornament. Will the hero save the day? Will the heroine and her mother have to leave their family home? Find out while you sing Christmas carols with the neighbor, Fanny, who caresses the ivories throughout the action. Info: SouthWest Rural Theatre Project, 5800 Kathryn Ave SE, 717-4494, https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=222284061170052#!/pages/Southwest-Rural-Theatre-Project/268232793201593 Price: $12, $10 Students & Seniors, $8 Children.
December 1 | Thursday at 6 & 7:30.
The Belle of Bisbee - by Tim Kelly, directed by Rick Nickerson. Presented by New Mexico Young Actors, that depraved human skunk, Pinkham Mudstone III, knows that under the topsoil there's a rich deposit of copper carbonate and sets out to acquire Belle's homestead. It's up to Tom to save Bisbee and win the schoolmarm. Boo the villain and cheer our hero in this audience participation show. Info: Heights Cumberland Church, 8600 Academy Rd. NE, 821-8055, http://nmyoungactors.org Price: Free, donations accepted at the door.
December 2 - March 31, 2012 | Friday and Saturday at 7:30.
Family Can Be Murder - written and directed by Micah Linford. Family reunions can be murder. In the case of the Hubbard family, that might be a very literal statement. When Alex & Toby Hubbard show up to spend the holidays with their father, Joseph, they find that his new young wife may be maneuvering to make herself the sole heir to their father's fortune. Will Joseph's sister Charlotte be able to keep the family from killing each other? Or will she be the first to snap? Could all this infighting lead to the murder of one of these family members? Of course, it could! Info: Foul Play Café, Sheraton Uptown, 2600 Louisiana Blvd, 377-9593, http://www.foulplaycafe.com Price: $55 includes dinner and the show (gratuity not included).
December 1 - 18 | Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2.
All About Christmas Eve - by Ken Ansloan. Presented by The Dolls and Aux Dog Theatre this adaptation of the Charles Dickens' classic features God as a drag queen who sends his most trusted and fabulous angel, Norma Desmond to Earth to help the mousy misfit Eve. By showing her a succession of Christmas Eves in her life from sweet young thing to sordid stripper to horrid hag who will be murdered on Christmas Eve, Eve must decide to change her evil ways. Info: Aux Dog Theatre, 3011 Monte Vista Blvd. NE, 254-7716, http://www.auxdog.com Price: $15. Thursdays $10.
December 2 - 24 | Fridays & Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 2. December 24 at 2 p.m.
A Christmas Carol - an adaptation of the Charles Dickens' classic. Blackout Theatre is proud to present an ensemble created adaptation of this classic Christmas story. Charles Dickens' world of abrasive bah humbugging has never been seen quite like this before. The story begins on Christmas Eve, 1934. A blizzard has closed the St. Louis Central Train Station, stranding holiday travelers including a destitute farmer, his wife, a toy maker, a jailbird, a pair of Vaudeville performers, and a society woman. To pass the time and to escape the harsh realities of this sad Christmas, the group begins to retell A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge travels the world of this future, past, and present through the adventures of elaborate memories and puppetry. Info: VSA North 4th Art Center, 4904 Fourth Street NW, 672-8648, http://www.blackouttheatre.com Price: $15, Seniors, Students & ATG members $12.
December 2 - 24 | Fridays & Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2. December 15 & 22 at 8. December 24 at 1.
A Christmas Story - by Philip Grecian, based on the motion picture A Christmas Story, written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and Bob Clark. "You'll shoot your eye out!" All your favorite elements from the beloved 1983 film are included in this stage version of the story about a nine-year-old boy growing up in Hohman, Indiana in the late 1930s. Already a holiday classic, Jean Shepherd's memoirs follow Ralphie Parker in his quest to get a "Genuine Red Ryder 200 Shot, Carbine Action Range Model Air Rifle" under the Christmas tree. Info: Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale Ave SW, 242-4750, http://www.albuquerquelittletheatre.org Price: $22, Seniors $20, Students $18, Children (12 and under) $10. Not recommended for children under 3.
December 2 - 18 | Fridays & Saturdays at 8 and Sundays at 2.
Cat on a Streetcar Named Iguana - by Phil Bock, directed by Barbara Bock. The Albuquerque Tennessee Williams Festival concludes with the revival of this original musical tribute to the great playwright. Bringing together characters from three of Williams' major plays at Big Dad's birthday party on his Jumbo Peanut Plantation, some members of the original cast return for the revival. The 12 songs keep things moving, and the closing anthem, "Simple Human Kindness," summarizes Williams' moral outlook. Info: Adobe Theatre, 9813 Fourth Street NW, 898-2222, http://www.adobetheater.org Price: $16, Seniors & Students $14.
December 3 | Saturday at 7. Food line opens at 6:15.
The Carroll's Christmas -or- Please Do Not Break the Ornaments - by Cliff Gravel, directed by Leslie Joy Coleman. Join the Carroll's for a Christmas celebration at their Inn in the English Countryside. The impoverished Carroll's are in jeopardy of losing the family inn. The villains are in search of a fabulously valuable ruby that has been hidden in one of the new Christmas ornament. Will the hero save the day? Will the heroine and her mother have to leave their family home? Find out while you sing Christmas carols with the neighbor, Fanny, who caresses the ivories throughout the action. Info: SouthWest Rural Theatre Project at the Leisure Bowl, 7400 Lomas Blvd NE, 268-4371, http://www.leisurebowl.net/ Price: $25, includes dinner.
December 9 - 18 | Fridays & Saturdays at 7 and Sundays at 2.
Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some)! - by Michael Carleton, Jim FitzGerald, and John K. Alvarez, directed by Scott Claunch. Unable to muster up excitement for their umpteenth performance of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," three actors decide to perform every Christmas story ever told, including holiday traditions and songs from around the world, with a few more bells and whistles than you've seen before. A madcap romp through the holiday season. Info: East Mountain Centre for Theatre at the Vista Grande Community Center, 15 La Madera Rd., Sandia Park, 286.1950, http://www.emct.org Price: $20, Seniors & Students $15, Children $10.
December 9 - 24 | Thursdays & Fridays at 8, Saturdays at 2 and 6, and Sundays at 2.
The Memory of Water - by Shelagh Stephenson, directed by Mark Hisler & Vic Browder. Set in a small English seaside town in the dead of winter, this comic and touching account of three estranged sisters on the wake of their mother's funeral takes a unique look at grieving and colorful family dynamics. The sisters' particular memories of childhood and their Mum (who appears both as a lively ghost and an awkwardly placed corpse) carom off each other in cleverly written and irreverent scenes of sibling one-upmanship. Adlerian views of birth order, biological bonds of sisterhood and how whiskey and pot can make for complicated funeral planning. Info: Mother Road Theatre Company at The Filling Station, 1024 4th St. SW, 243-0596, http://www.motherroad.org Price: $18, Seniors & Students $12. Thursdays $10. $2 discount for ATG members with card.
December 16 - January 1 | Fridays, Dec. 16, 23, 30 at 7:30. Saturdays, Dec. 17 & 31 at 7:30. Saturday, Dec. 24 at 2. Sundays, Dec. 18 & Jan. 1 at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 25 at 6.
Camelot - Music by Frederick Loewe, book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, directed by Matthew Naegeli, choreographed by Edye Allen. King Arthur nervously prepares to meet his new Queen, Guinevere, Arthur establishes the Knights of the Round Table., and soon, Lancelot and Queen Guinevere fall in love. Their affair is brought public with the help of Arthur's evil illegitimate son Mordred. As a result, peace ends and war breaks out in as Arthur's troops fight Lancelot's French army. Info: Musical Theatre Southwest at the African American Performing Arts Center, 310 San Pedro NE, 265-9119, http://www.musicaltheatresw.com Price: $20, Seniors & Students $18, Children (12 and under) $16.
December 16 - 18 | Friday at 7, Saturday at 2 and 7, Sunday at 2.
Shoes for the Santo Niño - presented by the Santa Fe Opera. This is a joyous piece by the Santa Fe Opera. The story of Julianita and the Santo Niño is an expression of the cultural and traditional fabric of northern New Mexico and should not be missed. Traditionally, this is a story passed down from generation to generation. This performance depicts the important role of the Santo Niño to both Native American and Hispanic families. The Santo Niño is known as an advocate for healing, mainly of children, and many believe he wears the shoes, left by pilgrims who visit his shrines, to walk to and heal sick children while they sleep. Info: National Hispanic Cultural Center, 1701 4th St. SW, 724-4771, http://www.nhccnm.org Price: Free with ticket.
December 17 | Saturday at 1 and 3.
Marco Polo and His Description of the World - performed by Duane Dill. Travel with Marco Polo and learn how this famous thirteenth century explorer reached China without a map! Talk-about after the play. Info: Explora Theater, 1701 Mountain Rd. NW, 224-8323, http://www.explora.us/ Price: Free with admission to Explora.
