Need to warm up? Try dancing. Or, better yet, try watching other people dance in a toasty theater.
Boston’s winter theater scene is hot. It’s full of dance from Cuba, laughs from Broadway, drama from Dublin, and triumph from, well, all over — rekindle your spirit with productions that travel from South Africa to Swan Lake.
Malpaso Dance Company
Jan. 18, Robert J. Orchard Stage
The Celebrity Series of Boston and Emerson Paramount Center welcome back Cuba’s leading contemporary dance company. Malpaso mixes their island’s dance traditions with styles from around the world. Maybe best fitting this globe-trotting approach is the piece “Flor y Ando!,” choreographed by hip hop dancer Ephrat Asherie and set to the music of Ethiopian pianist and composer Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou. celebrityseries.org
“The Piano Lesson”
Jan. 23 – Feb. 16, Hibernian Hall
August Wilson is America’s Shakespeare, so it only makes sense that the Actors’ Shakespeare Project is diving deep into Wilson’s American Century Cycle. In “The Piano Lesson,” the playwright returns to Pittsburgh’s Hill District for the story of a family debating selling its antique piano to buy land where members of the family had once been enslaved. actorsshakespeareproject.org
“Life & Times of Michael K”
Jan. 31 – Feb. 9, Robert J. Orchard Stage
Follow Michael K on a journey through war-torn South Africa to return his mother to die on the farm where she was born. Finely crafted marionettes bring the story of J.M. Coetzee’s award-winning novel to life in this production from South Africa’s Baxter Theatre. artsemerson.org
“Funny Girl”
Feb. 4 – 16, Citizens Bank Opera House
The original Broadway show is beloved. The recent Broadway revival is equally beloved. The legendary ’60s score from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill comes together with an updated book from Harvey Fierstein in the story of Fanny Brice, a nobody from the Lower East Side who defies expectations to become one of theater’s biggest stars. Boston.broadway.com
“Art”
Feb. 21 – March 16, Lyric Stage
Three old friends debate art and life, which always seem to overlap. When the trio can’t agree on anything — especially the purpose of an outrageously expensive contemporary piece of art one of the friends has just purchased — they question what’s at the heart of their friendship, their lives, and art. Lyricstage.com
“A Man of No Importance”
Feb. 21 – March 22, Roberts Studio Theatre
Bus driver Alfie Byrne lives for two things: Oscar Wilde poetry and his amateur theater company. But, with it being the ’60s in Dublin, the church doesn’t share Alfie’s loves. When the church mounts a campaign to stop the company’s production of Wilde’s “Salome,” the lowly bus driver faces a hateful culture and his own shame in this reimagining of the musical. speakeasystage.com
“Swan Lake”
Feb. 27 – March 16, Citizens Bank Opera House
If you loved “The Nutcracker,” you will adore “Swan Lake.” It’s a perfect second plié (OK, a grand plié) into a life-long love affair with ballet. bostonballet.org #
