Cold weather, hot emotions. Dark nights, bright lights. Explore artistic poles this winter in the Boston theater scene. There will be shows with silly pop music, riffs on classic literature, ballet, puppets, teen dramas, and haunting intimacy.
Black actress Wiletta Mayer is set to take Broadway by storm in 1955. But stereotypes and racism follow her through her debut in a supposedly progressive play by a white writer. Funny, warm, and cutting, “Trouble in Mind” is a backstage look at the theater of the past that resonates in the present. Lyricstage.com
Here we are now! Entertain us! The fever dream, sugar rush, glitz and glam of Baz Luhrmann’s film has been put on stage. And everybody loves it. The winner of 10 Tonys comes to life with help from the catalogs of Madonna, Beyonce, Gaga, Britney, Adele, Elton, and many, many, many more. Boston.broadway.com
Heartbreaking, humorous and heavy, playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s work takes place in an Idaho office cubicle where mortgage broker Keith and yogurt plant worker Ryan connect over their infant daughters. Ryan, white and divorced, tries to build stability for his daughter while Keith, a Black, gay foster father works to adopt his foster child. speakeasystage.com
Director Yngvild Aspeli and Norwegian theater company Plexus Polaire present Herman Melville’s masterpiece in a wild and thrilling new way. The production sets sail with seven actors, 50 puppets, video projections, a drowned orchestra and one monstrous whale. artsemerson.org
Playwright Kimberly Belflower uses Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as a window into the lives of teen girls. As a class of high school students in a small town in the South dive into the play, they wrestle with love, teen drama, and sex (or at least sex ed). In their exploration they learn about their own strengths and determination. Smart and sharp, humorous and heartfelt, this play is a snapshot of a generation growing up. Huntingtontheatre.org
The Boston Ballet reinvents Marius Petipa’s “Raymonda” erasing outdated and offensive caricatures. This new, one-act version is paired with two works by Helen Pickett, world premiere “SISU” and 2007 Boston Ballet commission “Petal.” bostonballet.org
Six Black students navigate violence, bullying, and romance in detention in a struggling city high school in a production that asks if we are failing kids considered to be failures. The Front Porch Arts Collective teams with Northeastern University and Suffolk University for Dave Harris’ “Exception To The Rule.” Frontporcharts.org