By Mark Edelman

 Joy and laughter suffuse the season with holiday good cheer at your favorite area theaters. Don’t miss the fun as we bring in the new year, live! onstage in the DMV:

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM   Signature Theatre  Now thru Jan 12

Matthew Gardiner and company turn in a fast-paced production of this comedy classic, Stephen Sondheim’s first Broadway attempt at music AND lyrics, following his success as a West Side Story collaborator. Pixie powerhouse Erin Weaver leads a company of bawdy buffoons who turn in enough mugging to quadruple the Shirlington crime statistics—and in a good way. Special kudos go to scenery-chewers Mike Millan, Cameron Loyal and that redoubtable rounder Sherri L. Edelen, along with John Klablfeisch’s fourteen merry musicians and wardrobe wonder Erik Teague. If you’re feeling blue about the way the world is going, this funny thing will pick up your spirits and push them out the door. Tickets at www.sigtheatre.org

SUMMER 1976      Studio Theatre            Now thru Dec 22

This sweet memory play, artfully directed by Vivienne Benesch from Pulitzer® Prize winner David Auburn’s well-burnished script, offers a master class in character development and emotional range. DC favorites Kate Eastwood Norris and Holly Twyford grace the intimate Studio stage as frustrated artist Diana and hippie housefrau Alice. Thrown together by circumstance in that eponymous era, the two very different women grow together and apart and together again in this touching ode to enduring, patient friendship. Take a hanky.  Tickets at http://www.studiotheatre.org.

New this month:

A CHRISTMAS CAROL           Little Theatre of Alexandria         December 7-21

The beloved Northern VA playhouse rolls out its musical version of the Dickens classic, complete with singing carolers, scary ghosts and Tiny Tim’s holiday entreaty to heaven, which we need now more than ever. Everybody’s favorite holiday pastime, the family-friendly presentation runs an hour at popular prices.   Tickets at http://www.thelittletheater.com

 LEOPOLDSTAT           Shakespeare Theatre Company         Dec 1  thru  29

The brilliant Tom Stoppard’s gut-wrenching tale of an Austrian family on the eve of Nazi occupation, followed up by a coda on that terrible time. Traversing decades of joy and strife, the family strives to maintain their delicate bonds of shared history at that eponymous address. This is a tough one to sit thru during the holiday season, making it all the more important that we don’t forget its lessons. Tickets at http://www.shakespearetheatre.org

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE     Shakespeare Theatre Company     December  3-29

Next door to Leopoldstat, Tony Award-nominee Patrick Page (King Lear, Hadestown) turns his attention to the twisted motivations and hidden humanity at the heart of Shakespeare’s greatest villains. Moving swiftly through the canon, Page illuminates Shakespeare’s evolving conception of evil by delving into more than a dozen of his most wicked creations. Again, not your usual holiday fare, but there’s plenty of that to go around (see below). Tickets at http://www.shakespearetheatre.org

A SWINGIN’ LITTLE CHRISTMAS   Music Center at Strathmore      December 4

This fall-out-of-your chair- hilarious cabaret, straight out of those classic ‘50s and ‘60s TV holiday specials, stars two wacky gals: Emmy and Golden Globe winner Jane Lynch (Glee, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) and The Office’s Kate Flannery. Tim Davis and The Tony Guerrero combo accompany the ladies in this hilarious yet heartfelt extravaganza. You’re bound to leave in a merrier mood. Tickets at www.strathmore.org

AN IRISH CHRISTMAS CAROL    Keegan Theatre      December 4-31

Keegan favorite Matthew J. Keenan returns to the DuPont neighborhood playhouse for this homage to the Dickens classic. Set in a Dublin pub, the show tells the tale of a wealth gent who has lost touch with his own humanity. You can guess what happens to the tight-fisted fellow

on Christmas Eve. Tickets at http://www.keegantheatre.com

‘TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS     Adventure Theatre     Dec  6- Jan 5

Head over to Glen Echo Park for this new twist on that poetical classic, with a playscript by DC’s own Ken Ludwig, who seems to have Christmas on stage wrapped up around here (see Death on the Nile below). You know the drill– ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house…” But wait! A mouse is stirring; and before you can say “Merry Christmas”, we are off on a wild adventure with said rodent, an elf, and a spunky little girl who won’t take no for an answer. Tickets at http://www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org

STEP AFRIKA’S MAGICAL MUSICAL HOLIDAY STEP SHOW    Arena Stage     Dec 13-22

The holiday spirit returns as the rich tradition of African American stepping blends with the magic of the season. DJ Nutcracker and his Arctic friends join the festive proceedings in Arena’s annual “step-stravaganza”!  Tickets at http://www.arenastage.org

 Ongoing thru the holidays:

 DATA                   Arena Stage             Closes  Dec 15

Maneesh creates a ground-breaking algorithm that pre-selects “acceptable” immigrant populations. The trouble is, some good people are bound to be unselected. What’s a brilliant data analyst to do? In this speed-of-light Arena Stage premier, playwright Matthew Libby and a talented cast wrestle with the moral and ethical ambiguities at work in a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Who gets to play God, you ask.  Director Margot Bordelon, late of the Arena’s acclaimed production of POTUS, points us in one of several directions in this all too relevant new work.  Tickets at www.arenastage.org

DANCE LIKE THERE’S BLACK PEOPLE WATCHING     Woolly Mammoth Closes Dec 22

Woolly Mammoth imports the improv gods from Chicago’s Second City to dispense a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, always thought-provoking dose of Black sensibility. The talented cast fills a hundred minutes with scenes from a lifestyle too often ignored on area stages. Who knows—you may see one of these folks on SNL next season. Tickets at http://www.woollymammoth.net

A HANUKKAH CAROL or GELT! TRIP THE MUSICAL      Round House Theatre      Closes Dec 29th

 This time the ghosts visit Chava, not Scrooge,  to help her reconnect with her Jewish identity in this world premier of alternate holiday programming. Tickets at http://www.roundhousetheatre.org

DEATH ON THE NILE                   Arena Stage         Closes  Dec 29

DC playwright Ken Ludwig’s take on Agatha Christie’s suspense-filled whodunit welcomes the unflappable Inspector Hercule Poirot to the Arena Stage. Tickets at www.arenastage.org.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL           Ford’s Theatre         Closes Dec 31

 DMV favorite and all-around grouch (albeit a redeemed one) Craig Wallace returns to play Ebenezer Scrooge in this timely holiday classic. Tickets at http://www.fords.org.

DISNEY’S FROZEN               Olney Theatre Center            Closes  Jan 4

“Let It Go,” (your credit card, that is) and take the kids to Olney for this local take on the Disney fave Tickets at http://www.olneytheatre.org.

THE SOUND OF MUSIC      Toby’s Dinner Theatre            Closes  Jan 12

The hills are alive over in Columbia, MD when this family friendly chestnut takes the stage for Toby’s holiday season. Tickets at http://www.tobysdinnertheatre.com.

The writer is a playwright who loves writing about theater. He is a lifetime member of the Broadway League and a Tony® voter.Photo credits:  Funny Thing photo by Christopher Mueller.