Compiled by Arts Fuse Editor

Our expert critics supply a guide to film, visual art, theater, author readings, television, and music. More offerings will be added as they come in.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Boston area theaters have decided to pretty much ignore what is happening in America and beyond — mounting threats to democracy, the slide toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis, growing economic inequality, ICE’s savage round-up of immigrants, the expansion of internment camps, ongoing genocide in Gaza, transphobia, the grueling war in Ukraine, etc. I have decided in Coming Attractions to point out a production, staged in America or elsewhere, that grapples with today’s alarming realities. Sometimes the stagings will be available via Zoom, sometimes not. It is important to present evidence that theater artists are reflecting, and reflecting on, the world around us.

Let me use this holiday edition of Coming Attractions to recognize the efforts of a theatrical activist who is using classic dramas to illuminate thorny political and cultural issues: Bryan Doerries. He recently won one of this year’s Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prizes for his splendid work as the artistic director of the play-reading series Theater of War Productions.

A writer, director, and translator, Doerries “leads a company, made up of world-class performers, that presents dramatic readings of seminal plays and texts to frame community conversations about pressing issues, such as mental health, polarization, end of life care, racialized violence, incarceration, gun violence, domestic violence, substance abuse/addiction, the climate crisis, health inequities, sexual assault, disability justice, immigration, and the impact of war on children and families. A self-described evangelist for ancient stories and their relevance to our lives today, Doerries uses age-old approaches to help individuals and communities heal from trauma and loss. His books include The Theater of War: What Ancient Greek Tragedies Can Teach Us Today, The Odyssey of Sergeant Jack Brennan, All That You’ve Seen Here is God, and Oedipus Trilogy.”

“Doerries’s art is not about escape—it is about encounter,” suggests a report on the Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize site. “Everywhere he works, the results are the same: hierarchy dissolves. A general listens to a private, a nurse to a grieving mother, an audience to itself. In those moments, the plays become mirrors—showing what is broken, but also what might be healed.”

“By turning ancient tragedies into living conversations, he helps societies see themselves more clearly and find courage in shared vulnerability. His work reminds us that storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest medicines, and that healing begins when we face our collective pain together, with the lights on.”

In this podcast, Doerries talks about the origins of Theater of War Productions, details what the effort has been accomplishing for almost two decades in the United States and around the world. And he talks about the ways in which the results have been transformational.

— Bill Marx

Film

A scene from Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire.

Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire
December 21 at 2 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

“Sometimes I’m afraid the tale might be forgotten. Sometimes I’m afraid it is forgotten already.” Told primarily through the writer’s own eloquent words, Elie Wiesel: Soul on Fire seeks to understand the man behind the searing and widely read 1958 memoir Night.  The documentary explores the legacy of an author who became one of the influential survivors of the Holocaust after he chronicled his experiences with his father in the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Filmmaker Oren Rudavsky will be appearing in person.

White Christmas (1954)
December 22 at 7 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

Two talented song-and-dance men team up after the war to become one of the hottest acts in show business. In time they befriend and become romantically involved with the beautiful Haynes sisters, who comprise a sister act. With Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Vera-Ellen, and Rosemary Clooney.

David Byrne in a scene from Stop Making Sense.

Stop Making Sense
December 31 at 6 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
The Brattle Theatre, Cambridge

A concert film that documents the rock band Talking Heads at the height of their popularity, when they were on tour for their 1983 album Speaking in Tongues. The band is joined by a cadre of guest musicians for a career-spanning, highly cinematic performance that makes superb use of creative choreography and visuals.

The House with Laughing Windows
January 3 at 11:59 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

Stefano, a young restorer, is commissioned to save a controversial mural located in the church of a small, isolated village.

Manthan (The Churning)
January 4 at 1 p.m.
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline

A veterinarian, Dr. Rao, makes a visit to a village, where he intends to commence a cooperative dairy for the betterment of the rural people. The film is set against the backdrop of the White Revolution of India (Operation Flood), which started in 1970. This feature was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers, who donated 2 rupees each for the production.

Five Family Movies for the Holidays

Each title links to the film’s trailer.

David
The PG animated story of King David.

Zootopia 2
Follow-up to the animated hit film from Disney.

The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants 
SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr. Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman on a seafaring comedy-adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.

Anaconda 2 (releases 12/25)
This odd choice for the holiday (possibly PG-13) is actually very funny, though it has some scary parts.  A group of friends try to remake the original film, Anaconda. With Jack Black and Paul Rudd.

Endless Cookie
For older kids and families, a strange animated documentary that explores the complex bond between two half-brothers, one Indigenous, one white. The narrative is set during the bustling ’80s. The Boston Society of Film Critics voted it Best Animated Feature. On Demand

Pick of the Week

MasakaKids, A Rhythm Within, Streaming on Netflix

A scene from Masaka Kids, A Rhythm Within. Photo: Netflix

Here is an uplifting 40-minute film for the holidays. Directed by Moses Bwayo (Bobi Wine: The People’s President) and produced by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the documentary features the Masaka Kids Africana. In 2020, this group of young dancers from an orphanage in Uganda became a viral sensation, capturing the hearts of millions across the globe with their vibrantly choreographed dance videos. Viola Davis shared a clip of them dancing to Squid Game’s “Red Light Green Light” remix in 2021. In 2023, they danced to Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” They have 9 million followers on Instagram, 6 million on TikTok, and 4 million subscribers on YouTube. They are one of the most popular dance groups in Africa. This doc tells their story.

— Tim Jackson

Television

Here is hoping you have some time to relax and watch some movies or shows that give you comfort and joy during the season (watch for the return of my TV column “Watch Closely” this week for some excellent and occasionally offbeat suggestions). If you have the Criterion Channel, be sure to check out what is leaving by the end of the month. Meanwhile, here’s a couple of new TV offerings to be aware of over the holidays.

A scene from Stranger Things, Season 5B. Photo: Netflix

Stranger Things, Season 5B (December 25, Netflix) We bid farewell to the beloved and original series that made us miss the ’80s, reflect on the worlds that exist on the other side of the one we inhabit, and consider how shitty being a teenager in a small town can be. This series featured some iconic casting (Winona Forever!), made stars of some young relative unknowns (like Joseph Quinn, Joe Keery, and Maya Hawke), and reinvigorated some older careers (nice to see Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, Cary Elwes, and Matthew Modine still killing it). There were even some romances born onset (Natalia Dyer and Charlie Heaton). If you’re like me, and have been too busy to catch the final season, be sure to be caught up before Christmas Day — that’s when the final four episodes will air. I am wondering, though: how many folks will skip their usual Christmas Day tradition of going to see a movie in a theatre to watch this iconic series’ finale?

Also, bear in mind that the proposed acquisition of Warner Brothers by Netflix (or Paramount) might make you wish you’d gone to the movies much more often. So, go. There’s some gorgeous big screen films to see, including Hamnet, The Testament of Ann Lee, Marty Supreme, Father Mother Sister Brother, Dust Bunny, No Other Choice, and Resurrection. Streaming will still be there when you get home.

Alexandra Daddario as Dr. Rowan Fielding in AMC’s Mayfair Witches. Photo: courtesy of Alfonso Bresciani/AMC

Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (January 5, AMC+) The second season of a series whose first season I found somewhat disappointing will debut in the new year. I really hope it will improve. Sometimes that happens! Some long-lived shows opened up artistically during the second go-around (Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a notable example). More recent examples include The Leftovers (HBO), Dark (Netflix), Justified, Hannibal, and The White Lotus. With such a great cast, full of film stars and TV veterans (Alexandra Daddario! Annabeth Gish! Ted Levine! Beth Grant! Eliza Scanlen! Charlayne Woodward! James Frain! Harry Hamlin!) Mayfair Witches ought to be better. I am giving it another chance. Maybe you will, too.

— Peg Aloi

Theater

Parker Jennings as Reality Winner in ATC’s Is This a Room  Photo: Danielle Fauteux Jacques

Is This a Room by Tina Satter. Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Staged by the Apollinaire Theatre Company at the Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St., Chelsea, through January 18.

The plot of this docudrama, according to the Apollinaire Theatre Company website: “A tense psychological thriller based on the verbatim FBI transcript of the interrogation of Reality Winner, a young Air Force linguist accused of leaking a classified document about Russian interference in U.S. elections. Using the exact dialogue, pauses, and stutters from the interrogation, the play captures the mounting tension of a high-stakes encounter that is both topical and personal. At its core, Is This a Room explores truth, patriotism, and what it means to have honor in our complex modern world.” Unlike so many local theater offerings, this one draws direct connections to current authoritarianism-on-the-move realities — and during the the holiday season!

Wonder Music and Lyrics by A Great Big World (Ian Axel & Chad King). Book by Sarah Ruhl. Music Supervision by Nadia DiGiallonardo. Choreography by Katie Spelman. Directed by Taibi Magar. Based on the novel Wonder by R.J. Palacio and the Lionsgate and Mandeville film Wonder. Staged by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center, Cambridge, through February 8.

The American Repertory Theater website on this world premiere production: “Based on R.J. Palacio’s novel and Lionsgate & Mandeville Films’ hit feature film, this uplifting new musical follows the Pullman family as they navigate change, identity, and what it means to belong. Auggie Pullman has been homeschooled his entire life, often retreating to outer space in his imagination. But when his family decides it’s time for him to start going to school, Auggie must take off the space helmet he has used to hide his facial difference. As Auggie navigates a world filled with kindness and cruelty, his parents and sister go on their own journeys of transformation and discovery. Featuring a driving, pop-inspired score, Wonder celebrates empathy, resilience, and the power of choosing kindness.”

The Midwinter Revels Northern Lights Dancers. Photo: Paul Buckley

Midwinter Revels: A Scandinavian Story for Christmas. Written by Debra Wise, Patrick Swanson, and Nicole Galland. Directed by Wise. Staged by Revels at Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy Street, Cambridge, December 12 through 28. (We will again offer a fully virtual Midwinter Revels experience to audiences around the world! If you are unable to attend Midwinter Revels live this year (or just want to see it again!), join us for a virtual extended run. Your virtual Event Pass will include unlimited access during the viewing period to a digitally enhanced version of this year’s Midwinter Revels, recorded during a live performance in Sanders Theatre.)

This year’s installment of the venerable traditional holiday entertainment was inspired by Gregory Maguire’s Matchless. It is a version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale — from the man who gave us Wicked. The plot: “Set on an island so far north that it snows from September to April, a young boy finds warmth and light in the darkest days.” Add to this inspirational story plenty of festive Scandinavian music performed by Revel’s usual roundup of first-rate musicians and actors, along with the company’s intergenerational chorus. Arts Fuse review

— Bill Marx

Visual Art

The end of the year holidays are an ideal time to visit an art museum. After the obligatory celebrations, almost everyone has spare time to kill or assorted relatives to entertain, and between permanent collections and special exhibitions, there is enough variety in Greater Boston’s art museums to satisfy nearly every taste and age, or at least get them out of the house for a couple of hours.

Below is a quick guide to remind you of the treasures on view this season. A number of the special shows close not long after New Year’s, providing another incentive to get out and see them while you still can.

Museum of Fine Arts

The MFA is one of North America’s leading “encyclopedic” art museums, which means it collects art from every inhabited continent on earth. The MFA is especially famous for its Impressionist painting, American art, Asian Art, particularly from Japan, classical art from Greece and Rome, and ancient Egyptian art (yes, that includes mummies). Many of these collections are in newly redesigned galleries, so no more dusty, poorly lit cases. All this means there is enough to see under its roof to keep most any group entertained for hours.

Winslow Homer, The Dunes, 1894. Watercolor over graphite. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Cabot.

The main special show at the MFA right now is Of Light and Air: Winslow Homer in Watercolor,  a rare chance to see watercolors from one of the most important Homer collections in the U.S.— the MFA’s— along with 11 of the museum’s Homer oil paintings, childhood sketches, prints, and Homer’s last canvas, left unfinished at his death. Homer was a great innovator at a time when the watercolor medium was rapidly developing and his light filled and color saturated images have inspired watercolorists ever since.

Elsewhere at the MFA is Reality and Imagination: Rembrandt and the Jews in the Dutch Republic —paintings and prints by Rembrandt and his school, depicting their Jewish neighbors in Amsterdam as art patrons, subjects in portraits, and in Old Testament scenes,  combined with Dutch Judaica, including one of the oldest surviving pairs of Dutch silver Torah finials.

Work by three important contemporary artists in two exhibitions—-Martin Puryear: Nexus and Rituals for Remembering: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Ana Mendieta— reflect the MFA’s flourishing options in the art of today.

Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum

Parade on Hammond Street, June 1935. Courtesy of the Allan Rohan Crite Research Institute and Library. Photo: courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Within walking distance of the MFA, down the Fenway, is that quintessential Boston institution, the Gardner. The elegant building consists of two parts: the Venetian style palace Mrs. Gardner constructed to house her collection of Old Masters and work by the Impressionists and John Singer Sargent, along with cases of autographs and personal memorabilia, and a new jewel box of a wing designed by architect Renzo Piano, which includes a concert hall, museum shop, cafe, and special exhibition galleries.

Currently on view in the latter is Allan Rohan Crite: Urban Glory. This is the long overdue retrospective of the leading African American artist and activist who spent his long  professional career (he died in 2007 at 97) living and working in Boston’s South End, long the center of Boston’s Black community. Billed as a “tribute to an artist and the neighborhoods he treasured” the show, the museum says, “encompasses vivid depictions of life in Lower Roxbury and the South End, art for Christian worship, and late works that combined neighborhood scenes with religious vignettes.”

Institute of Contemporary Art

Set on a ravishing site on the waterfront, the ICA is another great piece of Boston architecture, created by the avant garde firm of Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Among several contemporary shows, the museum is hosting An Indigenous Present, an exhibition of 15 Native American artists representing “100 years of contemporary art.”  The show offers, the ICA says, “an expansive consideration of indigenous art practices that highlights a continuum of elders and emerging makers.”

Harvard University Art Museums

Across the Charles River from Boston, Harvard’s famous “teaching museums,” united under one roof after a long series of building projects, comprise another world class encyclopedic collection, here grouped into three interconnected museums, each with its own history and focus: the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (Asian and Ancient Art), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (art from Central and Eastern Europe), and the Fogg Art Museum (American and Western European art, prints and drawings, and contemporary art).

Georges Seurat, Woman Seated by an Easel, c. 1884–88. Conte crayon on beige wove paper. Photo: Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum.

Wrapping up its run at Harvard is Sketch, Shade, Smudge: Drawing from Gray to Black. The show explores how the distinctive tactile qualities of traditional monochrome drawing materials— charcoal, chalk, crayon, and graphite— can be used to create an unexpectedly rich variety of visual effects. Some 120 works, drawn from Harvard’s incomparable collection of drawings, one of the most important in the world, include such masters of the media as Ingres, Degas, Seurat, Sargent, Mondrian, Feininger, and many others. The exhibits include artists’ materials from the Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies and invites visitors to sketch in the galleries, experiment with media in the Materials Lab, and explore from home in a series of Instagram drawing tutorials.

Addison Gallery of American Art

 Founded by an art-collecting alumnus, the Addison Gallery is located north of Boston on the campus of the prestigious boarding school, Philips Andover Academy. It’s collection of American art and artists ranks with the best to be found anywhere, including important examples by such artists as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Alexander Calder, Marsden Hartley, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keefe, and Jackson Pollock.

Among several special exhibitions on view at the Addison over the holidays is Making Their Way: The Florida Highwaymen Painters, which presents the work of 26 African-American landscape painters, sometimes unofficially called the Florida Highwaymen, who sold their haunting and vividly colored tropical scenes door-to-door and out of the trunks of their cars along Florida coastal roads in the 1950s-80s. A concurrent show, Captive Lands, brings together works from the permanent collection to show “the myriad ways in which the American landscape has been romanticized, exploited, celebrated, commercialized, and conquered.”

Worcester Art Museum

A half hour drive west of Boston proper is Worcester, New England’s second-largest city and home to the Worcester Art Museum, the third encyclopedic museum in this survey. The museum recently unveiled to the public its new Arms and Armor Galleries— 5,000 square feet of space with more than a thousand battle-related objects from around the world. The selection— which will doubtless fascinate children of a certain age— is drawn from the second largest collection of arms and armor in the United States, made so largely thanks to its 2014 acquisition of the John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection, following the closing of Worcester’s Higgins Armory Museum. Highlights of the display include a 2,000-year old Roman  gladiator’s helmet, an ornate Indian dagger, and a ceremonial suit of armor once worn by the samurai Sakai Genzo. Designed for all ages, this new installation is accessible only via timed-entry reservations (available through the museum’s website).

— Peter Walsh

Classical Music

New Year’s Eve Celebration
Presented by Boston Baroque
December 31, 8 p.m.
Sanders Theatre, Cambridge

Marc Minkowski leads Boston Baroque’s annual year-end celebration. He’s joined by mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey and leads works by Handel, Mozart, and a surprise composer to-be-announced.

— Jonathan Blumhofer

Roots and World Music

Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Abdul Baki. Photo: courtesy of the artist

Root Fiyah featuring Abdul Baki
Dec. 26
Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge

Boston’s still-thriving reggae scene was built on the foundation of bands like the I-Tones, Zion Initiation, and Healin’ of the Nations. Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Abdul Baki was a member of all three outfits, and was also an owner of the Cambridge vintage shop Great Eastern Trading Company. These days Baki is based in Western Mass. and leads a crucial deep roots reggae band called Root Fiyah which combines contemporary inspirational songwriting with traditional Rastafarian nyabinghi drums. For this Boxing Day show, Root Fyah are joined by an impressive array of guests — NyJah DiOrganizah, King Rhymez and Jah Rico (a.k.a. Yahraka) — for a musical journey through reggae’s past, present, and future.

Ward Hayden & The Outliers New Years Day Hank Williams Celebration
Jan. 1
Lizard Lounge, Cambridge

New England’s beloved ambassadors of Americana, Ward Hayden and the Outliers, have composed plenty of their own excellent original songs. This year, though, they released a pair of powerful albums that turned the works of Bruce Springsteen into country tunes. But each New Year’s Day they remember Hank Williams Sr., the immortal country singer who died on January 1. The matinee show is sold out, but tickets remain for the evening show.

Mia Anasa
Jan. 4 at 4 p.m.
Upstairs at McCarthy’s

Percussionist Fabio Pirozzolo has been programming a regular series of world music events. Next up comes this excellent ensemble, which plays traditional music from the Hellenic peninsula, such as the blues-like rembetika. The members of the band: Makis Emmanouilidis, Yanni Mitaris, Nektaria Sofou-Boustris, and Pirozzolo himself.

— Noah Schaffer

Author Events

“Pencils Up!” Porter Square Books Writer’s Hour
January 4 at 5 p.m.
Cambridge Edition, 1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
Free

“Hello Writing Enthusiasts! Pencils Up! is an informal monthly gathering for anyone interested in writing. Whether you’re a casual journaler or a poet laureate, join us for an hour of silent writing (and a few minutes of optional sharing at the end). Bring something you’re already working on or start something new (informal prompts will be provided). Pencils, pens, and actual paper are encouraged!”

Roshani Chokshi: The Swan’s Daughter – Brookline Booksmith
January 5 at 7 p.m.
Free

“In this lush and romantic novel from New York Times bestselling author Roshani Chokshi, a prince is only as good as his beating heart and a maiden is only as good as her honest word. But when love and the truth become impossibly tangled, the two must figure out how to survive together, or fall completely apart.”

Caitlin Vincent at Harvard Book Store
Opera Wars: Inside the World of Opera and the Battles for Its Future
January 6 at 7 p.m.
Free

“Blunt, irreverent, and at times wittily subversive, Opera Wars spotlights opera’s colorful and sometimes warring personalities, increasingly fierce controversies over content, and the battles being waged for its economic future.

Drawing on interviews with dozens of opera insiders—as well as her own experience as an award-winning librettist, trained vocalist, opera company director, and arts commentator—Caitlin Vincent deftly unravels clichés and presumptions, exposing such debates as how much fidelity is owed to long-dead opera composers whose plots often stir racial and gender sensitivities, whether there’s any cure for typecasting that leaves talented performers out of work and other performers chained to the same roles, and what explains the bizarre kowtowing of opera companies to the demands of traditionalist patrons.”

— Matt Hanson