The Hot Sheet

Theater

A Christmas Story: The Musical! — You’ll shoot your eye out if you’re near Seattle and miss this sweet stage adaptation of the beloved 1940s-set holiday classic — based on the stories of radio humorist Jean Shepherd — at the 5th Avenue Theatre, a pre-Broadway stop for hit shows like Hairspray and Shrek. Clarke Hallum couldn’t be cuter as Ralphie Parker, a bullied misfit who wants a BB gun from Santa. And Peter Billingsley, who played Ralphie in the 1983 movie, is a producer! 

The Graduate — Here’s to you again, Mrs. Robinson! Yes, L.A. Theatre Works is trying to seduce you with this one-weekend presentation at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Terry Johnson’s stage adaptation of the coming-of-age novel and film stars Brothers & Sisters cutie Matthew Rhys and Serial Mom’s Kathleen Turner, who reprise the iconic roles — innocent Benjamin Braddock and lecherous Mrs. Robinson — that they created in London’s West End in 2000.

Sunset Boulevard — An exciting new environmental staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Tony-winning showbiz musical noir, based on Billy Wilder’s 1950 film classic, is ready for its close-up at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va. Director Eric Schaeffer has transformed the entire space to look like a Paramount Studios backlot, and the divine Florence Lacey, best known as the last Eva Peron in Broadway’s Evita, takes on tragically faded actress Norma Desmond. Lindsay who?