Calendar

Observer Editor

Dec. 5–14. Megan Wright-Jones directs 3 casts of local youth actors in grades 2–12 in a 1-hour version of Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin’s 2011 musical. The story, based on Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, centers on a precocious 5-year-old girl with the gift of telekinesis who loves reading. New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley called the original Broadway production “a sweet and sharp-witted work.” 6 & 8 p.m. (Dec. 5), noon; 2, 6, & 8 p.m. (Dec. 6); noon & 2 p.m. (Dec. 7); 7 p.m. (Dec. 12); 2 & 7 p.m. (Dec. 13); and noon (Dec. 14). Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron St., Ypsi. Tickets $20 in advance at pytmi.square.site & (if available) at the door. (734) 660–2966, pytmi.com.

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Every Mon.–Wed., except Dec. 24, Fri., & Sat. All invited to play both casual and tournament forms of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering (MTG).

Mon. (6:30 p.m.): “Just Another Modern Monday.” Three rounds using powerful cards, for experienced players, with prizes. $10.

Tues. (6:30 p.m.): “MTG Pauper.” A fun and fast format for all skill levels, three rounds. $5.

Wed. & Sat. (5 p.m.): “Casual Commander Night.” A drop-in session of the most popular form of the game. Free.

Wed. (6:30 p.m.): “MTG Standard Showdown.” Three rounds, with competitive tournament rules, prizes of store credit. $10.

Fri. (6:30 p.m.): “Friday Night Magic.” Cost and format vary.

Various times, Sylvan Factory, 2459 W. Stadium. Various costs.  (734) 929–5877, sylvanfactory.com.

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Dec. 4–7. Barbara Day directs local child and adult actors in Peter Bloedel’s archly comic 2011 play, which renders the classic Dickens Christmas story in rhymed couplets, à la Dr. Seuss. Several Seussian characters, like Bed-Headed Fred and Timmy Loo Hoo, even show up, as does Santa, at the very end of the show. 7 p.m. (Thurs. & Fri.) & 2 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.), The Well Church, 211 Willis Rd., Saline. The venue has some stairs. $15 ($12, seniors and kids 17 & under) in advance at our.show/sapaseussifiedchristmascarol or at the door. [email protected], salineareaplayers.com.

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Dec. 5 & 6. Performers ages 7–18 present the 2015 Disney musical about the adventures of the teenage children of the Disney villains Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Jafar, and Cruella De Vil, after they venture off their home Isle of the Lost. Music by Madeline Smith & Matthew Tishler. Book and lyrics by Nick Blaemire. 7 p.m., Saline High School, 1300 Campus Pkwy., Saline. Tickets $15 in advance at varsitybluesperformingarts.com and at the door.

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Film screenings every Wed.–Sun. Tickets $10.50 unless otherwise noted (children under 12, students, seniors age 65 and older, & U.S. veterans, $8.50; MTF members, $8) in advance online (recommended) & at the door. (734) 668–8397. For updated schedule, see marquee-arts.org/calendar. 

Dec. 5 & 6. “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” (Abby Martin & Mike Prysner, 2025). Documentary about how the U.S. military, as the world's largest polluter, impacts the environment while operating with minimal accountability. Followed by Q&A with Martin. 7 p.m. (Fri.) & 2 p.m. (Sat.).

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Dec. 4–Jan. 11 (different times). Daniel Cooney directs this local professional theater company in Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez, and Jennifer Lee’s 2018 stage musical, itself based on the 2013 animated Disney movie, a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” It tells the story of Queen Elsa of Arendelle, whose self-seclusion in an ice palace prompts her younger sister Anna to attempt to find her, aided by a cast of characters including Olaf the snowman and Kristoff the ice vendor. The musical features numbers like “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” and “Let It Go.” 7 p.m., Encore, 7714 Ann Arbor St., Dexter. Tickets $44–$65 (17 and under $34) in advance at theencoretheatre.org & at the door. (734) 268–6200.

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Dec. 5–7. This U-M student musical theater troupe performs the landmark 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, a sentimental love story set in Oklahoma Territory on the eve of statehood. The show’s many well-known songs include “I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” “Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and the rousing title chorus. The production incorporates many of the introspective elements of the show’s acclaimed 2019 Broadway revival, an “Oklahoma! for an era in which longstanding American legacies are being examined with newly skeptical eyes,” according to New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley. 7 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.) and 2 p.m. (Sun.), Arthur Miller Theatre, 1226 Murfin, North Campus. Tickets $20 (students, $17) in advance at muto.umich.edu & at the door. (734) 763–1107, [email protected].

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Dec. 4–6. Seattle-based comic whose warm monotone belies a sardonic, self-deprecating sense of humor. Postings on Johnson’s popular TikTok account have gone viral several times, leading to widespread media coverage. Preceded by opening acts TBA. Alcohol served. 7:15 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), 212 S. Fourth Ave. $21 (Thurs., $16) at aacomedy.com and (if available) at the door. (734) 996–9080.

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Dec. 5–7 & 11–14. NTG founder Kristin Ann Danko directs local actors in her 2019 Hallmark Christmas musical parody, cowritten with local playwright A.M. Dean. It’s about a single woman, about to turn 30, returning home for the holidays to celebrate the engagements of both her sister and her dad. If she can win the affections of a local lad and make it into a triple engagement, she’ll have herself a Christmas for the books. For mature audiences. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun.), The Back Office Studio, 13 N. Washington St., Ypsi. Tickets $20 (students, $12) in advance at ticketstripe.com/manforchristmas and (if available) at the door. [email protected].

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Every Fri.–Sun., Dec. 5–Jan. 4. Mike Sandusky directs Carla Milarch and R. MacKenzie Lewis’s latest seasonal panto comedy, a hip-hop version of the English folktale of Dick Whittington. Loosely based on a lord mayor of London in the late Middle Ages, Whittington rises from poverty to wealth by selling his cat to a rat-infested town. British panto is a genre that blends familiar children’s stories with a bit of vaudeville to create a raucous family entertainment. Theatre Nova’s panto, a popular annual tradition, usually sells out. 7:30 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), 3 p.m. (Sat.), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Theatre Nova, 410 W. Huron St. Tickets $32 ($25, seniors; $15, students; $12, age 16 and under) in advance at theatrenova.org & at the door. (734) 635–8450.

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