Calendar

Feb. 23–25. This Tampa-based comic sweetens his edginess with playful, clever charm, bringing out the humor on all sides of topics like mask-wearing, pop stars as role models, and more. Preceded by 2 opening acts. Alcohol is served. 7:15 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 9:45 p.m. (Sat.), 212 S. Fourth Ave. $20 ($15 Thurs.) reserved seating in advance at aacomedy.com before 5 p.m. the night of the show; $22 ($17 Thurs.) general admission at the door. 996–9080.

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Feb. 23–26. Burns Park elementary school students, parents, and friends perform this 1994 Disney musical, based on the 1991 animated film adaptation of the classic French fairy tale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The story concerns an unkind prince who has been magically transformed into an unsightly creature as punishment for his selfish ways. To revert into his true human form, the Beast must learn to love a bright, beautiful young lady who he has imprisoned in his enchanted castle. The score includes the popular songs “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast.” 7:30 p.m. (Thurs. & Fri.) & 2 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.), Michigan Theater. Tickets $20–$25 (students, $15) in advance at burnsparkplayers.org & at the door. 763–8587.

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Every Thurs.–Sun., Feb. 23–Mar. 12. Natalie Kaye Clater directs this local professional theater company in a production of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty’s 1990 Calypso-flavored coming-of-age 1-act pop-rock musical about a rich boy and the peasant girl who rescues him from peril. Adapted from Rosa Guy’s 1985 novel My Love, My Love; or, The Peasant Girl, a retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Mermaid. 7:30 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 3 p.m. (Sat. & Sun.), Encore Maas Main Stage, 7714 Ann Arbor St., Dexter. Tickets $54 (seniors & youth under 18, $52) in advance at theencoretheatre.org and at the door. $20 student rush tickets (if available) an hour before showtime. 268–6200. 

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Every Fri.–Sun., Feb. 3–26. Carla Milarch directs this Michigan premiere of Julia Cho’s whimsical 2010 romantic comedy about a man obsessed with documenting the dying languages of far-flung cultures even as his own capacity to communicate, along with his marriage, is deteriorating. 2 p.m. (Sun.), 7:30 p.m. (Fri. & Sat.), & 3 p.m. (Sat.), Theatre Nova, 410 W. Huron St. Mask & proof of vaccination required. Tickets $22 ($10 for kids under 17) in advance at theatre-nova.ticketleap.com and (if available) at the door. 635–8450. 

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Every Wed.–Sun., Feb. 3–Mar. 18. Lynch Travis directs the Michigan premiere of Ohio-based playwright Eric Pfeffinger’s political comedy about a liberal couple trying to start a family whose fertilized embryo is accidentally implanted in the uterus of a small-government-supporting NRA cardholder. Cast: Henrí Franklin, Alex Leydenfrost, Kristin Shields, Kevin Theis, and Meghan VanArsdalen. 3 p.m. (Wed., Thurs., & Sat.), 8 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat., except Feb. 9), & 2 p.m. (Sun.), Purple Rose Theatre, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Tickets $21–$52 in advance at PurpleRoseTheatre.org and by phone, and (if available) at the door. Discounts available for students, seniors, teachers, military personnel, and groups. 433–7673.

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Wed.–Sun., Feb. 23–March 4. Veronica Long directs local actors in Agatha Christie's intricate 1952 murder mystery thriller about newlyweds who transform their inherited English manor house into an inn. On opening day, amid rumors of a murderer at large, the inn's somewhat questionable guests become snowbound, and after an unexpected discovery begin eyeing each other fearfully. "One of the most skillfully written murder mysteries ever produced," notes the New York Times. Cast includes Mei-Lin Wong, Gavin Allen, Sam Johnson, Jan Romans, Larry Rusinsky, Eƶra Korycinski, Avery Koenig, and Russ Schwartz. 8 p.m. (Thurs.–Sat.) & 2 p.m. (Sun. & Wed.), Riverside Arts Center, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. Tickets $20 (students, seniors, & active military, $15) in advance at ptdproductions.com and at the door. 483–7345.

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Feb. 24–26 (different programs; the Feb. 26 family show is listed with the Kids events). This year’s festival includes traditional storytelling shows for adults (on Saturday) and families (on Sunday afternoon), but it opens tonight with the Ark’s First Annual Liar’s Contest. Six contestants—Larry Castleberry, Jennifer Otto, Rich Swanson, Jeff Doyle, Genot Picor, and Mike Cox—each tell a well-crafted, entertaining 10-minute story designed to seduce listeners into crediting it as an accounting of fact. The winner gets a $100 bill, a trophy, and bragging rights as the area’s best liar. Emcee is Amir Baghdachi, host of the Moth’s local monthly storytelling shows. Judges are 3 area folks, each with different kinds of experience on the receiving end of fabrications masquerading as fact: Kathleen Daniels (wife of actor Jeff Daniels), retired District Court judge Karl Fink, and Ann Arbor mayor Christopher Taylor. 8 p.m., The Ark, 316 S. Main. Mask required if, per the Washtenaw County Health Department, the county is at a high community level for Covid-19. Tickets $10 on Fri., $30 on Sat., & $15 (kids, $10) on Sun. in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office (mutotix.com) & theark.org, and at the door. To charge by phone, call 763–TKTS. 

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Every Fri. (except Feb. 17). All ages and skill levels invited to try swing dancing to prerecorded and (occasional) live music. Preceded at 8 p.m. by a beginner lesson. 9–11 p.m., RAC, 76 N. Huron, Ypsilanti. $5. tinyurl.com/riversideswings.

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