ARFTCo’s Another Year Without a Witty Title Chicago Christmas Spectacular! Local playwrights reveal their twisted relationships with the holiday season in this cheeky Christmas variety show directed by Michael Buino. The brief skits run from off-color carols to a hard-hitting North Pole newscast and a choir-robed ensemble singing, “On the first day of change the Democrats gave to me . . . ” Highlights include “Gate B-28,” a hilarious airport rant Samantha Garcia spits at an unlucky gate attendant. And in Rosemary Newton’s witty parody, “Nancy Drew and the Clue in the Christmas Stocking,” Nancy and her pals solve a caper with dated catch phrases and questionable sleuthing. —Marissa Oberlander Through 1/9: Fri-Sat 8 PM, Cornservatory, 4210 N. Lincoln, 773-418-4475, cornservatory.com, $12-$15.
A Christmas Carol, the Musical This jolly musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s too-often-told story is energetic, high spirited, and mercifully brief at a little over an hour running time. The songs by Alan Menken and Lynn Aherns are delightful, if reminiscent of Menken’s Disney work (Aladdin and Enchanted, among others), and the Marriott folks have resisted cutting costs on what could easily have been a mere cash cow. Packed with A-list local actors, the show is blessedly free of all those spooky moments—howling ghosts, ominous graveyard scenes—that scared the bejesus out of my eight-year-old when she saw Jim Carrey’s new movie version. —Jack Helbig Through 1/3: Mon-Tue 10 AM and 12:30 PM, Wed 10 AM, Sat 10 AM and 12:30 PM, Sun 10 AM, no shows 12/24, 12/25, 12/31, or 1/1, Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, 10 Marriott Dr., Lincolnshire, 847-634-0200, marriotttheatre.com, $15.
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Mark and Laura’s Couples Advice Christmas Special The premise sounds like a prescription for cliche: a dysfunctional married couple take to the airwaves to help/horrify the nation with their unique brand of relationship counseling. But the cast embrace their offbeat characters so wholeheartedly that they pull off a minor Christmas miracle—a holiday-special parody that foregoes snark and mere cleverness in favor of hilarious humility. Improvising with assurance and flipping missed cues into jokes with implacable wit, Carrie Bain gives put-upon wife Laura a homespun authenticity. The result is a show that comforts and disquiets in equal measure. —Keith Griffith Through 1/20: Wed 8 PM, no show 12/30, Gorilla Tango Theatre, 1919 N. Milwaukee, 773-598-4549, gorillatango.com, $10.
Raven: A Kwanzaa Tale Directed to children in grades 1-6, this play presents the principles of Kwanzaa through stories of early 20th century southern African-Americans. Presented by the People’s Jazz Theater. Sun 12/27, 4 PM, DuSable Museum of African American History, 740 E. 56th Pl., 773-268-7232, dusablemuseum.org, $20.
