Roosevelt University Auditorium Theater, Chicago, IL, USA
By JW Taylor, photographer. [Public Domain],
courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

This weekend, of course, there’s not a thing going on in local theater. As it should be.

Today, though, marks the official observation of the 2012 December Solstice, which is the Winter Solstice in this hemisphere and the Summer Solstice south of the equator. The exact moment of the solstice actually occurred at 11:30 pm last night in the Central Time Zone, but the date is marked by UTC (a lot like Greenwich Mean Time), and by that standard, the solstice happened on the 22nd. A few more minutes of daylight are just around the corner.

This is also the third day of Hanukkah, which began at sunset on Tuesday the 20th this year.

Festivus is tomorrow, December 23rd. There’s still time to put up your pole. I’m a little disappointed in you for not having it up already, but we’ll talk about that after dinner.

Saturday, the 24th, is Christmas Eve, one of the few observances in modern Christianity of the liturgical day, which begins at sunset, and Sunday is Christmas Day, which serves as a reminder to residents of Wisconsin that we don’t live in Narnia.

Monday the 26th is, you will recall, Boxing Day in Canada and most of the UK, consequently many of us will have that day off from work. Having read the entire Wikipedia article on Boxing Day, it would seem that Festivus makes much more sense, as holidays go.

As if that’s not enough to fill your weekend, Tuesday is my son Alex’s birthday, and as I understand it the popularity of celebrating it is spreading. Also, it’s the 79th anniversary of the opening of Radio City Music Hall. Not a holiday, but good theater trivia, just the same.

To round things out, Wednesday the 28th will be the eighth and final day of Hanukkah for 2011, ending, as it began, at sunset.

So, whatever you’ll be up to over the upcoming week, The Theater Community hopes you’ll enjoy some time with family and friends, reflect a bit on the year gone by, and look forward to the new year about to begin. Best wishes to you and yours.

Shows

• There are no upcoming shows on the calendar for this weekend.

Auditions

• Wausau Community Theatre: Doctor Dolittle
  Venue: The Wausau Community Theatre Building, 136 Spring Street in Schofield:
  • January 2, 2012 Monday – 7:00pm
  • January 3, 2012 Tuesday – 7:00pm
• Central Wisconsin Children’s Theatre: Annie
  Venue: TBA (In Stevens Point, though)
  –>Audition Times Must Be Reserved in Advance! Call CWCT at (715) 842-4416 to reserve your slot!
  • January 2, 2012 Monday – By Appointment
  • January 3, 2012 Tuesday – By Appointment