Smith is what can be called a derivative playwright, drawing on reliable models like Georges Feydeau and Ray Cooney, as well as Benny Hill. As an actor himself what he really likes to do is to give each performer a chance to show off. In a sense, everyone is a lead.

We learned that show folk can be more given to support than back-stabbing. When architect and set designer Navroz Dabu had his arm and leg crushed in a May 16 auto crash, hearts were opened all over town. Karis Wiggins offered her house for recovery. Dabu responded so well he could play (mostly sitting) the patriotic immigrant in Twelve Angry Men.

The No. 1 Syracuse impresario Murray Bernthal liked to declare, “There will be no retirement.” He was a man of his word. Bernthal remained engaged with running Famous Artists, the company that brings touring Broadway shows to Central New York, until a few weeks before he left us last Thursday, Dec.

True to form, Rarely Done Productions’ holiday effort goes against the expected grain. Thus, Marley has been dead seven years at the beginning of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

This is what she does for love. Thirtysix years ago director Sharee Lemos was a very, very young assistant director on The Butterfingers Angel, a signal event in Syracuse theater history. One of America’s then-leading playwrights

We like familiarity and assurance at the holidays. No matter how many times we have seen them, The Messiah and The Nutcracker will remain in demand.

The always well-groomed Sara is forgiving of the squalor, apparently pleased with what she finds in the more experienced Callie. When a balled-up discarded garment works it way up between the cushions on Callie’s couch, Sara tosses it away without so much as a grimace.

Tchaikovsky�s score is familiar: The Sugar Plum fairy theme is already playing on one local radio station, and has been since the day after Halloween. It�s as commonplace as eggnog and reindeer cardigans as the holiday season approaches.

The 2010 Pride of New York Harvest Fest returns to Syracuse to celebrate New York state�s wine, food and beer. Approximately 100 growers and producers from across the state will offer the public the opportunity to taste and purchase award-winning wines

If you�ve never seen the Hitchcock movie or read the John Buchan novel (1915) on which it is putatively based, the story will still feel familiar. It�s a classic case of an innocent man (Hitchcock called him �the wrong man�) on the run for a crime he did not commit, finding comedy, romance and danger along the way.