• Courtesy Of Manuel Harlan
• Mateo Oxley

Sigh No More

Thursday 1

Shakespeare's much-loved romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing gets an art deco refresh in a new National Theatre performance, streamed live at Catamount Arts Center in St. Johnsbury. Starring Katherine Parkinson and John Heffernan, this production transposes the action to a midcentury fantasia called the Hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera and features pastel costumes and unrestrained laughs.

Hit the Slopes

Friday 2 & Saturday 3

• Courtesy Of Ian Anderson
• Daymaker, Warren Miller Entertainment's annual winter sports film

Skiers and snowboarders who just can't wait to get out there tide themselves over with Daymaker, Warren Miller Entertainment's annual winter sports film screening at Town Hall Theater in Middlebury and the Flynn in Burlington. This year's adventure features a killer snowstorm in the Monashees, adaptive backcountry snowmobile riding, grass skiing and some of the most promising athletes out on the mountains today.

And Lo!

Friday 2 & Sunday 4

• Courtesy
• Handel's Messiah

Hallelujah! The Vermont Philharmonic, the Green Mountain State's oldest community orchestra, presents a showstopping rendition of George Frideric Handel's Messiah. Audiences at Montpelier's St. Augustine Church and the Barre Opera House enjoy the legendary choruses and arias set to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's woodwind-forward orchestration of the oratorio, conducted by Lisa Jablow.

Let It Stowe

Friday 2-Sunday 4

• Courtesy Of Mark Vandenberg
• A Traditional Christmas in Stowe

The Ski Capital of the East becomes the Christmas Capital of the East for three days during A Traditional Christmas in Stowe. The jam-packed weekend sees countless festivities, including a kids' lantern parade, a cappella carolers, a Santa Brunch at Butlers Pantry and, starting Sunday, the Go Stowe Holiday Stroll for enthusiastic shoppers.

Mr. Worldwide

Saturday 3

• Courtesy
• The Global Trio

The Global Trio breaks down the boundaries between jazz, classical and Middle Eastern folk music during a dynamic, invigorating show at Next Stage Arts Project in Putney. Palestinian cellist Naseem Alatrash is joined by Cypriot percussionist George Lernis and American pianist Chase Morrin in these energetic compositions steeped in folklore from around the world.

Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution

Wednesday 7

• Courtesy
• Kekla Magoon

Kekla Magoon, the National Book Award-nominated author of Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People, gives a First Wednesdays talk at Newport's Goodrich Memorial Library. Her address, titled "Revolution in Our Time," considers reading and collective action as important tools for social change.

Puny Paintings

Ongoing

• Courtesy Of Northern Daughters
• "The Scales" by Edward Holland

The Northern Daughters Annex Gallery in Shelburne hosts Small Works, a group exhibition of smaller-than-life paintings by Anne Cady, Charlotte Dworshak, Maria Flores Gallindo, Edward Holland, Julia Jensen and Hannah Sessions. This is Spanish artist Gallindo's debut Northern Daughters show, and her striking collages fit in nicely among the vibrant color and dynamism of the other new works.