IMPROV
It's Season 6, Episode 3
Dorks in Dungeons is an improvised comedy show that explores stories in a fantasy world using the trappings and traditions of tabletop role-playing games. They blend fantasy tropes, dice rolling, humor of all kinds, and audience suggestions into a two-hour live comedy performance.
What: Dorks in Dungeons presents "Geeks in Galaxies" (Season 5, Episode 3)
When: 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 26; doors open 7:30 p.m.
Where: 3S Artspace, 319 Vaughan St., Portsmouth
Tickets: $12, or pay what you can at the door, available online at www.3sarts.org
More info: Visit www.dorksindungeons.com
MUSIC
Opera Connection presents Puccini's "Tosca"
Join opera expert/cultural historian Dennis Neil Kleinman when Opera Connection presents Puccini's "Tosca," one of the great emotional thrill rides in all of music. It is the story of an innocent though highly volatile diva who becomes ensnared in the diabolic web of a power hungry police functionary. Kleinman will walk attendees through the story and its history, analyze Puccini's passionate score, and show clips from a production featuring Bryn Terfel as a wonderfully loathsome Scarpia.
What: Opera Connection presents Puccini's "Tosca"
When: 11:30 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 27, just prior to the Met @ The Music Hall broadcast at 1 p.m.
Where: Music Hall Loft, 131 Congress St., Portsmouth
Tickets: $14 (includes light breakfast fare)
More info: Visit www.themusichall.org
BOOKS
Jojo Moyes in Writers on a New England Stage Series
The Music Hall welcomes to the historic theater's stage the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Jojo Moyes with her new novel, "Still Me," featuring the iconic heroine from "Me Before You" and "After You," Louisa Clark. In this book, Louisa arrives in New York ready to start a new life while maintaining her relationship with Ambulance Sam across several thousand miles — but as she throws herself into her job and mixes with New York high society, she finds it’s easier said than done.
What: Writers on a New England Stage presents author Jojo Moyes
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 31
Where: The Music Hall, 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth
Tickets: $13.75 each; purchase of a book voucher at $27 required with every one to two tickets
More info: Visit www.themusichall.org or the box office at 28 Chestnut St., Portsmouth or call (603) 438-2400
THEATER
Red Light Series presents 'New Brain'
By the Tony Award-winning authors of "Falsettos," "New Brain" is an energetic, sardonic, often comical musical about a composer during a medical emergency. Gordon collapses into his lunch and awakes in the hospital, surrounded by his maritime-enthusiast lover, his mother, a co-worker, the doctor, and the nurses. Reluctantly, he had been composing a song for a children’s television show that features a frog – Mr. Bungee – and the specter of this large green character and the unfinished work haunts him throughout his medical ordeal. What was thought to be a tumor turns out to be something more operable, and Gordon recovers, grateful for a chance to compose the songs he yearns to produce.
What: "New Brain"
When: 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 25; 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26 and 27
Where: Seacoast Repertory Theatre, 125 Bow St., Portsmouth
Tickets: $25, available at www.seacoastrep.org
More info: Visit www.seacoastrep.org