"Happy Holidays, Jeff!"

"And to you, as well, Mike. I presume you have the What's Happenin's for me?"

"Au contraire, boss and friend - I have the What's Happenin' on New Year's Eve for you!"

"Of course."

"Once again, we'll be publishing a center-spread account of all the information we have, as of press time, regarding the area's music scene on December 31 - what bands are playing, where you can find open-mic or karaoke nights, and all that jazz!"

SISTERS

Sisters is about two 40-something siblings (Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) who, on the eve of its selling, decide to throw one last, big, balls-out get-together in the Orlando home of their youth. And the movie feels like some debaucherous parties that you might've thrown: It's awesome at the start, intermittently enjoyable while it's happening, and the people who showed up don't seem to understand when it's time for them to just leave already. As with such parties, you're not all that upset that they decided to stick around - you're happy they came. But less of them, and their being less wasted, would've definitely been more, just as director Jason Moore's two-hour comedy would've likely been a stronger, more satisfying entertainment if it clocked in at 90 minutes, and had given us fewer scenes with Fey and Poehler in hostess mode.

Theatre

Gashlycrumb Orphanage and Chicago Shorties

Rockridge High School

Thursday, December 17, 7 p.m.

The Center for Living Arts

Friday, December 18, 7 p.m.

Nearly every local friend I have is antsy for that eternally promised passenger-rail service to and from Chicago, and among those friends, all the ones who are also active in stage productions say variants of the same thing: "It'd make seeing Chicago theatre so-o-o much easier." Well, we still don't have that train. But the week before Christmas, we'll at least get a momentary respite from our complaining, because Chicago theatre is coming to us.

Award-winning jazz vocalist Sara Gazarek has released three studio albums, plus one limited-release live album, since 2005, and just glancing at their song lists gives you a strong idea of the varied styles in which she finds inspiration.

Take, for example, Gazarek's 2012 album Blossom & Bee, which CriticalJazz.com called "one of the most impressive releases of the year." You'll find "Some of These Days," a signature hit for the legendary Sophie Tucker; "Down with Love," a jazz standard popularized by the likes of Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand; "Tea for Two," the genre staple heard in 67 separate episodes of The Lawrence Welk Show; "Ev'rything I've Got" and "Lucky to Be Me," by the respective show-tune teams of Rodgers & Hart and Comden & Green; "Unpack Your Adjectives" from Schoolhouse Rock ... .